The Call of Duty series is based on the trials of the Allied forces in World War II. A key note for the developers has been to deliver an historically accurate experience, not only providing players with accurately portrayed weapons but also the feel, the kick and the power of the weapons. What has attracted a lot of the fans has been the game's well balanced nature, particulalrly in the multiplayer areas, despite the variety of weapons and vehicles.

The original Call of Duty secured many accollades worldwide, the immediate success spawning United Offensive as work commenced on the Finest Hour console version. Activision, however, made a decision not to go with the original developers, Infinity Ward, but rather to have Spark Unlimited do the development work so Infinity Ward could concentrate on a new version of the game.

Having spent so long on the PC versions, immediately we loaded Finest Hour we were struck by the lack of detail in the graphics. The PC versions are realistic and very detailed, and although you would expect less on the console there is quite a marked difference. The richness of the scenery is just not there, and textures and colours lack the sharpness as well.

In the PC version the playing areas felt like they were lifted out of the pages of history, but in Finest Hour the levels are notably contrived, feeling a bit too bland, too cramped and unnatural by comparison.

The early missions of the game revolve around the Russian campaign of the defence of Stalingrad. The British missions take you into the Western Desert, while the American missions are fought in Western Europe. There is no tutorial to ease you into the game as you are immediately chucked into the middle of the desperate battles on the banks of the Volga. There are some immediate similarities to the original Russian mission in the first PC game, but the story quickly departs on a different tangent. In fact, there are multiple stories as you take on the roles of different soldiers. One minute you are a green grunt, the next a female sniper and then onto to being a tank driver. This chopping and changing lacks the connection the original game had with one soldier and his journey through the war, although the transitions between each story are handled well.

When you first make contact with the enemy, differences such as the number of enemies become apparent - just as the levels are clearly manufactured for aciton, there seems to be a lot more enemies to shoot at in Finest Hour. In some parts of the game it seems the waves are endless, and in some missions even if you double back over previously gained ground you will still not be without an enemy to fight.

It's often non-stop action as you run from cover to cover, constantly under fire. Where in the PC version a successful shot is greeted by a spray of blood, in the console version your aiming reticule blinks red. It's not specific on where on the body the hit is made, and you can't tell if your aim is good for an instant kill, but it's adequate for the job and one area where an unrealistic aspect of the PC games was used to great gameplay effect.

In Finest Hour you have a good array of weapons to pick up with all the usual suspects such as rifles, auto-rifles, LMGs and so-on. The only new addition is the lighter sub-machine gun for the Americans, called the M3A1 or Grease Gun. As in the original game, you are limited to carrying only two weapons at a time, but here there is no penalty in terms of movement or reaction time.

Whether that matters to you depends on how you stand in the PC/console realism debate but one are we found unequivocally disappointing were the mechanics around the grenades. Grenades are selected by using the directional pad and associated menu (the same for weapon selection). To throw a grenade you hit the X button and, throw in the direciton you are facing. There is no ability to adjust range or to cook off grenades prior to delivery, and invariably they don't land where you want them. Basically, you quickly discount them as a useful weapon at all.

What we felt as an excellent addition to the game is the ability to carry health packs. Rather than having to remember where you saw the last one while you had progressed through a mission, you can now carry a supply for your own needs and your squad mates. Just as well - it's a good idea to have some on hand to keep up the health on your computer controlled team mates as they can be pretty gung-ho at times.

As you progress through the game you are given the opportunity to drive tanks and other vehicles. This is done particularly well with heaps of options around how you view down the sight and a one-button control to align the tank hull with the turret. It can be a fiddly at first, but soon you are trampling your enemies under your tank treads.

Looking at yet another change, the long time between check points can be a point of frustration in Finest Hour. Auto save points are spaced quite away apart and if you happen to screw up a mission you have to repeat a large proportion of it to get back to where you were. However, supporting up to 16 players on Xbox Live, Finest Hour's multiplayer cannot be discounted is a primary reason for owning the game. With some good maps and four game types, players can expect full on action against opponents from all over the world in true world war gameplay. Modes on offer include Axis vs Allies, team-based objective games and various deathmatch modes.