Call of Duty: Finest Hour

 Xbox
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 55 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 28 out of 55
  3. Negative: 0 out of 55
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  1. Xbox Evolved
    74
    The weapons look good and are nicely designed.
  2. IGN
    73
    Finest Hour has been "consolized" and turned from a somewhat challenging and often intense PC first-person shooter into a bland, run-and-gun console pop-gun game.
  3. ActionTrip
    71
    This game has committed a cardinal sin, and that sin is mediocrity. Nothing is special about it, and while it does have a fun, cinematic feel and some nicely featured historical missions, it simply does not feel memorable. Maybe I shouldn't have compared it to the original, but I have. Sue me.
  5. Gaming Target
    71
    A fun game that could have been made a lot more enjoyable by adding a couple of checkpoints here and there.
  6. GMR Magazine
    70
    The game's presentation is incredible... Unfortunately, the A.I. should have spent more time in basic training. [Feb 2005, p.87]
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  7. Eurogamer
    70
    As it stands, it hasn't re-ignited much other than a vague feeling that we should pull the PC version out of the cupboard and play it again.
  8. Total Video Games
    70
    A WWII game with nice moments and a good storyline; but as a game it fails on a number of points and its distinct lack of innovation makes it hard to recommend to anyone but fans of the genre.
  9. Official Xbox Magazine
    70
    A decent experience, but not one you're likely to spend much time with. [Jan 2005, p.72]
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  10. Game Over Online
    70
    A lack of checkpoints, imperfect weapon design and control along with a lack of a story that players will care for makes this the low point for the impressive franchise.
  11. 3DAvenue
    70
    Spark took hold of the project to completion and while the game is fairly decent, it is a shame they didn't have the spark to polish it as much as the PC version.
  12. Yahoo!
    70
    There's an awful lot of linear, shooting-gallery tedium you have to plod through to get to the good stuff.
  13. GameSpot
    67
    Had the feel of the weapons been a little better, and had the campaign been more consistently intense, Finest Hour could have been a much better game.
  14. netjak
    65
    First and foremost, the amount of shots it can take to kill your enemies is absurd. It's so inconsistent that not even a headshot will always drop your enemies, and I have a HUGE problem with that.
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  15. Loaded Inc
    65
    If I couldn't complain about the graphics or sound, then I certainly could about the game's AI. It borders on incompetent and if you're AI allies aren't running right in front of you cutting off your line of fire, then they're charging head-first into an enemy machine gun nest.
  16. TotalGames.net
    64
    This could have been Activision's finest hour, but it looks likely to be nothing more than an agonising five minutes of fame.
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  17. Xbox Solution
    62
    While the single-player mode offers enough missions and options, it can become old quickly. As far as the online mode, the 16-player matches are nice yet, tend to become boring due to the overall mechanics of the game.
  18. Xequted
    62
    As a whole, Call of Duty: Finest Hour feels like it was poorly assembled with shoddy A.I. and lacklustre graphics. Couple that with short, uninteresting missions and main characters that you couldn't care less about, and you have a game that may be worth a day's play but is a title that you wouldn't want to in your own library.
  19. games(TM)
    60
    The atmosphere is electric, the sense of making tiny in-roads to solve a great problem as satisfying as it is frustrating... Spark never allows you to forget that outside the restrictive confines of the first-person viewpoint there's a much, much bigger fight going on involving thousands of men. [Jan 2005, p.110]
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  20. Boomtown
    60
    But the problems with the game can be summed up in a mission to defend a factory, where failure meant game over rather than the continuation of the battle from that point on.
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  21. GameCritics
    60
    Finest Hour is a heavily-scripted experience, almost to the point of being completely on rails. Things happen because they're scripted to happen, not because they're an organic outgrowth of the gameplay.
  22. GamePro
    60
    But playing this game live on the console systems lacks the finesse and speed to which you're accustomed. Lag is apparent everywhere, from watching other players float across the ground to empting an entire magazine into a foe at close range with no effect.
  23. G4 TV
    60
    If some of the difficulty settings didn't feel so unbalanced, we'd have liked more time in North Africa, as that campaign feels the most fresh out of the three.
  24. GamerFeed
    60
    Call of Duty doesn't blast its way onto the Xbox but rather trips over its own feet onto a pile of live grenades. It's an enjoyable first person shooter, but its many glitches (especially those found in the online mode) are extremely annoying, and the game is just too linear for its own good.
  25. The Sydney Morning Herald
    60
    Although missions are well-designed and combat can be intense, sequences such as the battle to reclaim Stalingrad lack the scale and cinematic grandeur of the PC version.
  26. Xbox World Australia
    55
    Nothing but a rushed, messy and lacklustre attempt to cash in on a popular PC franchise during the Christmas rush period.
  27. Gamestyle
    50
    'Average Hour' would seem a better appellation for Call of Duty: Finest Hour.
  28. GameShark
    50
    Even if I hadn't played the crap out of the game series on the PC, I would have still felt the game was lacking any significant punch to set itself ahead of the market for its time.
  29. Detroit Free Press
    50
    While offering a well-scripted narrative, comes up with precious few reasons to play out these battles again. No surprises here -- just solid, albeit predictable, action that could have been better.

