Reloaded Review: Call of Duty - World at War (Xbox 360)

Publisher: Activision
Developer: Treyarch
Player:(s) 1-4 Offline, 2-18 Online
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Release Date: (NA) November 11, 2008 (EU) November 14, 2008 (AUS) November 12, 2008
Platform:(s) Xbox 360 (also on PC, PS3, Wii)
Rated: Mature

Here we go again. Back to the era of the second world war and a step backwards when compared to the hugely successful Call of Duty 4 right? Well, maybe not.

Our story is told through the eyes of Marine Raider Private Miller and Red Army soldier Private Dimitri Petrenko as they fight their ways through the Pacific and Eastern Front theaters. Battles that take place during the game's storyline are based on historical events that actually took place during World War 2.

Gameplay remains mostly unchanged when compared to Call of Duty 4, yet a few major upgrades have been added into this sequel to make it stand out from it'spredecessor . For the first time in the series, you can now blow limps and chunks off of your foes as blood and gore flies through the air, your opponent grabbing for their fleshy stump of a leg as they scream in agony before you plow another round into their head. Yeah, there is gore in the series finally. World at War does an excellent job of showing you the darker and far grittier side of war and in turn ends up feeling like a grown up version of Modern Warfare.

Vehicles have also been added allowing you to either drive a tank or use the machine gun on-board. Tanks are available in both a mission during the single player mode and in certain maps included in the multiplayer.

Voice acting in World at War is something that needs to be mentioned because Treyarch pulled no stops when it came to the talent. Kiefer Sutherland is cast as Corporal Roebuck, Gary Oldman as Sergeant Reznov and Aaron Stanford as Private Polonsky. As you can see, the cast is very well done and the voice acting is perfection. You actually feel like you're in a real war-zone with these fantastic voice actors and the great sound design blasting your eardrums.

Multiplayer has also been improved this time around. Not only do you have your wide variety of game modes, customizable weapons, leveling system and perks from Call of Duty 4, but you can also play in a special mode known as Nazi Zombies. In Nazi Zombies, you are up to 3 other people are held up in different maps (a single map if you don't buy the DLC) as you fend off a never-ending supply of undead invaders. It's very addicting and definitely one of World At War's gems. To top it all off, they finally included a co-op mode that spans across almost all of the single player campaign. When offline, 2 players can fight together but when online, you can have up to 4 people in a co-op game at once either fighting together orcompetitively for a high score.

Things in the game that did get to me is that the enemies really like to throw grenades. They enjoy it a lot. So much so in fact that you will die more from a grenade blast then anything else in the game and if you're trying to play through the game on Veteran difficulty, they will use grenades five times more often. Another thing worth mentioning is that during multiplayer, the lobby will automatically add me into games that are being played on maps I don't have, meaning it will close the lobby and I will have to go back in and hope I don't get the same match again. If Modern Warfare can avoid this problem then why can't World at War?

World at War is definitely on par with Modern Warfare and in many ways, it even succeeds it. It added more features, had improved visuals and is overall a grittier and bloodier experience.

9 / 10

12/12/09 Colton West