Call of Duty World at War
Go to war in the final tension-filled, unforgiving battles against a new ferocious enemy in the most dangerous and suspenseful action ever seen in WWII. Call of Duty: World at War completely changes the rules of engagement by redefining WWII gaming. It brings an uncensored edge to combat, as soldiers face the most harrowing and climatic European and Pacific battles. From the remains of Russia and the ruins of Berlin, to the beach and jungles of the deadly Pacific Theater, the volatile action takes on added depth as you employ new features that previously were only available in multiplayer, including perks, rankings and online stats in up-to full four-player cooperative gameplay.
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars CoD: Moral Hazard
World at War is unique in the CoD franchise. The game play is fine. If you’re a fan of CoD, you’ve seen all of this before. I think the graphics are a bit better, and some of the environments, especially in the Pacific campaign, are beautifully rendered. The Pacific campaign itself is an overdue addition, and it is well done. I don’t think this game is as good as Modern Warfare, which is really above and beyond the rest of the CoD franchise. Different milieu, an actual story line, something that passed for character development. Modern Warfare was by far the best game of the series.
What sets World at War apart, however, and this is something that I find to be very disturbing, and that is that it includes lots of historical footage of actual death. Each set piece is introduced with a very slick looking short film, done in a kind of modern Soviet realist style. And each one includes historical film and photographs from WWII. These are graphic and disturbing. You will see decomposing corpses hanging from gallows, twisted Japanese corpses on Pelileu, a German officer executed by firing squad, his body jerking around as he is riddled with bullets. Despite the fact that it’s all in black and white, this is graphically violent stuff.
It’s also real. Remember that. This is supposed to be a game, you know, for entertainment, for fun. And as part of our entertainment, Treyarch and Activision have given us real men, real suffering, real death. You had better enjoy it, because these fellows died for your game. I am sure that these men would be glad to know that their deaths now serve as a reminder for you to take your game seriously.
Some people will make the argument that the inclusion of this footage makes us realize that war is terrible and really think about the game we are playing. Nonsense. It is a game. We play it for fun. Those of us who have experienced actual combat know that CoD bears only the most superficial resemblance to war. Real war is terrifying. Call of Duty is video game, and anyone who thinks that including footage of actual death makes the game experience more “intense” and “rewarding” should spend some time actually getting mortared and shot at.
It does, however, force us to consider what’s really going on here. Everyone among us knows that war is terrible, and that video games are fun. And video games about war are also fun, even if war itself is terrible. This contradiction works because we are ultimately talking about two completely different things. It is because of the fact that a video game about war bears almost nothing in common with real war that we are able to enjoy it. But when you start including elements of actual war (footage of men being shot, for example) in the game, you start to blur the lines between the two, and a decent person has to ask himself what he is getting himself in to by playing this “game” of war.
Not convinced? Then ask yourself why, in all of the gruesome documentary footage, we see no American casualties. Japanese and German death? Fine. But not American, because it would make us uncomfortable, even angry. And why would it make us feel this way? Because the men in these photographs and film would not have wanted to be there. Their suffering is used for our entertainment, and that makes it exploitative and wrong.
So I would ask fellow gamers to think about what they are getting themselves into when they play this game, and I would ask Treyarch and Activision to dial it back a bit with the whole “real war” thing. If the next installment of CoD contains similar footage, I won’t buy it. At a time when we are fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I just think that the brave men who have answered the real “Call of Duty” deserve a bit more respect.
4 Stars Review from an older gamer. This is what COD3 should have been.
Since most gamers are probably a lot younger than me, I’ll give a review from an older person’s view. This is more on an old school game. If you’re looking for a game like COD4 with a modern theme, and advanced weapons, this game will might disappoint you. World at War is a great game, but this game is not really a sequel. It is an entirely different game and theme. This is what COD3 should have been. It takes the COD series back to it’s WWII roots. It’s not perfect though. It has its minor glitches, and the the single player is a little short. But it’s a huge improvement to COD3. For those that feel the old WWII theme might bore you, it does have a bonus mode called “Nacht der Untoten”, or Night of the Undead. You get to fight Nazi zombies. The game features excellent graphics and sound. The gameplay is very good. There are enough modes to keep the game fresh. All in all, I give it 4.5 stars. 5 stars for people like me that enjoyed the original WWII themed COD games, and 4 stars for the corwd that enjoyed COD 4 better.
4 Stars CoD 4: WWII Warfare.. oh, I mean, um, CoD5: World at War.
So I finally got to play the three modes this game has to offer, and since it had been a hot issue, whether this game was just CoD 4 on WWII wheels, I think some things needed to be cleared up.
- Graphics- this game doesn’t look much better or detailed than CoD4. The difference? Much fancier settings lead to seemingly “better” graphics. CoD 4 took place in very droll settings (modern- day terrorists should get interior decorators, for reals) but the fact of the matter is, they look practically the same. That’s a no no for W@W, ‘cos they could have at least ….improved a bit. The water, in case tots was wondering, looks good enough to drink, get some type of poisoning for drinking water where rats pee, and then die drowning in your own pool of vomit and bile right by the good looking water.
