Call of Duty World at War review

If you’re a regular Gamesweasel downloader you’ll know by now I’m sick of World War II games. The last Call of Duty was a breath of fresh air and now it’s back to the 1940s with World at War. This is where it all began for Call of Duty when it took on Medal of Honor and won. So, does it offer anything new this time around? Well, yes and no.

The last game had a great single player experience and addictive multiplayer that gamers are still playing today in their thousands. So, the formula and gameplay’s not really changed, just the setting, which will really please World War II nuts (and I know there’s lots of you out there).

The Call of Duty World at War single player campaign concentrates on America’s battle with Japan and Russia’s push back into Nazi Germany. When playing, you switch back and forth between them to keep the variety up. Of course, the game’s full of fantastic set-pieces as you advance towards your enemy and there’s the weapons you’d expect to be holding, including a new flame thrower which is fun to use as you burn out troops from their bunkers. Keifer Sutherland also provides his best Jack Bauer shouty voice as he leads the American troops to victory, and they’ve upped the music with modern-day heavy metal when it all goes off with a bang.

You can now play the single player campaign in co-op mode. This worked fantastically with Gears of War and it works well here too. You can now provide covering fire whilst up to three buddies try to flank the enemy and get off a quick head shot. And, similar to Left 4 Dead which I’ll be reviewing next week, you have to revive each other when you take a mortal hit.

Play the game on Hardened mode and you’ll have a hard time, particularly as the game seems to respawn enemies at you until you advance. If you’re used to waiting behind cover for your team mates to fell the enemies you’ll be waiting a long time.

Multiplayer is as addictive as always. If you played Modern Warfare you can jump straight in. You gain perks as you earn points and this time, instead of calling in a helicopter after 7 kills, you send in a pack of dogs to maul your enemies and there’s no escaping indoors, they’ll follow you upstairs too! Once again there are plenty of game modes to suit every taste whether you want to work as a team or just run and gun as a lone soldier.

This latest Call of Duty is another complete package. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, so they haven’t. Although it won’t take you an age to finish the single player campaign, there’s more than enough replay value with co-op and multiplayer. Despite some dodgy accents and some unnecessary F-bombs from Mr Sutherland, Call of Duty: World at War gets 9 out of 10.

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