War like you’ve never experienced before…

Call of Duty: World at War is the latest in the Call of Duty series produced by the sister studio of Infinity Ward, Treyarch.  The ever-popular Call of Duty multiplayer experience has now been developed with the inclusion of vehicles whilst maintaining your favourite features from the successful Call of Duty 4.  Having taken the game back to the depths of World War II even more brand new features are included such as 4-player cooperative play and the unique nazi zombies making for the most in-depth World War II experience yet.

Graphics and Presentation

The overall presentation of Call of Duty: World at War is to an excellent standard, it’s very consistent throughout the menu navigation whilst creating a very gritty feeling that allows the game to adhere to the severity of World War II. 

The single player campaign offers stunning visuals, you will definitely notice the work Treyarch have put in as soon as you load up the campaign, you begin the onslaught through Makin at dark which is presented brilliantly.  The character models are also very detailed making the experience that much more immersive as you see your teammates drop like flies around you.  The visuals really compliment the excellent level design, a culmination of both indoor and outdoor scenes are very realistically lit meaning the action is always fluid whilst very visually pleasing.

The multiplayer experience is also very well presented, but as expected the graphics are a shadow of the excellence of the single player campaign with less detailed textures and minimal lighting effects. Although this may seem like a disadvantage, the more simplistic approach to the multiplayer visuals really improves the fluidity of the gameplay allowing players to see there enemies much easier which in turn speeds the gameplay up.  Each level has its own very distinguishable features and design that is presented perfectly to the gamer and the recent downloadable content is just as consistent.

Sound

For me personally sound has always played a huge role within the Call of Duty franchise, not only can it be used to your advantage within multiplayer the sound used is often so well done that it really adds to the single player experience.  I would definitely recommend buying a good pair of headphones to fully appreciate the experience that any Call of Duty title has to offer.

Generally the sound throughout the single player campaign is very well done, always suiting the specific mood set by each situation, however, there are certainly a few areas of improvement.  I’ve always appreciated just how realistic all of the weapons have sounded in previous incarnations, unfortunately the weapons in Call of Duty: World at War just don’t sound as convincing and this really does detract from the experience in both single and multiplayer considering how often you hear weapons being fired. This issue is also present in multiplayer, which will certainly deter gamers from sticking with Call of Duty: World at War in the long run. 

As seen in other Call of Duty titles sound can be used to your benefit in multiplayer, you can hear enemies reload, change weapons and of course hear their footsteps as they rapidly sprint around the map chasing that next kill.

Gameplay

Even though the theme of World War II is becoming somewhat repetitive Treyarch have managed to keep Call of Duty: World at War fresh by depicting action from the battlefields of the Pacific and Europe.  The involvement of the Japanese Red Army showcases different tactics and situations that other World War II shooters have never seen, Japanese soldiers come charging at you out of spider holes keeping the gameplay varied.  This coupled with the brilliant 4-Player cooperative play builds an excellent foundation for the campaign which is generally an enjoyable experience, especially in areas such as the sniper mission which sees you sneaking your way past what seems like a whole army only to get into a heated sniper battle. 

Unfortunately the AI doesn’t live up to this excellent foundation, this becomes even more noticeable when you crank the difficulty up to Veteran and it seems that Treyarch have just made the game more difficult by giving the enemies an unlimited supply of grenades which can make for some very frustrating gameplay.  The replay value of the campaign is bolstered through the inclusion of the ‘Deathcards’; these collectible items are very similar to the skulls in Halo 3 in the way that they are hidden in obscure locations and when used activate various cheats.

The multiplayer experience of Call of Duty: World at War is generally very good, however it was always going to be difficult to match the success of Call of Duty 4.  I personally was hoping that the game would be very similar to the classic Call of Duty 2, however overpowered automatic weapons meant that the bolt-action rifles didn’t prevail like in the past, which hindered the gameplay drastically.  For the people that enjoy the Call of Duty: World at War multiplayer they have received constant updates keeping the title fresh, Treyarch have recently released the third map pack taking the total amount of maps the 23. 

The multiplayer system is almost identical to the successful Call of Duty 4 system and therefore works very well as players put the hours in to reach the top ranks and with the broad range of playlists it allows people to play with likeminded gamers.  Treyarch made an excellent development decision with the inclusion of the ‘Nazi Zombies’ gamemode, in my opinion this offers the most fun in the game and you can have a really good laugh with your friends online.  Defending against hordes of zombies has never been so exciting and with the recent updates there are a total of 4 places for you to defend.

Closing Comments

After Treyarch’s poor showing with Call of Duty 3 my expectations of Call of Duty: World at War were not great, fortunately they have definitely made progress and in turn have created a very solid World War II shooter.  It was always going to be an insurmountable task to fill the boots of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4, however, Call of Duty: World at War does offer something different for those wanting a change in scenery. 

Treyarch's continued support of Call of Duty: World at War does certainly warrant a purchase; having just released the third map pack the gameplay is always kept fresh and by combining this with a very challenging, yet sometimes frustrating single player campaign the Call of Duty franchise continues to thrive.  The inclusion of the Nazi Zombies gametype was a masterstroke by Treyarch and allows for some great cooperative action and rounds the game off nicely.  Unfortunately the issues with the weapon balancing will hinder the game’s competitive value, which is where Call of Duty 4 will reign supreme.

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Michael Hallwood