Call of Duty: World at War

"A simple CoD:WaW PSN Online Review."

Multiplayer Online only review. (has Platinumed single player)

Last year, Infinity Ward pleased gamers with the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare franchise. Which plased many gamers to taking the CoD series into something they never did before, which worked very very well. However, while IW are busy with their latest project: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, CoD's “B-Team” AKA Treyarch, made Call of Duty: World at War. (It's not called Call of Duty 5.) Treyarch in the past has made the WWII shooter Call of Duty 3 also. It seemed COD:MW took 2 years, and MW2 potentially taking 2 years also, has left this years franchise to Treyarch, and back to World War II…

Let's start with the good:

Treyarch have seemed too keep the same system and controls CoD4 did, like L1 to aim down sights, Square to reload etc. Ammo and item counters have remained the same in the both games simultaneously also with the left and D-buttons to use special items like Satchel charges and Recon planes. So menu is good. There are also 10 Prestiges like last year's installment but the maximum level is 65, not 55.

Nothing to overpowering when you start i.e. M16 with “Noobtube” last year. This year is a bit more balanced, starting out with a gun like a Thompson, single shot rifle and a 30 clip LMG. There's only 2 maps I like though, Upheaval and Castle, apart from that they are a bit vague.

Dogs are stupid, they are pretty unrealistic, sprint like mad at you, 2 quick bites on a “Core” game and one on “Hardcore” modes will send you goodbye. Sometimes I've had dogs killing me 4 times in one batch. Tanks completely ruin the game and it's realism. They take a while to bring down, and 95% of the time kill your target in one hit. Perk 1 is mostly wasted on Anti-tank equipment, rather then extra ammo or bomb-seeking intelligence.

The M2 Flamethrower is complete rubbish killing anyone in a lick of flames. AND it recharges. What the hell? It's a perk 1, and should be used like a Perk 1, with limited use… Sure it may be unlocked at level 65, but Non-prestige's OVERUSE it. Bouncing Betty's (I'll admit it I like the name) are too hard to spot without Bomb Squad, I've tripped multiple random Betty's in the middle of nowhere. The only thing that makes them notable is the shining light that can only be spotted at a close range, but players will normally tuck them in a corner so they are unspottable in most solutions.

Maps are mainly too big with the exceptions of Dome and Courtyard, and can provide a lot of spots with a player staying still and ranking up kills, players refer this to “camping or “bloody camper” Sniping spots are very limited, and too noticeable to other players, causing to be fraged or counter-sniped.

Sniper's need to be levelled up for a sniper scope!!!! This is the worse thing in the game! You need 25 kills with the bolt actions to get a scope, which is painful as Blot Action Rifles are slow and don't always kill with one hit (even with Stopping Power being a players Red Perk.)

The game has it's laggy parts, quite often, even on a 8 megabyte connection I have problems. I mainly get Yellow and orange connections which are near unplayable.

Overall, I'm disappointed in my purchase of 2008's Call of Duty merchandise. Roll on November 2009...

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 02/17/09

Game Release: Call of Duty: World at War (EU, 11/14/08)