An Excellent Addition to 2003's GOTY

United Offensive is the expansion pack to last year's PC Game of the Year. The original Call of Duty was a masterpiece of production value, sound design, captivating gameplay, and addictive multiplayer. United Offensive is more of the same and that's a very good thing. The original Call of Duty team at Infinity Ward is already hard at work on a true sequel, so they gave Gray Matter the task of developing this expansion pack. You may know Gray Matter from Return to Castle Wolfenstein or various Quake III packs. Speaking of Quake, United Offensive still uses the Q3 engine, which makes the game that much more amazing since it's running on archaic software. United Offensive is definitely a worth expansion pack for an already incredible game.

Graphics

The game is still heavily scripted, but it's in such a way that the game draws you into the experience completely. Scripted means that certain events won't happen until you walk onto a certain spot or obtain some sub-objective. Don't let this deter you though, because the game still flows quite smoothly. The AI has been given a shot of adrenaline. Note that doesn't particularly mean they are smarter but at many points the onslaught of enemies in the single-player campaign is overwhelming to say the least. The addition of a handful of new guns, a flamethrower, and more importantly, the vehicles, liven up the multiplayer game which was alreadyy great.

Sound
Excellent music. Excellent voice work. Excellent sound effects. Call of Duty is the epitome of excellent sound design in gaming. If you don't have 5.1 surround sound on your PC, you are truly missing out. The sound in United Offensive completely engulfs you in the WWII experience like no other WWII shooter has, except of course for the original CoD.

Replay Value

This being an expansion, the focus is primarily on the multiplayer portion of the game. The single player portion will give you about 8-10 hours of enjoyment though. The game is broken into three parts much like the original. First you play as an American paratrooper in snowy Bastogne as you take part in the chaotic and infamous Battle of the Bulge. Act 2 places you in the shoes of a British SAS commando during the invasion of Sicily, which starts out with you in the gunner position of a B-17 bomber. And Act 3 consists of playing as a Russian infantryman in one of the largest tank battles in history, The Battle of Kursk. The single player game isn't particularly long, but it is indeed memorable, which counts for alot. Seeing a couple tanks come rolling over a snowy hill scaring the shit out of you right before an American fighter-bombers zip past overhead unleashing a intense display of fireworks upon the tanks to save your ass. And that's in the first hour of play.

The multiplayer has its own additions as well. The game features nearly a dozen new maps which are indescribably huge and diverse. The smallest new map dwarfs some of the "big" maps in the original game. This makes the game even more enjoyable since it's almost impossible for snipers to camp all of the hot spots in a map. The increased attention to vehicles also adds a lot to the mix and keeps the game fresh. They've also thrown in a few modes to go along with the old favorites. The first is domination which is a blatant carbon copy of BF1942's conquest, but it's what people asked for. The second new mode is Base Assault which, unlike Domination, is exclusive to CoD. One team is trying to destroy the other team's bunkers. That may sound simple, but it's anything but. You have to first break the bunkers with heavy artillery then send in your demolition experts to plant explosives to finish the job. They've also added a nifty ranking system that tells you who are the best team players, and certain ranks will give you bonuses like extra grenades when you spawn. The online modes are addictive as ever and will keep any PC gamer busy for quite a while...or at least until Half-Life 2 drops.

Conclusion

As stated above, United Offensive is a worthy expansion pack to arguably the best PC game of last year. It offers the same things that made the original great as well as tossing in a handful of extras that will keep the game fresh for its many adoring fans. The single-player is a little short, and at times frustrating due to the ramped up difficulty, but it is still an enjoyable, as well as memorable, experience. If you own the original, don't think twice about getting this expansion. It's definitely worth your $30.

*** This review was written for Flamevault.com shortly after the game's release. ***

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