-Sound- the guns sound amazing…in the sense that most WWII weapons sounded like pop guns in comparison to modern guns. The voice acting is really really good. Like, really. The music in the Pacific Theater levels SUCKS. It actually sucks so much, it’s overshadowing a very nice game. It’s a faux pas comparable to using Godsmack for PoP Warrior Within. I dunno who Sean Murray is, but dude, you is the suckzors. On the other hand, Mr. Lost Boys himelf as Cpl-then-Sgt- Roebuck is EXCELLENT. And, not to be left behind by Gary Oldman as Reznov (who, for any of you who saw Enemy at the Gates, should have been called Koulikov, but I guess they would have sued)
-Gameplay- Oooh ok, the nitty gritty. This game has way more…um…quirks than CoD4. Collectibles, and um, modes and stuff. So, if that’s your tea in a cup, goodly. But this game does not feel as tight as CoD4. The “sloppiness” isn’t so bad that it detracts from gameplay, but it is noticeable. Right from the start. It doesn’t help either that more often than not, there’s a variety of paths to take… not that the game is not linear… it is, just, it’s up to you whether or not you want to take it up through the trench, or whether you want to slap the bullseye on your helmet and go over the top. But, for the most part, ahem… yes, this is CoD 4 on WWII wheels. To me though, that’s not bad. Is it worth shelling over $60? At first I thought no, but there’s the issue of different game modes…
Single campaign solo- This game suffers greatly from uneven level design. Let me specify…the game, unlike CoD4, doesn’t follow a cohesive storyline…the problem lies in the fact that you’re not pursuing two terrorists who have one common endgame…no, you’re fighting the whole axis…so, when you take that from macro to micro, it suffers and the levels seem tacked on. Truth be told, every level feels separate from the next. Which, in retrospective, makes CoD4s SP truly shine, because it now seems like a great movie. W@W just seems like random WWII encounters put together. I LOVE WII so that’s not a problem for me, but it might be for you. Now, the meat and potatoes,
-Competitive MP- well. I am WOWED. It is very much so like CoD 4, but before you start complaining…. think about it: what’s bad about that!? And what I’ve been hearing is true: Power Housing in this game is way more difficult, as is camping….because, it’s easy to catch a camper sitting on his arse from behind. The level designs were thought in a more organic way… I think. War ravaged buildings= outlandish situations. Another, very interesting byproduct of this being a WWII is the weapons. You might say “huh??” Well, WWII shooters have… WWII guns. What does that mean?? Well, by modern-day guns standards… a lot of the weapons used in WWII are underpowered. A few exceptions aside, the weaknesses of WWII guns have been implemented in a way that it hinders you like it would in real life, something that wasn’t really present in CoD4, because modern day guns are a progression of improvement in weaponry. The MP5 for example, is a powerhouse, because heck, it’s a frickin’ state of the art gun! But, for example… take the beloved M1 Garand. It’s powerful, and it is precise. And you have to have a happy trigger finger to have a good repeat on it. And you have to take a frickin’ clip out, and it goes “ping!’ when you’re out, and that’s gonna be every 8 shots. Shoot! Another example? The BAR. Ooooh, chills. Well, it’s slow going, and the clip is a measly 20 bullets. Shall we talk about bolt action rifles? Shoot, bolt, shoot, bolt… five bullets and megalong reload??? Oh noes! Also, the grenades weren’t as powerful as they are now, and Tater Mashers are sort of a joke, unless you have the aim of William Tell. So I think, for now, since I’m still starting, the gameplay has been kept level with the guns as well. Now, the pleasant surprise,
-Coop MP- Well, I played with a friend, and WOW, we kept dying and coming back laughing. Talk about team work being important. It’s similar to R2s co-op, but there are no classes, so every character is on the level, and every player can take care of their buddies with careful planning. But I gotta say, and hey, we only played about two levels, my friend and I , but this mode made me say “well, I’m glad I didn’t wait until it got down to $40″ Really. I mean, this mode of play overshadows the SP greatly, for the single fact that it’s the same thing, just multiplayer.
So, these issues taken into account, I still don’t know if we could cut Treyarch some slack or not…they say plagiarism is the best form of compliment. These guys might not be the best developers around… and they are not far from being the worst, from what I hear ( I never played CoD3), but they sure know how to identify the features that make a good game and putting them together.
As a sidenote, the first level you play as a Soviet is a dead ringer for the initial scenes from Enemy at the Gates, which had been somewhat depicted in CoD, but it didn’t matter much to me, it was incredibly fun. Old timey sniping was good timey sniping.
Btw- the flamethrower? Let’s just say, I’ve rekindled my pyromania, at least in a safe way. Pun totally intended.
3 Stars Worst Spawn Generator on the planet
This could be an awesome game. However the spawn generator insists on dropping you back into the game directly infront of enemy soldiers. I write this after I was killed 3 times without being able to so much as MOVE from the position it spawned me without being immediately killed by someone lucky enough to be facing me, with their sight on my head, and their finger half way through the trigger pull. Also, in online play, it doesn’t show everyone the same thing. Over and over I shoot, hear the shot, see the shot strike my opponent and then find out that I have been killed by some magical curving bullet. The online play was much better in COD4. I’m either going to sell this game or snap the disc in half and send it back.
4 Stars COD4 WWII Style
This game is really good, so far. Everything about it is about the same as COD4, except a WWII version. The controls are exactly the same. This time, you play as against Japan. Then, you play as Russian forces against the Germans. The Japan stages are really intense. The Japan fighters are very aggressive. They will charge at you with there bayonets. Now, you have a chance to defend the attacks. When they come up, you can press the R3 button and counterattack by stabbing them in the throat. It reminds me when the dogs attack you on COD4. I just got to the stage as the Russian army. They are in Germany. You start out as a sniper. The board is very similar to COD4’s “All Ghillied Up.” Of course, the board is a lot more intense and a heck of a lot more things are going on. I don’t want to spoil it, though. I’m on the second part of the stage. So far, the game is very exciting. The cutscenes are very intense. The only thing is that I’m a little tired of WWII games. That is the only reason why I gave the game 4 stars. Still, if you are a COD fan, this game is for you.
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