In addition to its focus on intensity and realism, Call of Duty 2 also emphasizes its historical accuracy. All military units in the game actually existed and all of the battles portrayed did occur (although not exactly as portrayed in the game).

Call of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360 was one of the most popular online games for the console for the first two years of its release. The maps in Call of Duty 2 vary from Normandy, Africa, and Russia during the winter.

Infected was first popularized with Halo 3 in 2007, and first debuted in an unofficial capacity for CoD in private matches within 2011's Modern Warfare 3.