Call of Duty: World at War Hands-on
- Posted October 8th, 2008 at 12:15 EDT by
- 14,614 views
- 52 Comments
World War II has never been so fun. From the exceedingly dark and gritty storyline to the improved multiplayer component, Call of Duty: World at War definitely earns its props, surpassing all my expectations.
Many were initially sceptical when developer Treyarch first announced they were bringing the franchise back to its World War II roots, myself included. However, instead of having players invade the beaches of Normandy or parachute into random cities throughout Europe, Treyarch has instead opted to focus on the Japanese controlled Pacific and Berlin during the last days of the German resistance. In addition to a brand new theatre of war, the developers have also improved upon many aspects of the Call of Duty 4 engine, delivering enhanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and improving the visuals to portray everything from beautiful lush jungles to collapsing cityscapes.
For those of you out of the loop, World at War carries a “Mature” rating from the ESRB – and with good reason. After gazing upon the burning flesh of flamethrower victims, hearing their death cries as they fall to the ground as smoldering corpses or watching fellow soldiers hacked and stabbed to death by enemy swords and bayonets (spraying copious amounts of blood in the process), it becomes abundantly clear that World at War is easily the most brutal entry in the series to date.
Kicking things off, World at War’s campaign mode offers a total of 11 missions with three different ways in which you can experience the action; single-player, two-player offline split-screen, and online four player co-op. With the co-op modes, Treyarch has drawn inspiration from Call of Duty 4’s arcade mode, pitting players competitively against each other to collect points by eliminating as many enemies as possible or reviving downed allies. By killing adversaries in specific ways (headshots, grenades, etc) or completing challenges, players will be able to accumulate more points. Treyarch has also included “Easter Egg” bonuses as well for those who are willing to spend the time looking for them. Furthermore, when you kill a certain number of enemies consecutively, you can earn multiplier bonuses to build your overall score faster. These scores are then calculated into online leaderboards, providing an overall co-op rank for your stats.
As far online multiplayer goes, Treyarch has kept the system set up pretty close to its COD 4 roots, minus a few enhancements. The challenge and ranking systems have remained virtually untouched, although this time around the developers confirmed that players will actually be rewarded upon reaching level 10 prestige, though they refused to divulge any further details on the matter. Elsewhere, there were a total of two new online modes that we managed to get our hands on. The first was “Capture the Flag”, a feature that was notably absent from Call of Duty 4. The second was actually a revamped version of Domination, where the two teams would fight over a linked line of control points. The only way to move onto the next area was to control the location linked to it – a tug of war, essentially.
In regards to perks, the majority of those from World at War’s predecessor have made a return including Juggernaut, Martyrdom, and Stopping Power. In regards to new additions, Treyarch has added Toss Back (resets fuse on tossing back enemy grenade), Second Chance (ability to revive allies), and vehicle perks. For those who are interested, the complete list of Call of Duty World at War perks can be read here. With Kill Streak abilities, the number of kills to acquire something hasn’t changed, though the abilities unlocked are somewhat new. For three kills, players can call in a recon plane to expose enemy positions. For five kills, players can call in an artillery strike, which destroys anything in a selected area. Lastly, for seven kills, players can “unleash the dogs.” What's especially noteworthy in regards to this perk is that it is not limited to specific areas (Modern Warfare's helicopter could only shoot visible players from the sky). Dogs, however, can leap over objects, climb stairs, and sniff out players inside buildings, making them difficult to avoid.
As with its predecessor, a ... (continued on next page)
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Comments
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psycho_mantis |
makaveli_71- 12:29pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 1
wow this really does sound great, even though its a WWII game.
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adeebo |
adeebo22- 12:51pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 4
wow seriously, this actually looks alot better than COD4, ive always thought its better that cod5 will be a world war game just for a change, n then cod6 will be modern again, i think its a smart move, imagine if the game was in modern setting wouldnt we get bored after a while, i think thats the best way, this year a world war game, next year a modern warefare game :)
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funItalian
- 1:11pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 6
I really like the fact that you can actually use/drive vehicles and not just rely on infantry. Perks were always fun to acquire & use also. I like the idea of split screen co-op online feature. The graphics look incredible and if the gameplay is as good as PSU is saying, then this game has my full attention.
