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Seizing the high ground

This is uncharted territory for us.

Typically jaded and mean, we usually find something bad to say about a video game within the first five minutes of playing it. After all, nobody’s perfect, right?

That theory generally holds. But when it comes to “Call of Duty: Roads to Victory” — the newest installment in the World War II series, available now for the PlayStation Portable — we find ourselves at a loss for words. Critical words, at least.

So we’re giving it a perfect score, five out of five stars. This is not done lightly.

The score comes from after hours spent mulling over our preview build of the new game, set to hit shelves March 13, and is based solely on test-driving a sneak peek at the first four levels. It does not reflect any time spent playing multiplayer battles, and comes in advance of completing the full version.

How could we give such high praise to a game we haven’t even finished?

Frankly, there’s little reason to believe the game designers gave up after crafting four intense, amazing levels, replete with all the gritty warfare we love from the “Call of Duty” franchise. As the opening rounds of the game clearly show, the designers don’t call themselves Amaze Entertainment for nothing.

It’s not just a game you buy for the PSP. It’s a game for which you buy a PSP.

Our intro put us in the boots of a grunt from the 82nd Airborne Division — a first for the franchise — while later levels put you in the role of a Canadian First Army infantryman and an elite British parachute commando. You’ll play 14 single-player missions overall, not counting a variety of multiplayer options for two to six players.

These missions center on the Normandy breakout campaign following the D-Day invasion, which franchise veterans will remember from the recent, underrated console offering “Call of Duty 3.” Everything you love from the PC and console versions is here, squashed into a smaller size for the convenience of playing on the go.

We tackled Nazis holed up in bombed-out towns, disabled enemy armor with rocket launchers, got up close with the sniper rifle and called for fire on tanks using binoculars. The final level in our preview put us high in the skies inside an Allied bomber, where we moved from one gunnery position to the next, blasting approaching fighter planes so our crew could complete a bombing run.

It’s all quintessential “Call of Duty,” right down to the historically accurate weapons and sweeping theme music. Wanna “cook” your grenades before you throw them? No problem. Need to call up your iron sights for a better look? Go for it.

Hold your breath while lining up the perfect sniper shot. Crouch or go prone to evade enemy fire. The options here are endless — not bad for a system you can slide into a cargo pocket.

Although the lack of a second joystick has left many PSP shooter games feeling clunky and awkward, the control presets for “Roads to Victory” are easily mastered and comfortable to use. Adding to the experience is an aim-assist feature that helps players easily put steel on target, a move that sounds like cheating but is balanced by umpteen zillion people to kill.

We don’t want to hear any crying from first-person shooter purists. If you don’t want to use the auto-aim feature, disable it in the options menu and jump back into the action. We’ll wait right here while you get waxed. That’s right; turn it back on, haters.

In the end, our perfect score is the product of one inescapable truth: Despite the tweaks and alterations, nothing gets lost in translation. This is true “Call of Duty,” not some half-baked wannabe designed to make a buck off the fans.

In the end, that’s all you can really ask for.

Call of Duty: Roads to Victory. 5 stars. PSP. $39.99. Rated “T” for Teen. www.callofduty.com/legacy6.html