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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: FPS Developer: Treyarch Publisher: Activision |
Many people know that war never changes; the weapons and tactics may differ a little bit though. It is still about chaos and fear and
adrenaline pumping through the veins. This is a hard experience to capture in a videogame, but the “Call of Duty” series has come
awfully close due to its intensity. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” delivered a great experience and a varied single player experience that
proves to be some big shoes for “Call of Duty: World at War” to fill.
One thing the really helps is the fact that this time around the game focuses on some of the less popular theaters of World War II.
Instead of the normal campaigns including Normandy and D-Day that have been seen time and time again, the game covers the island
hopping campaign in the Pacific and the Red Army at Stalingrad, all the way to the Fall of Berlin. This offers players with some new and
interesting battlefields in the Pacific.
The campaign suffers a bit because of how broad its scope is, the narrative of the game seems to skip large chunks of the war; months
at a time, showing only the major battles of the war. The result of this is that the story line doesn’t have as strong of a feel as previous
games in the series. It probably doesn’t help that most players know how the war eventually turns out. Unlike “Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare,” which had a fictionalized story with a lot of twists and turns, “Call of Duty: World at War” follows real historic events.
The single player campaign is as short as that of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare,” but it doesn’t feel like it drags on. There is a large
amount of replayability this time around because the majority of the campaign is playable in cooperative mode with up to three other
players. Of course there are a few that aren’t playable in multiplayer mode, but that can be excused because of how much is available.
Not only is the campaign available is cooperative mode, but there is also a Death Card system that may remind some of the skull
system in “Halo 3.” Scattered throughout the campaign are Death Cards that are available to be found. Each one unlocks a different
capability, such as Sticks & Stones, which allows players to use a knife and dud grenades only. It does seem a bit strange, but it adds
a little more challenge to the game.
Many players look forward to the “Call of Duty” series because of the multiplayer offerings, and yet again this is where “Call of Duty:
World at War” is the strongest. This is one of the best multiplayer offerings available on shelves today. There remains the create-a-
class and rank system that allows players to unlock perks, weapons and upgrades that they can mix and match to create different
scenarios. There are about a dozen new perks available this time around, about half of these perks are associated with vehicles for the
four huge vehicles maps. Also, while tanks can deal out a great deal of damage, they are also very vulnerable to infantry antitank
weapons and other tanks. While driving around in a tank can be a great deal of fun, players will realize how slow World War II era tanks
are. Just like in a real war, players will need to coordinate infantry and armor together in order to reach maximum effectiveness.
The reward mechanics in “Call of Duty: World at War” is similar to previous games, but it does offer a nice twist. When players get three
kills in a row, players get a spotting plane rather than a UAV, five kills gives players an artillery strike instead of an air strike and seven
kills without dying lets players call on a pack of killer dogs that will make their way to the enemy. This helps with finding where enemies
are hiding and they will also attack the enemies, tearing at their throats. The dogs are very difficult to take down since they tend to
swarm and when all attention is placed on shooting at dogs, attention is taken away from the fact that enemies are lining up their sights.
All of the popular modes from “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” return to “Call of Duty: World at War.” Some of these modes, like
Headquarters, where each team battles to seize a point on the map; the team that does doesn’t get to respawn if they die. There is
also Search and Destroy, Team Death Match and more. There are also two new modes, War and Capture the Flag.
It is very easy to be misled about games in the World War II shooter genre, but the developer makes a convincing game that keeps
players interested with World War II and offers something new to the mix. The game is packed with a large amount of game play that
appeals to every type of player, from those who want to experience a rough single player campaign to those who like to play with friends
through multiplayer modes. This is a solid first person shooter game that offers players will plenty to offer for both the casual and
hardcore gamer. This is easily a game that wins the battle for supreme World War II games.
adrenaline pumping through the veins. This is a hard experience to capture in a videogame, but the “Call of Duty” series has come
awfully close due to its intensity. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” delivered a great experience and a varied single player experience that
proves to be some big shoes for “Call of Duty: World at War” to fill.
One thing the really helps is the fact that this time around the game focuses on some of the less popular theaters of World War II.
Instead of the normal campaigns including Normandy and D-Day that have been seen time and time again, the game covers the island
hopping campaign in the Pacific and the Red Army at Stalingrad, all the way to the Fall of Berlin. This offers players with some new and
interesting battlefields in the Pacific.
The campaign suffers a bit because of how broad its scope is, the narrative of the game seems to skip large chunks of the war; months
at a time, showing only the major battles of the war. The result of this is that the story line doesn’t have as strong of a feel as previous
games in the series. It probably doesn’t help that most players know how the war eventually turns out. Unlike “Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare,” which had a fictionalized story with a lot of twists and turns, “Call of Duty: World at War” follows real historic events.
The single player campaign is as short as that of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare,” but it doesn’t feel like it drags on. There is a large
amount of replayability this time around because the majority of the campaign is playable in cooperative mode with up to three other
players. Of course there are a few that aren’t playable in multiplayer mode, but that can be excused because of how much is available.
Not only is the campaign available is cooperative mode, but there is also a Death Card system that may remind some of the skull
system in “Halo 3.” Scattered throughout the campaign are Death Cards that are available to be found. Each one unlocks a different
capability, such as Sticks & Stones, which allows players to use a knife and dud grenades only. It does seem a bit strange, but it adds
a little more challenge to the game.
Many players look forward to the “Call of Duty” series because of the multiplayer offerings, and yet again this is where “Call of Duty:
World at War” is the strongest. This is one of the best multiplayer offerings available on shelves today. There remains the create-a-
class and rank system that allows players to unlock perks, weapons and upgrades that they can mix and match to create different
scenarios. There are about a dozen new perks available this time around, about half of these perks are associated with vehicles for the
four huge vehicles maps. Also, while tanks can deal out a great deal of damage, they are also very vulnerable to infantry antitank
weapons and other tanks. While driving around in a tank can be a great deal of fun, players will realize how slow World War II era tanks
are. Just like in a real war, players will need to coordinate infantry and armor together in order to reach maximum effectiveness.
The reward mechanics in “Call of Duty: World at War” is similar to previous games, but it does offer a nice twist. When players get three
kills in a row, players get a spotting plane rather than a UAV, five kills gives players an artillery strike instead of an air strike and seven
kills without dying lets players call on a pack of killer dogs that will make their way to the enemy. This helps with finding where enemies
are hiding and they will also attack the enemies, tearing at their throats. The dogs are very difficult to take down since they tend to
swarm and when all attention is placed on shooting at dogs, attention is taken away from the fact that enemies are lining up their sights.
All of the popular modes from “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” return to “Call of Duty: World at War.” Some of these modes, like
Headquarters, where each team battles to seize a point on the map; the team that does doesn’t get to respawn if they die. There is
also Search and Destroy, Team Death Match and more. There are also two new modes, War and Capture the Flag.
It is very easy to be misled about games in the World War II shooter genre, but the developer makes a convincing game that keeps
players interested with World War II and offers something new to the mix. The game is packed with a large amount of game play that
appeals to every type of player, from those who want to experience a rough single player campaign to those who like to play with friends
through multiplayer modes. This is a solid first person shooter game that offers players will plenty to offer for both the casual and
hardcore gamer. This is easily a game that wins the battle for supreme World War II games.
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