Publisher: Midway
Developer: nFusion
System: Xbox 360
Genre: First person shooter
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

World War II and video games fit together so well, it’s no wonder it’s become a genre unto itself. Offerings such as the groundbreaking Battlefield 1942, Medal of Honor and Call of Duty dug their own trenches, laying the groundwork for a generous amount of sequels, spin-offs and ports to almost every platform imaginable. But with so much market saturation, how can someone fathom taking another trip to the front? Does the Unreal Engine 3-powered Hour of Victory have what it takes to stand up to its heavy handed competition? Or have we been here before?

World War II was the ultimate battle of good versus evil, the deadliest clash the world has ever known. Still, nFusion, the developers of Hour of Victory, wanted to step it up a notch, introducing the possibility of a Nazi-developed atomic weapon, one which could wreak unimaginable havoc and turn the tides of this global conflict into the wringing hands of the enemy. Not on the Allies’ watch, though. Having heard of this threat, a call is put out for the best of the best, the formation of a team that could infiltrate its location and disable it permanently.

Your specialized trio of militant elites is led by William Ross, a Scottish commando who fancies himself a bit of a bullet shield, a run-and-gun kind of guy with muscles to push objects out of the way and an M1A1 he’s not afraid to use — liberally. Major Ambrose Taggert, an American covert operative who plays the cocky son of a gun in the group, flanks Ross. His MO is to be neither seen nor heard, cutting wire fences, picking locks and silently dealing with the enemy forces from behind the shadows. The ranger, Calvin Blackbull, is of Native American decent and prefers hunting someone at long range as opposed to up close and personal. He’s equipped with a Springfield sniper rifle, and his ability to use a grappling hook at specific points allows him gain a higher vantage point.

The single-player campaign for Hour of Victory takes place during the North African and European campaigns of World War II, spanning four chapters with a total of 13 missions in all. The player chooses one of the three aforementioned characters at the beginning of each mission, allowing for various routes and advantages depending on the soldier. Your conscript will wade through war torn cityscapes, take an inclined cable car to a mountain stronghold, pilot a tank and man an anti-aircraft gun to stave off an onslaught of enemy bombers. A multi-mission hostage rescue, stealth sections and plenty of duck and cover moments pepper the course of the game, too; in fact, cover might be the most useful weapon of all in HoV, as you’re under almost constant fire.