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Call of Duty: World at War
| Genre | FPS |
| Developer | Treyarch |
| Publisher | Activision |
| Modes | Single/Multiplayer |
| Rating | BBFC 15 |
| Released | 14.11.2008 |
With record-breaking sales that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare hit, Activision turned to Treyarch to fill the shoes for the next greatest hit of the popular series. However, Treyarch decided to go backwards rather than forward chronologically speaking. Instead of a futuristic sequel of sorts, they decided to go back old days of warfare, the days when the entire world felt the tremors of war. I am of course talking about World War II. From the jungles and beaches of the Pacific to the war-torn battlegrounds of the European theater, you fight as a soldier in the frontline. Every major battle and turning-point of the bloody war is experienced and detailed as you battle your way through the harshest and most grueling historical campaign anyone has ever seen.
In World at War, you fight on the side of the Allies as both a soldier of the Soviet Armed Forces and as a member of the American Marine Raiders. You experience everything from the defense of Stalingrad to the offensive at Okinawa. You are put right in the thick of the bloodiest battles as they take place in history. You can fight alone or with friends (up to four players) as you struggle to survive through the most brutal campaign ever imagined.
World at War is the most photorealistic WWII game to date. The game runs off a slightly modified version of the COD4 engine giving it the most realistic look and feel a game can afford. The environment like the water exhibits such a realistic looks as though you were in the same scenes as the person you are playing as. Body parts and pieces literally fly off your enemies as you dispatch them with any force necessary. The same yet improved physics and gameplay make this old time WWII game warfare as fun as the previous.
As in most shooter-type games, a diversity of guns and weapons is a top demand of all first-person shooter fans and World at War is one to go above and beyond those expectations. With more than 60 realistic and recognizable weapons from that era of warfare, a gamer couldn’t ask for more variety than that. From the infamous Thompson submachinegun to the memorable M1 Garand, no gun is left out of the true WWII fighting experience. Various options and attachments are also available for each gun such as a low tech silencer or scope (depending on the gun) and more.
Multiplayer hasn’t changed much from what it was in Modern Warfare, but this is what makes it great. With the exception of game modes and weapon loadouts, the same outstanding multiplayer can still be played. The camouflage on guns have been dropped in light of more options such as choosing what primary and secondary grenade to use. Additionally ,a fourth perk slot is opened up known as the vehicle perks. These perks affect your use of the tanks found on certain maps in multiplayer. More defensive perks have been added to the already existing ones. Also, more attachments have been added to the guns in your arsenal. One notable example is the choice of having your double-barrel shotgun sawed off giving it more stopping power at the cost of range. Multiplayer is now played on more spacious maps than before making sniping and long range weapons a more enticing option.
A very note-worthy feature that the game boasts is the Nazi Zombies game mode. This mode pits one to four players against an endless hoard of undead Nazis. The game is composed of rounds where each round certain waves of zombies will attack you. The higher the round, the more zombies the AI will throw at you. Players gain points for shooting and killing zombies and for repairing barriers, usually windows boarded up with wooden planks. These points in turn can be used to buy weapons on the wall at a set price or if they, the players can take a gamble by buying a random weapon from the mystery box. Points can also be used to open up doors and remove barriers to access different parts of the level. Sticking together is the key for survival in this battle to the death.
Overall, Call of Duty: World at War is a game that truly redefines the World War II experience. The continuation of the Call of Duty series brings together realism and gameplay into one heart-pumping, thrill seeking package. It takes the old world of warfare into the new world of gaming giving gamers a fresh look at the bloodiest war in history. With the addition of the Nazi Zombie mode to the already exciting, fresh campaign and multiplayer, Call of Duty: World at War won’t soon be forgotten and slip into the dusty reaches of gamers’ game shelves.