A total modification created by a small team, using the engine and resources of Call of Duty 2, but also borrowing the plot, dialogue, characters and sounds from the Spanish RTS game Sombras De Guerra. Set during the eponymous conflict, the mod offers a campaign with missions for both sides and includes several factions, like the German Condor Legion or Italian CTV troops. The plot covers major events of the conflict, starting with the military uprising in Melilla and siege of Toledo and ending with the last Republican offensive and fall of Madrid. Although you mainly control two main characters, a Moroccan soldier nicknamed Shabah fighting with Franco's Foreign Legion, and Marion Barrena, an agent of the Republican government, secondary characters are playable in some missions. Numerous new weapons are available for both sides of the conflict, as well as character and vehicle models.
The mod can be downloaded here.
The CoD2 Spanish Civil War mod contains examples of:
- Ace Pilot: Joaquín García Morato, the top-scoring Nationalist fighter ace, makes a brief appearance during one of the Nationalist missions when he shoots down an enemy fighter.
- All Germans Are Nazis: Averted with Commissar Kleber who assists you during one of the Republican missions. He even lampshades this when your character reacts hostile after learning about his ethnicity.
- Badass Boast: On the streets of Madrid, you can see a large banner displayed between two houses reading ‘Madrid will be the tomb of fascism’.
- Bayonet Ya: Unlike the vanilla game, the mod lets you use bayonets which are more effective in disposing of enemies than the regular butt or pistol whipping. However, they cannot be dismounted and used to stealthily kill enemy soldiers.
- Big Damn Heroes: During the Alcazar missions, the perspective eventually changes from that of a defender to a soldier in the Nationalist relief force. Your orders are to break through the Republican troops, decimate their artillery, and eventually reach the fortress to make a contact with the defenders.
- Civil War: It’s in the title.
- Colonel Badass: Colonel Moscardó defiantly refuses to surrender the Alcazar despite the enemy having an overwhelming advantage and threatening to murder his son held in their captivity.
- Cool Car: Republican Bilbao Model 1939 armoured cars appear in several missions. Each one is armed with a deadly machine gun and impervious to gunfire, grenades and even Molotov cocktails.
- Cowboy Cop: The Civil Guard fighting for the insurgents and the Assault Guard among the government forces.
- Demolitions Expert: The engineer you escort as Marión to plant explosives under one of the towers in the Alcazar fortress.
- Elite Mooks: Enemies armed with submachine guns and hand grenades can become a real nuisance, especially when attacking in large groups.
- Fade to Black: The first Nationalist mission ends with Shabah and his unit capturing the enemy commander loyal to the Madrid government. Then the screen fades to black and you hear the narrator saying that the captive has just been executed by a firing squad.
- Fighting for a Homeland: The German and Italian antifascists fighting for the Republic.
- Gunship Rescue: In one mission, your armoured car gets ambushed and destroyed by a Republican tank. Then you crawl out of the wreckage and find yourself in an open area with no cover, the tank aiming at you and left without any means to damage it… but the enemy vehicle is suddenly destroyed by one of your dive bombers.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: In one mission, you liberate Falangist fighters from a Republican prison. During the attack, you storm into an interrogation room to see an Assault Guard officer ‘questioning’ a Falangist tied to a chair.
- Justified Tutorial: At the start of the first mission, your character has to pass a training course at the military base in Melilla. Being a professional soldier in an elite unit, it is understandable that Shabah would be required to train frequently. Beside that, given that the military is preparing a rebellion, the commanders would want their subordinates to be in top shape and insist on training even more frequent than usual.
- Just Plane Wrong: The group of downed German pilots you rescue in one of the Nationalist missions counts at least 10 people, but the wreck of their plane shows to be a two-seat diver bomber.
- La Résistance: During a reconnaissance mission, Marión receives information about the incoming rebellion and general directions from a pro-government civilian.
- Last Stand: The final mission for the Republicans has the remnant of the Francoist army defending Burgos, the capital of the provisionary Nationalist government.
- Mildly Military: The Republican forces include several militia forces attached to various political groups which wear different types of civilian clothing, from farmer garb to factory overalls. The only thing distinguishing them as armed combatants are various badges and insignia - and their guns.
- Military Coup: The first missions take place during the rebellion of the military garrison in Spanish Morrocco.
- No Campaign for the Wicked: Averted. Both sides of the civil war have an almost equal number of missions and each gets its own victory ending.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Sergeant Richthofen is firmly convinced that Spanish soldiers fighting on both sides are inferior to their German counterparts. He also mocks the skin colour of the Moroccan protagonist.
- Shown Their Work: Despite having limited resources and being unpaid for their work, the modding team put much effort into making the game look and feel as historically accurate as possible. Even having only a rudimentary knowledge about the history of the Spanish Civil War, you will appreciate the uniform and weapon design shown in the game, as well as various historical locations closely resembling their real-life counterparts.
- Sniper Duel: at an early stage of the siege of Alcazar, the player is ordered to shoot a Republican sniper hiding among the rooftops of the city buildings surrounding the fortress. Somewhat subverted, since neither of them uses scoped rifles and both sides of the conflict didn’t have specialised snipers in their ranks.
- Song of Courage: In the final mission for the Republican side, the government soldiers sing The Internationale together before storming Burgos and capturing General Franco.
- The Squadette: Even though you can see militiawomen fighting among the government troops, Marión is the only voiced character in the entire game, and also the only playable woman.
- Stealth-Based Mission: The Garrabitas Hill mission begins with Shabah crossing a bridge at night, armed only with a knife, and ordered to eliminate enemy sentries. Due to a Game-Breaking Bug, he always gets detected and shot at before killing anyone. However, stealth mechanics work (mostly) correctly in the penultimate Republican mission when Marion has to sneak inside a Nazi mansion and steal the documents proving their plans for a world conquest.
