Game review: Call of Duty: World At War

World at War is the newest game in the Call of Duty series. After the success that they had with Modern Warfare it was expected that the next game would live up to those standards. Which was going to be tough since World At War was done by a different developer. But thankfully they didn't disappoint with this game.

Now it isn't as good as Modern Warfare but it's a real good World War II shooter in its own right. The action is fast paced and there aren't too many moments of slow down. The guns also feel very responsive and they behave as you'd expect that particular weapon to behave. You've got everything from pistols to rifles to machine guns like the Thompson and heavier machine guns with huge 100 round clips. Along with that you've got grenades, smoke grenades Molotov cocktails, rocket launchers and flame throwers. The flame throwers are a new addition and they are a lot of fun. Running into a swarm of enemies and roasting them is oddly satisfying. You do have pretty much unlimited ammo for it but you have to watch to make sure it doesn't overheat. If it does you have to wait 10 seconds or so for it to cool down. The fire effects in the game also look very good. But don't expect anything like Far Cry 2 where it behaves like real fire. It dies down pretty quickly and doesn't spread to other places that much.

The graphics in the game are quite good. All of the environments look really good and the character models are well detailed. There is also a good variety of environments such as the jungles of the pacific to the ruins of Soviet occupied Berlin. The draw distance is very good and I think I only noticed a tiny bit of slowdown when the action got real heavy but it wasn't enough to distract from the game. The sound effects in the game are also very good. There is a good kick to the explosions and the guns all sound very realistic and different. I don't have a surround system but some of the heavier battles would be amazing in full 7.1.

Since this is a World War II game there isn't too much of a story. You take the reigns of a US soldier fighting the Pacific theater such as Okinawa and Wake Island. The other part of the game you are a Russian soldier in Stalingrad and Germany as you work your way towards Berlin. For each part you have a different commanding officer. The American is voice by Keifer Sutherland and the Russian is voiced by Gary Oldman. Both of them do a really good job but I couldn't help but notice that Oldman recycled the voice that he used for the movie Air Force One.

Probably my biggest complain with this game is the tank sequence. You drive a Russian tank attempting to take out some radio towers. Normally this is kind of cool but the tank just does not handle very well. It's almost like they made the controls too sensitive for the turns. It doesn't take much for you to turn completely around and find that your weapons are facing in the wrong direction. And even on Casual difficulty if this happens it's almost surely a death sentence. The other vehicle sequence in the game is quite good. You take control of the guns on an American plane and you get to blow up Japanese PT boats and destroyers.

One thing I can easily say is this game is more difficult than most of the other games in the series. There were some moments in Modern Warfare that really tested you but there weren't too many of those. In this game there are several sequences that will really give you a run for your money. So you have to keep your distance and try to pick off as much of the enemy as you can before running in like a madman. Oh and watch out for some of the Japanese troops that will run at you screaming "Bonzie!" If they get to you you'll only have a moment to press your knife button or wind up with a bayonet in your stomach.

Even though the game is tough there are some issues with the AI. On the casual difficulty I found at times I could walk right up to the enemy and they'd just stare at me until I put a knife in their chest. Also there were a few times where I was tasked to clear the area of enemies only to find one guy just standing there waiting to be killed. They behave well in groups but when you get them alone sometimes problems arise. However this is not the case on the harder difficulties so the AI issues are limited to the easier version of the game.

But the fact that the game is hard helps some because the single player campaign is fairly short. If you are fast you can probably blow through it in 5 or 6 hours maybe faster if you are really good. But I will say it is one of those campaigns that will still be good on multiple plays.

The meat of the game and the thing that will keep you coming back is the multiplayer. It is very similar to what you saw in Modern Warfare. All the standard modes like deathmatch, team deathmatch and territories. As you play you earn points and level up and this allows you to unlock different perks and weapons so you can customize your character to fit your play style.

The other big thing is the addition of co-op play. You can play through the campaign either locally or online with up to 4 players. You can either play as a team or play against each other trying to rack up the most kills. But the other fun addition is the Nazi zombies mode. This is where up to 4 players are hold up in a house while they fight off wave after wave of Nazi zombies. This is similar to the horde mode in Gears of War 2 and is a lot of fun and something you've seen in other games recently like Saints Row 2.

So is this game worth the full retail price. I say it definitely is (but keep in mind I did get this game as a gift). If you are fan of the series or shooters in general I say give this a try. But if you have tired of the World War II setting I don't think this will do much to persuade you and you'd be better off going with Modern Warfare or waiting for Modern Warfare 2 to come out.

My score: 7.5/10