Now there’s mixed bags and there’s mixed bags. The latest effort from Activision on the PSP is most certainly the latter. While we’re not quite sure exactly what that means, we’re pretty sure that you don’t either, so we’ll let that one go, eh? The point we’re trying to make here is that it’s bloody difficult to make a bad Call Of Duty title, but equally hard to make a good one. It is, on the other hand, incredibly easy to hold enough strong bits together with a handful of filler to create a title that’s guaranteed a 70+ score. We’d like to buck the trend here, and if you cast your eyes down to the score you’ll see that we afforded it the meagre score of 69 per cent. We’re sticking it to the man.

To be fair Call Of Duty: Roads To Victory does a marvellous job of translating what makes the series so enormously enjoyable on the home consoles to the PSP. Indeed, many of the issues come from what the PSP inherently lacks, namely any kind of effective first person shooter control system. Let’s get that out of the way first shall we? Yes, you all knew it before you even started reading this review, but the control system fares terribly in amongst the customary hustle and bustle of the Call Of Duty atmosphere. Not only are they poorly placed, despite the handful of preset configurations, but the slothful nature of the face buttons is more often than not the cause of your demise. Knowing this, it’s difficult not to approach the war with craven cowardice. So often, especially after some tremendous setpieces, you’re all fired up and wanting to launch yourself into the fray with wolverine like aggression, but the prohibitive nature of the control mechanic demands that you take things at a snails pace. This kind of halting gameplay does immeasurable damage to what should really be a title full of pace, action and viscera.

Developer Amaze has clearly seen fit to counteract that by introducing a near faultless auto targeting function. Sure, it works to turn the tables on an enemy that seems permanently stuck in overdrive, but it takes much away from the ethos of a series that has always done exceedingly well at recreating the action of conflict. That feeling hasn’t completely evaporated however, as the finest thing about Roads To Victory is the way in which Amaze has maintained the epic and intense feel of the franchise. It all looks and sounds great, which is a huge boost to the quality of the title. Some of the mounted gun and sniper sections, not to mention the bombing missions are unrivalled in their magnitude on the handheld. Indeed, there are many elements, situations and segments of action that are well worth transferring to the home consoles at some point. That often serves to isolate the more pedestrian sections of the game however, and even with these impressive segments it’s difficult to truly get into the game.

We’re fully aware of how bizarre and confusing war is, but Roads To Victory has gone a little too far in trying to get that across, as some of the AI decisions are remarkably stupid. Your comrades will stop occasionally, mid charge, to apparently survey the surroundings, leaving you trapped behind a fellow trooper who might as well be shouting "Shoot me! And while you’re at it, you can blast this guy stuck behind me; he looks up for it." No, there are some horrific glitches, bugs and niggles that – while we were expecting them – do nothing to raise the playability of any part of the game.

For those that find it possible to see past these irritations, there’s an awful lot of game here. Being able to play not only as US infantry, but also as British and Canadian almost makes the UMD feel heavier, and with the multiplayer, anyone who values quantity over quality could do much worse. Granted, throughout the campaign you’re constantly amazed at just how single-minded Call Of Duty has become, but again, it is relatively easy to overcome, should you have the patience to persevere with it. We’d have to ask why you’d want to though, as the storyline – an element we weren’t expecting to find lacking – doesn’t hold up against the numerous well conceived narratives and characterisations of previous efforts. While this doesn’t necessarily negate the possibility of it becoming an engrossing train-ride pursuit, it sure doesn’t help.

In essence, you’re right about Roads To Victory. When you pick it up, you’re thinking that it looks great and has an amazing atmosphere to bind together the sections of tense, battlefield action and lovely set pieces. At the back of your mind you’re also aware of the PSP’s limitations, and the fact that such a lively title is a little overpowered for the PSP’s fiddly controls and bite-sized processor. Trust yourself and you’ll probably make a good purchase here.

Tom Leclerc