Awards & Rankings

80
#80 Best Xbox Game of 2004
41
#41 Most Discussed Xbox Game of 2004
19
#19 Most Shared Xbox Game of 2004

User Reviews

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User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 39 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 39
  3. Negative: 11 out of 39
  1. BlueFalcon
    Nov 28, 2004
    6
    It's a slightly above average title. The game plays similar to medal of honor frontline, except not as well executed. There's many It's a slightly above average title. The game plays similar to medal of honor frontline, except not as well executed. There's many scripted events and a set path which you must follow (or die). The whole war atmosphere is well done, but the graphics aren't exceptional. In particular, the textures in the environment look grainy and unnatural. Many of the missions seem unexceptional too. It's like they included all the cutting room floor levels or something. While this isn't the worst war game to come out recently, it's not something that's particularly memorable.… Full Review »
  2. Dperks
    Dec 7, 2021
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. I really didn't want to give this gamer as low of a score as this but after returning to this game after years and even with my nostalgia glasses on its just not that good. So for context this was the first COD game I ever played. At least I'm pretty sure its kind of of hard to remember but needless to say I remember loving it as a kid. But after coming back all the bad stuff in this game has come rushing back to me. So for starters this was the first COD game on consoles and it takes a lot from the first COD but is still its own game. The only scene ripped straight from COD 1 is the crossing of the Volga river except this time its at the beginning of the game. And I think this makes for a very strong opener along with the second level where you have to storm a fortified hill top. In fact I'd say that other then the third level which is a sewer level and it looks really bad visually like its just a mess of grey. The whole soviet campaign for the most part is actually fairly solid. If the whole game were like it it would probably be a 6/10. But its the British and especially the American levels that you see the crap in this game. But I'm getting ahead of myself lets start with some core issues. Visually and sound design wise the game is very generic even for its time the games visuals were criticized back then and today they only look worse. There are some levels that look a lot better then others but most of them use a lot of greys and dark colors that just make it really boring to look at. And gunplay isn't much better and controls were weird which I can excuse a bit for being the first COD on console. The gun selection is very pitiful though there are no handguns or shotguns and so its pretty much rifles and machine guns for the most part and their animations and sound effects aren't very punchy or impactful. And grenades are just terrible you can through one right by someone and it may not kill them and then in the later levels enemy's love to just spam grenades at times and with some fairly unforgiving health pack placements and at times no check points in levels makes for a very frustrating experience. For example the last British and American levels don't have checkpoints what so ever. And in both there's tons of enemy's and machine gun placements that can chew right through you if unprepared. The British levels aren't to bad as there's only 4 of them and there fairly short. But it makes that whole chunk of the campaign really forgettable. And the American campaign is where all the most frustrating aspects come out. With escort missions, way to many enemies who take way too long to kill and unforgiving checkpoints along with some crap level design makes nearly half of the game just not fun to play through. Except for one American mission where you got to paly as an all African American tank division which It thought was interesting. The level itself did start to drag on and the tanks don't handle very well but it was still a nice change of pace I thought. One last thing the enemy AI is really dumb sometimes with enemy's just mindlessly charging you or running past you the most they ever do is take cover and it makes the gunplay all the more boring by time you get to those later missions. In conclusion despite Finest Hour having some solid levels and set pieces in its first half the meandering second half really drags the whole game down and puts a spot light on the many issues the game has. And while the game overall feels more grounded in reality then the first COD game it isn't nearly as fun and doesn't save it from blending in with the mediocre WW2 shooters that were so prevalent in the early 2000s.… Full Review »
  3. Rick
    Mar 2, 2006
    8
    Me and my nephew played this straight thru as it was a challenge. The gameplay keeps you on your seat and unlike the just released Call of Me and my nephew played this straight thru as it was a challenge. The gameplay keeps you on your seat and unlike the just released Call of Duty 2 the A.I doesnt suck. You dont have squad members taking up all your fire like the sequel so to survive and beat the damn thing you have to hug every corner and attempt assualts from different paths. Buy this, rent the sequel.… Full Review »
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