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just8
- 1:42pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 9
i think it looks good! but it will be tuff to be beat cod4 multiplayer wise, especially regarding the level of customisation cod4 offered!! (camo, attachments) does anybody no if WAW has got these?.....and no im not expecting laser sights and such, but maybe a silencer, bayonet, bandolier,barrel grip. anything???
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NoMercy666 |
Ask me...- 1:46pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 10
This game looks amazing. O.o This will look great on my new Samsung.
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edward_moffet |
edd- 2:24pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 15
awesome, still would choose R2 over this though lol but im definitely picking up both, i had a feeling this was going to be WW2 done right
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FantasyStar |
Tirin- 2:41pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 16
This better not have CoD4's shooting mechanics. Bring back CoD2's shooting mechanics!
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BirdPlayer |
BirdPlayer- 3:36pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 17
got this, midnight club 3, and little big planet all on preorder
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joeymetalgear7 |
joeymetalgear777- 4:00pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 18
yea it looks great but looking at treyarchs history i still doubt it will beat cod4
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Free_Agent
- 5:21pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 20
I thought it was funny how everyone was saying they were going to pass this game up because of it's WW2 basis. Now everyone can't wait to play it because it looks amazing.
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bracomadar |
bracomadar- 8:32pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 25
LOL, I picture Monty Burns playing this saying, "release the hounds" :)
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IceShade |
Ice_Shade- 9:57pm BST - October 8th, 2008
- 26
So... are you being payed by Treyarch to write a superficial and downright untrue article to promote this junk also? Because giving a game a great review has never made it sell well, I mean look at Ico. This game will be bought by a bunch of dumbasses who think it's an update to COD4, then they will realize it's crap, the word will get around, and everyone will just play COD4 until IW gets back in the studio and brings us a real game.
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stovich |
TasteLikeBurning- 1:18am BST - October 9th, 2008
- 29
You guys do realize that the 360 is the lead platform and the PS3 version is a port, right? Just wondering. Because if you want to continue to be taken, then by all means, pick this up. Nothing good ever comes from a 360 port, yet everyone seems to forget that. Is it using UE3? If so, then I'll definitely be picking up something else a little more worthwhile.
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bilbo_bobbins |
bilbo_bobbins- 5:10am BST - October 9th, 2008
- 31
sounding good, still want to see it first before purchasing though.
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IceShade |
Ice_Shade- 12:15pm BST - October 9th, 2008
- 34
@31, no I haven't played the game...obviously. But this dude has been saying its going to be better than cod4 everytime he updates with a story about it. Then when he gets his hands on it he immediately hails it as the king, which to me looks really fishy and typical of game reviews that promote crap to help sales.
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Billy_Bob_Joe |
Nicker600- 10:17pm BST - October 9th, 2008
- 35
@^^^^^^^
Wat do u hav against Treyarch? Upseted Fanboy much?
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Kollakowski |
JamieKoll- 8:54am BST - October 13th, 2008
- 39
This sounds amazing. I cannot wait for the release of this. As most people I was apprehensive at the pending release of this title, as the [enter generic superlative here] of COD4 seemed almost unserpassible. I do not think for one minute this game will be better than COD4, but I'm sure it will give us all a nice break free red dot and ACOG sights. I can't wait for the release of this game, but I won't be getting rid of COD4 either...
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BirdPlayer |
BirdPlayer- 10:22pm BST - October 14th, 2008
- 43
@ PSU i was checking my email and i recieved a xbox 360 beta code(plan to give away or just throw out). but my question(however childish) is why wont some of these big games/developers give out betas for ALL systems. they are missing a large amount of advid gamers who would give and arm and leg to be in some of these betas.
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I_AM_LEGEND246 |
Cilldealga + IAMLEGEND2468- 10:48am GMT - November 12th, 2008
- 48
I agree with NOS. 8 + 44
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TdR-7 |
TdR7- 9:52am GMT - November 13th, 2008
- 49
HAZE was and Sounded as a pretty crap... I think.
CoD5 steps in the heritage of the best FPS ever: CoD4, and, they have convinced me, that they did a grate job, goes up the metre still more!
Its a must buy game, but, first, a have to finish "Dead Space" & "Far Cry 2"... So many good games this period...
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jewkesey007
- 10:39pm GMT - March 8th, 2009
- 50
its COD5,world at war.my comments are simple.people who dont have this game are the people most'likely NO TO HAVE EVER KNOWN WHAT A REAL MANS GAME,,IZz
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