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Something old, nothing new.

To say that WWII shooters are a dime a dozen is incorrect, they are more like a nickel a dozen at this point. So many in fact that even the Call of Duty series has shifted focus away from this time era and moved on to modern times. There are, on the other hand some developers who just want to keep milking this cow until it's dry. A sadder fact is that there are gamers out there who are willing to keep reliving the war to end all wars over and over again as well. For you gamers and you alone I present to you, Hour of Victory for the Xbox 360. What you get here is the frantic battles, slow wielding weapons, and huge tanks you come to love and expect from this genre.

This FPS places you into the battles from the European and North African stages of WWII, as you control one of three possible characters, each with their own specific strengths and weaknesses. You have the American OSS, Major Ambrose Taggert, who specializes in stealth and sabotage; The British SAS Lieutenant William Ross, who is the king at frontal assault attacks; and the US Army Ranger Sergeant Calvin Blackbull who is a bad ass in sniping and demolitions. It is up to you who to use and when to use them to complete each objective successfully.

Audio is everything you would want from a war title, it's loud, it has a good score, and the voice acting is riveting if not over the top at points. You'll hear explosions and the screams of your fallen comrades from every angle as the surround sound effects are used very well and really immerses you into the action.

The gameplay feels a bit loose at times in the control department as far as sensitivity goes, but otherwise the gameplays fairly solid, if not unoriginal. You have your assortment of weapons that have their own special perks to them; you can get in close and pound an enemy's face with the butt of your gun; you can jump into a tank and blow the land to kingdom come; and you can even sprint up to cover ala Gears of War. As the poets society would say; something old, nothing new, something borrowed, something blew... up that is.

The storyline will keep you busy for 10-12 hours with plenty of twists, turns, and white knuckle moments to keep any WWII fan happy. Once you've done your tour of duty, jump online with up to 12 friends and play over six maps in Deat match, Capture the Flag, and Devastation modes. Other than that, the game is on the shallow side as far as features go. For a game that says a certain moment is suited for a particular character, I'm surprised a co-op mode online or off wasn't implemented as it really seems that they were shooting for such an idea.

When the smoke bombs clear there will be many shooters that will be remembered. Unfortunately Hour of Victory won't be one of them. Not that the game does anything bad, it is as unoriginal as you can get in this land of competition. WWII fanatics will no doubt eat this up as it is obviously meant for you. The rest of the pack can try this or any of the countless WWII titles and accomplish the same results. It's just a shame for a company such as Midway who is very good at taking risks and trying new things, just goes to the well for this one. At least Stranglehold is right around the corner!