Call of Duty 2: Big Red One is a 2005 first-person shooter video game set during World War II and released for the Playstation 2, Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube. Unlike many of the other games in the series, which jump between American, British, and Soviet soldiers, this game centers around one soldier, an infantryman in the US Army's 1st Infantry Division named Roland Roger.
Despite its title, the game has nothing to do with Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 2, having its own campaign and play mechanics. Big Red One was the first Call of Duty game to be developed by Treyarch, starting a prolific run on the franchise.
This video game provides examples of:
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: "Liberators" has you play as Roland's brother "Stretch", a crew member serving aboard a USAAF B-24 Liberator.
- Badass Bookworm: Bespectacled Kelly, who was studying literature at Yale before the war, starts off not even knowing how to aim a gun properly, but soon proves his mettle, and by the end of the game he has not only proven himself to be a capable fighter, but also risen to the rank of Sergeant and effectively taken over leadership of the squad after Hawkins is seriously wounded and invalided.
- The Big Guy: Denley is a tall and stocky man, and usually carries a BAR.
- Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: Cpt. Delaney is calm and soft-spoken, while Sgt. Hawkins, though beloved by the men, is gruffer and is not afraid to shout his men into action.
- Desert Warfare: The first few levels take place during Operation Torch and the Tunisian Campaign, where the 1st Infantry fights against Vichy French and Afrika Korps units in the deserts of Algeria and Tunisia, respectively.
- Guy in Back: "Stretch" Roger serves as the gunner onboard a B-24 Liberator, where he must help shoot down attacking German fighters later on.
- In Medias Res: The first mission drops the squad somewhere in northern France in the late summer/early autumn of 1944, before the second mission returns them to Operation Torch in November 1942.
- Naïve Newcomer: Pvt. Allen in the prologue. All the men in the second in-game mission (which is the first chronologically).
- Oh, Crap!: The squad gets one near the end of the evacuation of Kasserine mission, when a German tank suddenly appears and forces the squad to run for their lives to escape.Denley: "Move! Now! Run! RUNNNN!"
- Rank Up: The Player Character receives promotions as the game goes on, moving from private to corporal to sergeant. In the first mission, which is part of the How We Got Here structure of the plot, he's already a sergeant before flashing back to earlier in the war.
- Selective Historical Armory:
- At least as far as Axis hardware is concerned, the game is one of the biggest aversion in a series that usually play this straight. You get to use period-appropriate French and Italian weapons for the levels set during the Operation Torch and Operation Husky landings.
- Oddly enough, there are no pistols in the game whatsoever outside of multiplayer.
- Storming the Beaches: "Operation Husky" and "The Great Crusade" have the 1st Infantry assault the beaches of Sicily and Northern France, respectively, taking out Axis machine gun and artillery positions as they move further inland.
- Tempting Fate: Cpl. Alvin Bloomfield (Brooklyn), while cutting through some barbed wire, comments in the final mission "I think I might just make it home from this lousy war." A mortar strike happens a few seconds later. No points for guessing what happens next.
- Uncertain Doom: Hawkins is shot several times at Mons and is last seen being attended to by several medics. He is never seen or mentioned in-game again, leaving it unclear if he succumbed to his wounds or if he survived and was repatriated home.
- Unique Enemy: There is exactly one Focke Wulf Fw 190 fought in "Liberators", flown by a German Ace Pilot attempting to intercept the bomber formation Stretch's plane is part of. It is distinguishable from the Bf 109s also attacking the bombers thanks to its different engine cowling and silhouette.
- And speaking in a broad sense, this game remains the only appearance of the army of Vichy France in the entire series.
- Winter Warfare: The last two levels take place during the harsh winter, as the 1st Infantry are attempting to push through the Siegfried Line into Germany.
