Call of Duty: Finest Hour

Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a historic first-person shooter that takes place during World War II. Call of Duty: Finest Hour was released on November 16, 2004 from Activision and Spark Unlimited for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and the Xbox.

Soviet Campaign
Call of Duty: Finest Hour starts out in Russia in the Red Army as Aleksandr Sokolov who is sent to the city of Stalingrad and soon meets a hard willed sniper named Tanya Pavelovna. Aleksandr becomes Tanya's spotter and the two hold up a German advance. Soon the player becomes Tanya and helps defend a small Russian factory which harbors a lone T-34 tank after the player comes out of fighting through a sewer containing German soldiers.

Soon after the defense of the factory, a tank crew led by Nikolai Badanov comes to the rescue just as a German Panzer heads towards the factory. After the tank crew arrives, Tanya and Aleksandr escape and the player next assumes Nikolai. After driving through the ruins of Stalingrad, Nikolai stops at Soviet headquarter and gets orders to deliver a radio to some artillery spotters because the spotter's radio had been damaged and the Commissar wasn't receiving co-ordinates of German tanks to destroy with Katushya rockets.

After Nikolai drives the tank to the train station where the spotters are, the crew fights through the station and deliver the radio. Soon Nikolai and his crew are involved in the Soviet assault on a German airfield which was codenamed Operation Little Saturn. After fighting through the heavily defended area, Nikolai and other T-34s proceed to the German airstrip to destroy the remaining German planes and troop transports planes heading towards Stalingrad. After destroying the airfield they meet up with more Soviets to assault the command center. After breaking in, Nikolai and his men find German documents and hurry to deliver them to their superiors.

British Campaign
Then the British campaign starts as a PPA Commando named Edward Carlyle fights in two night-time raids in North Africa to destroy a German fuel depot, a Communications outlet and a generator powering the German base. The team is led by Sgt. Bob Starkey. After the raid Sgt. Starkey and Carlyle take part on a fortress raid. The British soldiers take a dangerous jeep journey and Carlyle mans the machine gun. After destroying German resistance on the way, Carlyle and Starkey attempt to rescue Sgt. Dehart. After rescuing the Sergeant, Dehart tells Carlyle that the Cartographer is being held prisoner. After rescuing the cartographer they meet up with Starkey to plan their escape.

American Campaign
The American missions see the player's control over Chuck Walker, who was an American veteran of D-Day and was a soldier of the American 1st Infantry Division. The first four missions concentrate on the capture of Aachen so Walker and his friend Benny Church are promoted up the ranks. After capturing Aachen the story focuses on tank commander Sgt. Sam Rivers. After successfully helping fend off Germans in the assault of Bastogne, the player again returns to the now Lieutenant Walker. Now Walker's new mission is to infiltrate the German city of Remagen and scout the status of a bridge that is apparently still leading over the Rhine. Soon Walker teams up with Sgt. Rivers as he and his men protect River's tank group and escort them to the bridge. After reaching the bridge a huge hole in the ground prevents the tanks from moving on which means Walker and his squad must capture the bridge alone. After crossing Walker mans an anti-aircraft gun on top of a tower and fends of attacking Stukas. Soon, the triumphant American hangs their national flag over the tower and waves the tank column into Germany and soon the game ends here.

Multiplayer
Call of Duty: Finest Hour's multiplayer is available on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox for online play and system connect only, leaving out local splitscreen. The GameCube has no multiplayer. Call of Duty: Finest Hour system link is able to have up to 32 players as well with 16 players per session. For a list of all available game modes, see Game Modes.

Although the Xbox service is no longer available due to the offline Xbox Live servers, the PlayStation 2 servers are still online as of early-to-mid-2013, and still has a few active matches being played at any one time.

Trivia

 * The entire Russian campaign has overtones from the 2001 movie Enemy at the Gates, including scenes such as the boat landing, machine-gun charge, and defense of a tractor factory. Some characters, such as Tanya Pavelovna, even share their name with movie characters.
 * Call of Duty: Finest Hour is known for being full of Easter eggs and secrets like the Kaiser Bear and the German dance party secrets put in by the developers.
 * It's also notable for having playable characters that are both seen and heard, unlike most of the other Call of Duty games.
 * Its cover probably inspired the Call of Duty 3 cover due to their similarities.
 * It was the first Call of Duty game to ever be on a console. (PS2, GameCube and Xbox).
 * Tanya Pavelovna is the first female playable character in Call of Duty.
 * This is the only Call of Duty game made by Spark Unlimited. This is why. Several lawsuits from Activision and EA alike caused them to void their contract and only produce one game, even though they signed to make three.
 * It is the first game to feature a hit marker in campaign. However, it is different from other games, it is red and bigger than the thinner white hit marker from the post-Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare games.
 * It features the lead singer of AC/DC, Brian Johnson, in one of the main roles. He said he based his character's voice on his father, a sergeant-major.
 * The game was originally going to have a sequel, Call of Duty: Combined Forces, but the idea was rejected by Activision after Spark Unlimited spent eight million dollars to make Finest Hour but was only given a budget of two million dollars.
 * It was the first Call of Duty game to feature the M3 Grease Gun.
 * There are no pistols in this game, except for the one used by a Soviet Commissioner to shoot deserters on the Volga.
 * This, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II, are the only Call of Duty games that have a crawling animation.
 * This is the only Call of Duty game to have the enemy disappeared upon death and the only Call of Duty game where the there is not green and red dot on the compass.
 * This is the only Call of Duty game where the player can not only heal themsevl but threre squidmate to.