Call of Duty: World at War
Reviewed on:
Xbox 360Also available for:
PS3, PC, Wii, DS
The Good:
Great production values all around; New weapons add to the overall chaos; Multiplayer is full of goodies, including vehicle maps; Main characters voiced by actors Kiefer Sutherland and Gary OldmanThe Bad:
Maybe a little too linear, especially when fighting in open jungles; Storyline can be a little confusing for those who don't know the history; Glitches in graphics here and there, as well as some parts where the AI comes off as being cheapThe Verdict:
A World at War has never been so intensely vicious
Bertrand Russell once said that “war does not determine who is right – only who is left.” His assessment makes a lot of sense, especially when it relates to the final days of the Second World War. While some might roll their eyes at the idea of yet another shooter depicting those events, Call of Duty: World at War isn't exactly in the same vein.
We all know war to be a terrible thing; brutal, grotesque and unrelenting. World at War goes further than last year's Modern Warfare in showing the realities of the battlefield, and how madness can take over no matter who's winning or losing.
From the Pacific to the gates of Berlin
Finally, we get a CoD game that offers the war in the Pacific against Imperial Japan. As a U.S. Marine, I hopped islands and took out enemy ships before finding myself on the home stretch in Okinawa. As a Russian soldier, I cheated death in Stalingrad and found myself among the first troops to storm the gates of Berlin. These two theatres were picked because they exemplify the ferocity and unforgiving chaos of the combatants on both sides. The opening scene shows a Japanese officer slapping around a Marine, putting out a cigarette in his eye and then slicing his neck open, leaving all kinds of blood splattered on the wall.
It foreshadowed a lot of what I saw in the rest of the single-player campaign. I watched fellow Russians gunned down in cold blood in Stalingrad, only to return the favour in kind when my boots were planted on German soil. I was ordered to execute wounded German troops with impunity. I blew a Japanese soldier's head off with a shotgun blast. Body parts flew about, corpses mounted after being mowed down and blood stains trailed the scenes from start to finish.
Needless to say, it was ugly, and I'm sure it was far worse in real life. The developers made the right move by keeping the tactics of all sides true. German and Japanese troops fought in different terrain with vastly different tactics. The Japanese came across as more fearless, even playing dead to ambush oncoming Marines. The German AI, though not as insane, fought with more desperation than I've noticed in other WWII games.
New weapons from Japan's arsenal, as well as sticky bombs, gas bombs and anti-tank guns make things go bang, while the flamethrower, Molotov cocktails and bayoneted rifles contribute to the close-quarters chaos. The flamethrower sees the most action in the Pacific, where enemy troops burn alive with reckless abandon. At one point in Berlin, three German soldiers tried to surrender. My commander reminded me of past events in Stalingrad and told me to shoot them or they'd face worse treatment. I purposely did nothing, only to see them end up being showered with Molotovs anyway. The price for victory is high on all sides, I suppose.
World-class multiplayer
