Call of Duty: World at War

"Good, but not great."

Take a step back in time as you storm through the savage undergrowth of the Pacific, and the ruined remnants of Europe. The game includes a rather unexplored feature; the Pacific Theatre. This game definitely shines as one of the best FPS shooters, but is it worth the buy? Read on.

Single Player

The single player in this game is average, so to put. The enemy's unnerving accuracy is quite an irritating issue, and the frequent grenade spam will prove to be an annoyance on higher difficulties. On the lower difficulties though, this game is a great play.

The detail of the storyline, so to put, is incredible. All of the missions are based on real events, are exciting, and WWII enthusiasts will find themselves enveloped in a thrilling journey.

Unlike it's modern counterpart, Modern Warfare, the game has no training mission. It throws you straight into it with a raid on a small jewel in the pacific. The latter is a small military base for the Japanese, and it's your job to overthrow it.

Some missions are poorly designed. Some of the later missions are almost impossible on higher difficulties, and all of the levels are extremely linear. It isn't like a real battlefield, you fight your way threw it, with no room for exploration. This is quite a disappointment if you're a fan of the Battlefield Series, where open-ended adventure was the main feature, but it's still definitely worth a quick playthrough.

Zombies

What really is the most thrilling experience in any FPS ever is the inclusion of Nazi Zombies. It features a basic point-gathering system, where you defend windows and kill zombies with your range of weapons. In later levels however, you'll find yourself needing to hide in a corner and hope your gun can hold them off. Downloadable map packs include new features, such as The Flogger, Perk-a-Cola machines and Pack a Punch.

Multiplayer

Most people bought the game for this, and this only. What I'll say is that it's average. Some weapons are extremely over-powered and the range of some weapons is ridiculously high. Some of the levels are very poorly designed with lots of spots to sit and hide in, unlike MW where there were at least 2 ways into almost every spot.

The weapons are good. Enthusiasts will be delighted by the inclusion of the Japanese and Russian arsenals, unlike the usual American-German range. If you want to see some real variety though, you'll have to step into Hardcore where not everybody uses the same gun; the MP40. That's the real issue with this mode, it's extremely over-powered, has the range of any rifle. and is accurate with hip-fire to boot. Almost everybody will use it on Core, so if you want to see some bolt-actions, rifles and machine guns step into Hardcore and have a blast at that.

The game modes are average. Boot camp is just about the most irritating thing ever, as people can glitch to get in it when they are high levels. Sabotage is extremely annoying what with the respawn penalty and excessive spawn-killing. Search and Destroy is arguably one of the best game modes but extremely boring at times. Decide for yourself.

The perks are the final thing I will say about it. There's variety in the perks, but not in the ones that people will use. Mainly just Stopping Power, Juggernaut, Steady Aim and Martyrdom. All are extremely boring to use and if you want any variety at all, again you'll have to go in Hardcore where once again, people decide to be boring and use Second Chance, where you get shot to fatal damage and bring out your pistol for one last stand. Except, Treyarch have decided to include a revive feature, so other players with the perk can bring you up again. Cool huh? No.

Overall, 7/10. Multiplayer was a bit of a let down. However, Single Player and Nazi Zombies were great, definitely worth a buy if not just for them.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/08/09

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