Call of Duty: World at War (View comments)
Posted by: Nikolas Mason
Game players are no strangers to World War II. In fact, the war has long overstayed it’s welcome. Last year, one of the most famous game series to take place in that time period finally moved on, creating what many consider to be one of the best war games ever, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Naturally it came as a surprise to hear the game was going back to it’s roots with it’s newest addition: Call of Duty World at War.
Luckily, World at War retains the same aspects that made Modern Warfare so great. The story tells a different side of the war than previous games. Instead of being mainly in Europe, the game uses the same story telling technique as Modern Warfare to follow two separate stories in both Russia and Japan. The settings are varied enough to not get boring and the tropical settings and jungles look stunning.
The cinematic elements in the game make you feel like you’re part of a very epic war, even though the part you play is actually very linear. Most of the action is shown to you or happening around you, and very rarely do you actually cause a major event. Much like Modern Warfare however, these events are shown in very impressive ways, and even though you aren’t controlling them, they are still amazing to see happen.
The graphics of World at War are very good, almost photorealistic at times. The enviornments are very well crafted, especially some of the Russian locations. The sound is also very good, with both the music and sound effects working together to make the game feel like a much larger and frantic war.
While the game presents itself very well, it does have some flaws. At times the enemies seem to keep coming and coming until you physically pass a certain point. I tend to like to find a good spot to fight from and take out all of the enemies, but this time around it seems as though they will keep coming until I walk past a certain area. This can be rather annoying as sometimes it’s impossible to make it to that area without first clearing some of the enemies, who then are just replaced once you kill them. 
Also at points in the game, you seem to die for no reason at all. Sometimes the bonsai attackers run up and surprise you too fast to react, killing you instantly, and other times no matter how far you run, grenades still seem to be close enough to kill you. While those two examples are reasonable, there were several moments in the game where there’d be no health warning, no grenade warnings, nothing, and I’d just drop dead. I might’ve been sniped, but at the moments, that didn’t seem very plausible. 
The game also introduces a new weapon to the series, the flamethrower. This is a very fun weapon to use, allowing you to torch your enemies really quickly, ending brief struggles instantly. This makes up for my biggest complaint. The weapons of World War II games just simply aren’t as fun to use as modern weapons. Heavy automatic fire is a rare thing, making the battles seem a little slower and less intense as oppose to Modern Warfare.
Multiplayer is much the same as Call of Duty 4, allowing you to earn perks and upgrades, many of which are the exact same as before, but there are several new ones. The main game also allows for a co-op playthrough, a first for the Call of Duty series, letting you and up to three friends play through the campaign together.
Additionally to the main game and to multiplayer is a brand new mode, putting you and several friends into an old house, which you must defend from oncoming Nazi zombies. Yes, that’s right, zombies. You fight against wave after wave of them, and the longer you go, the more perks you can unlock, such as barricading windows more.
In the end, Call of Duty World at War impressed me more than I thought it would. I was never a fan of World War II games, but this one keeps enough of the aspects I liked from Modern Warfare to keep me happy, and while the story mode was short, the multiplayer and zombie mode will certainly keep me busy for some time.
Sound: 5
Graphics: 5
Story: 4
Replayability: 4
Gameplay Mechanics: 4
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