Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by Adam Larck on 02.08.2009

After the success of Modern Warfare, can the newest Call of Duty live up to expectations by handing the reigns back to Treyarch? 411’s Adam Larck tells you what changes have been made to the game, and if it’s a worthy successor…



Title: Call of Duty: World at War
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Treyarch, Certain Affinity
Genre: First Person Shooter
Players: 1-4 offline (2 co-op), 2-18 system link, 2-18 online (2-4 co-op)
Rated: M (Mature)

I loved Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s multiplayer, but never did click with the single player. When I heard that Treyarch, the makers of Call of Duty 3, were taking control back as well, I became more skeptical because I was not a big fan of 3 at all. Treyarch has definitely redeemed itself with the newest title in the series, though. Taking many of the things that made Modern Warfare great (multiplayer, certain mission types) and adding a World War II theme among other things I’ll talk about later, the formula proves to be a success for one of the most overplayed wars in video game history.


Graphics



The graphics in the game are great. While they may seem to be on level with Modern Warfare, I think there’s a lot more variety in the levels. Levels start with jungle warfare against the Japanese early on, but changes into Russian cities and countryside a few levels in. the guns in the game each have a distinct look as well, looking like their authentic real-life counterparts.

Another point I want to hit on graphically are the loading screens. Like in the last game, there are small cut scenes that give background information about the upcoming mission, but this game does much more than that. It gives something akin to a history lesson at the beginning of the game, telling about percentages the U.S. oil embargo affected Japan and about military production, but it does it with scenes that flow together beautifully. Scenes like this continue throughout all loading screens. From telling about the soldiers in your group, to showing the mapped area of your next mission, the screens are a great way to hide loading times between missions.

Gameplay

On gameplay, I’m going to split up the single player and multiplayer to list key points about each one before giving my overall opinion.

The single player mode is great. It pulls a lot of what made Modern Warfare’s single player good, but changes things that bugged me in the first game. For one, I’ve noticed no infinite respawning enemies. That’s a huge plus, as those don’t add challenges to a game, it’s just a time and ammo waster. Missions also vary between run-and-gun missions, to covert sniper missions, to even a tank mission. This brings me to vehicles. Tanks are able to be driven, even if only in one mission. The weapons are a throwback to WWII, including famous guns like the Thompson and M1 Garand. Also added to this game is the M2 flamethrower, which one mission centers around. It has infinite ammo, but compensates by using an overheat option if used for too long. Intel from Modern Warfare is gone, replaced with Death Cards for players to find. The cards actually have a use, as well. There is one on each level (except the tank level), and they add different coop and competitive perks, from making ammo scarce, to just giving you a knife and rocks to fight with, to making enemy soldiers undead. This brings me to my final point of single player, beating the game and unlocking one of the most interesting things I’ve seen in a while. Once you beat the game on any difficulty, you’ll unlock a Nazi zombie mode where you (and friends) try to survive a countless onslaught of zombies coming after you. With the big zombie craze this year, it’s a nice addition for people wanting replayability without going to the actual online multiplayer.

Multiplayer is still the shining diamond it was for Modern Warfare. The feel of it is very familiar, just with a WWII theme and extra additions. The level cap is now 65, and instead of calling a helicopter in after seven kills, dogs are called in. The main difference I’ve noticed here is that the dogs have a long time limit and kill limit; they will stay and attack until the time runs out (about 60 seconds) or you kill them enough. Perks and challenges are also back, with challenges still giving add-ons for guns, but no camouflages. They have added new perks, like reviving down players, and also a whole new set for vehicles. That’s right, tanks can be driven in certain maps, and they can make a fight one-sided quick. If a team is able to get a couple of tanks and sit around possible spawn areas, the can control the match easily. The levels are nice and varied online, with 13 maps being currently available. The new weapons can take a bit of getting used to, as most aren’t automatics like they were in Modern Warfare, but you’ll quickly pick up their quirks and adjust. Weapons like the flamethrower and Molotov’s are also included online. Prestige Mode is back with 10 levels, but an incentive is added to keep doing it. Every time you use the mode, an extra custom class is added, up to 10 total custom classes. There is a core playlist with different types of games to play that Activision periodically updates to take old ones out and put new ones in, and a Hardcore playlist is unlocked at level 18.

Gameplay for both feels great, and is a great example for all the other shooters out there trying to recreate wars. There are two things I do have to complain about. One is the difficulty curve on single player. It really spikes once you hit veteran mode. They will grenade you to no end and will kill you, many, many times. The other one is lag online. I don’t know if it’s me, but I seem to be able to catch most of the terrible host connections. But really, if the only complaints someone has over a game are that the hardest mode is too hard and the normal online quirks, you’ve made a pretty solid game.



