Call of Duty: World at War

"So we are back in World War II, be ready for true carnage!"

The Call of Duty series has went from World War II to modern day, and now with this entry we are back at odds with the Nazis and the Japanese respectively. Well seeing as yours' truly is not particularly fond of the Nazis, to be perfectly honest, I despise them! So getting an oppurtunity to indulge in acts of violence against the Nazis is definitely appealing to me, the Japanese? Well they brought us anime, Metal Gear Solid and the mega-awesome samurai, so leave them alone!

Presentation:

Well the presentation is.....an improvement from COD4 which was barely anything special except for the theme song that plays during the menu and the epic opening cutscene. Now we have ourselves chilling images of shovels in the ground with military helmets on the handles, coupled with an equally sorrowful and bonechilling theme song which doesn't quite top COD4's awesome theme song, but it definitely comes close to it!

Gameplay:

Well I have to say the gameplay can be summed up in one sentence: "Call of Duty 4 set in World War II."

Yeah that's pretty much it! Not that it's a bad thing, the car hasn't broken down, so looking under the hood would be pointless, and the execution is exceptional! What I do like is the addition of a flamethrower, totally genius and it's quite satisfying to see your enemies run around on fire, screaming in total agony. There is one thing that World at War truly succeeds at, COD4 had really clever scenarios and World at War has expanded upon that! And the result is a game that is more epic, more violent and more ambitious than it's predecessor. I won't spoil any of these missions for you, but I assure you, if you're a fan of FPS games, particularly the Call of Duty games, you won't be disappointed.

Story:

Now this is where the game is somewhat lacking and ultimately makes the previous game superior to it, basically you play as an American soldier in the Pacific Theater and a member of the Red Army in the European Theater. The Pacific portion of the game is basically about the squad fighting with the hopes of getting discharged and being able to go home, sound familiar? Well it's only the same theme used in virtually every World War II movie ever made! The European portion is somewhat better, it provides a much more barbaric side to the game, the character Sgt. Reznov (voiced by Gary Oldman) seems to be enjoying himself throughout this game and shows how much the Red Army truly enjoyed committing war crimes during the Second World War, but even though this is slightly better than the Pacific portion it still isn't as interesting because we know how it ends before we even get to the ending. The Red Army storm the Reichstag, a squad member dies, they kill every last Nazi in the place, they place the Soviet flag on the roof and the war is over. I will compliment the fact they included a mission where you can finally crush the Nazis on their home-turf though!

Graphics:

Much like the previous entry, World at War looks really nice! The European front is very bland and captures the Fascist architecture very well, so ironically the blandness is good rather than bad, the Pacific theater wins on the graphics spectrum the environments are very nice and are much more diverse too! It also helps that they are more interesting to look at, though the European environments are still good! The characters are every bit as believable as they were in COD4 and the issues with lip-synching and framerate have been scaled down this time around! Oh and I almost forgot, this game is packed full of blood, severed limbs and other things associated with the word "gore."

Multiplayer:

Well the mulitplayer in World at War is basically the same as COD4's multiplayer, but they have made some additions, like the ability to drive a tank, which is fun to do. It's every bit as addictive as COD4's online mode, though COD4 is much more fun due to the fact you have more modern weapons.

Replayability

Well the online mode is ideal for replay value, and the story mode contains some really fun missions, even though the plot leaves something to be desired, I still love replaying this game over and over.

Lasting impression:

Though the plot is uninteresting, predictable and packed full of cliches, Call of Duty: World at War is certainly a much more ambitious effort than Call of Duty 4, and even though it doesn't quite top it in terms of story, gameplay and online gaming, it still remains a stellar effort and I would highly recommend it! I'll go ahead and give this an 8/10!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/12/09

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