Sound

The sound is crisp no matter what type of setting you use. I don’t actually have a surround sound system, but quality never faltered in the game. The bullets each make a different sound depending on type of guns used (instead of just a generic bang, or something to that extent). I found the music in the game to be really moving and set the mood. One level in particular, Vendetta, sets a somber tone in the beginning, but builds to a climax as you see the general you’re targeting. In multiplayer, there is still a voice that tells you whenever one of your specialty items is ready for use, and what your actual objective is in the game.

While the voice acting is good for all soldiers, including the generic soldiers you’ll see throughout the game, there are two voices in particular I want to comment on. Kiefer Sutherland, also known as Jack Bauer from “24,” plays the role of Sgt. Roebuck. Another big name, Gary Oldman, stars as the Soviet sniper Sgt. Reznov that you first find in the Vendetta mission. Oldman is better known for his role as Commissioner Gordon in the new Batman movies.


Lasting Appeal

Lasting appeal on single player probably won’t last very long, even with beating all four difficulties and collecting Death Cards, the only thing that would keep you coming back to these levels would be the online coop. This brings me to the main lasting appeal, the multiplayer. Like any reputable shooter, the multiplayer should keep a gamer coming back to play long after single player mode is done, and this doesn’t disappoint. With a very good chance of getting more multiplayer maps in the future, and updated playlists, this has a great chance of being one of the most played shooters online for most of this year. As long as Activision puts some content out, like in Modern Warfare, look for thousands of gamers to play this long into the fall.

Fun Factor



I had a great time with this game. Whether it was running around the single player searching for Death Cards or how to beat a certain area, to playing with friends on multiplayer, the game never stopped being fun for me.

There were a few parts in the game for me where it tilted to far onto the side of frustration than fun, however. Veteran mode got to be a little ridiculous with the amount of grenades coming your way and expecting to live. Multiplayer modes, like all shooters, can have some crap kills as well (I’d STILL like to see how I’ve died some of these times). But, that’s just a normal thing with most online shooters. The fun is still there, however.

Also, as another big fun factor, you can’t forget about the Nazi Zombie mode. As other games have helped establish, killing zombie’s never gets old. Once you beat the game and get this unlocked, this just adds that much more fun by seeing Nazi zombies stumble after you.

Extra Category: Achievement/Trophy Difficulty

This is a new little category I will do with games that have these features for the collectors out there. While these will normally apply to both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, I will be playing games on the 360 and will refer to them as achievements.

The achievements in this game are actually a nice variety of easy to hard achievements to get. They range from simply beating the game on any difficulty (War Hero), to challenging (The Professional and Gunslinger) to just outright hard (beating the whole game on hardened or veteran ala Hardened War Hero). There are actually a few online achievements as well, but only three give you any kind of points and they all deal with coop or competitive. The only ones that deal with the online multiplayer all deal with the Prestige Mode, and come with 0 points.

The 411

The core gameplay from Modern Warfare hasn’t been changed. Underneath the WWII setting, fans of Modern Warfare will see the game they grew to love in 2007. What they will also see, however, are great additions to the game to set it apart. The Nazi zombie mode is a great little extra to help people waste more time in the game, and the multiplayer still shines as one of the best out there. For fans of shooters, and even for the casual gamer wanted to try a shooter out, this is going to be one of your best choices for a long time (at least, until Modern Warfare 2 comes out this fall probably).

Graphics	9.0	The graphics in the game are great. The cut scenes between levels really shine, and even though it doesn’t have a realistic, ‘gritty’ feel to it, what they do have works the best for the game.
Gameplay	9.5	Whether it be single or multiplayer, gameplay is great. Not only did they take a formula that worked well, but they added upon it. The only thing that keeps this from a 10 are the few quirks I listed above.
Sound	9.0	Music is spot on with the moods in the game, while bullets and other natural sounds sound realistic. The voice acting is good, and really adds character to the people you see throughout.
Lasting Appeal	9.0	Like the last game, multiplayer will have players coming back for months. The inclusion of Nazi zombie mode only increases the different ways for players to keep playing.
Fun Factor	9.5	For shooter fans, you can’t go wrong. With a great single player, additive multiplayer, and fun little additions, the fun in this game won’t run out.
Overall	9.2   [  Amazing ]

Screenshots
All 17 Call of Duty: World at War Screenshots