Reviews: Call of Duty: World at War Video Review

[John Funk]

Call of Duty: World at War Video Review

John Funk reviews Call of Duty: World at War.

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[PedroSteckecilo]

I know it sounds a little callous, but I can't wait until we get a WW2 game with a depressing, soul shattering Concentration Camp level. Sort of like the brillaint Band of Brothers episode where they first find an abandoned one.

It'd sort of be the WW2 equivalent of the Nuke Sequence from COD4.

However I'm really not sure gaming, or the world, is ready for the horror and fallout of an interactive holocaust.

 

[uppitycracker]

i dunno, every review i read says the same thing, and every person that's played it tells me the same thing. "If you liked COD4, you'll love WaW". Yet, here I am, still a fanatic of COD4, and absolutely despise this new entry into the franchise. Just like the previous Treyarch addition, it seems to have fairly bland and repetitive (even for the COD series) missions, if not gimmicky attempts at changing things up. The hit detection is absolutely horrible, and I'm not a huge fan of the level design. All in all, this game was great when it was COD2, but I feel like we should have moved past this by now. And really, seriously people, please stop saying if you loved COD4 you'll love this one, just because it uses the same game engine. It worked well for the modern weapons and combat, just doesn't do it for this one.

 

[John Funk]

i dunno, every review i read says the same thing, and every person that's played it tells me the same thing. "If you liked COD4, you'll love WaW". Yet, here I am, still a fanatic of COD4, and absolutely despise this new entry into the franchise. Just like the previous Treyarch addition, it seems to have fairly bland and repetitive (even for the COD series) missions, if not gimmicky attempts at changing things up. The hit detection is absolutely horrible, and I'm not a huge fan of the level design. All in all, this game was great when it was COD2, but I feel like we should have moved past this by now. And really, seriously people, please stop saying if you loved COD4 you'll love this one, just because it uses the same game engine. It worked well for the modern weapons and combat, just doesn't do it for this one.

Hence the "probably."

I felt that the American campaign was decent if nothing special, but I absolutely adored the Russian one. If the American missions had been on par with the Russian ones, I think the game would have been superb.

 

[kapzer]

I know it sounds a little callous, but I can't wait until we get a WW2 game with a depressing, soul shattering Concentration Camp level. Sort of like the brillaint Band of Brothers episode where they first find an abandoned one.

It'd sort of be the WW2 equivalent of the Nuke Sequence from COD4.

However I'm really not sure gaming, or the world, is ready for the horror and fallout of an interactive holocaust.

I'm not sure if they'll be ready for a long time to come. It's too controversial, and will have too many people raising hell about it, so to speak.

 

[uppitycracker]

i dunno, every review i read says the same thing, and every person that's played it tells me the same thing. "If you liked COD4, you'll love WaW". Yet, here I am, still a fanatic of COD4, and absolutely despise this new entry into the franchise. Just like the previous Treyarch addition, it seems to have fairly bland and repetitive (even for the COD series) missions, if not gimmicky attempts at changing things up. The hit detection is absolutely horrible, and I'm not a huge fan of the level design. All in all, this game was great when it was COD2, but I feel like we should have moved past this by now. And really, seriously people, please stop saying if you loved COD4 you'll love this one, just because it uses the same game engine. It worked well for the modern weapons and combat, just doesn't do it for this one.

Hence the "probably."

I felt that the American campaign was decent if nothing special, but I absolutely adored the Russian one. If the American missions had been on par with the Russian ones, I think the game would have been superb.

I see your point with the probably. I just haven't found a single person that was a huge COD4 fan, that actually likes COD5. Granted, most of it is in response to multiplayer for them, and I know that you didn't touch that for this review. And the Russian missions were alright, but I remember the big angle to distract people from the fact that this was another WW2 shooter was the fact whole pacific battle, and when that entire aspect of the game is just such a disappointment in terms of quality gameplay (to me anyway), I fail to see where this isn't just another recycled COD2 with vehicles. I know its all really a matter of personal preference in games, but I guess it just didn't do it for me.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I know it sounds a little callous, but I can't wait until we get a WW2 game with a depressing, soul shattering Concentration Camp level. Sort of like the brillaint Band of Brothers episode where they first find an abandoned one.

It'd sort of be the WW2 equivalent of the Nuke Sequence from COD4.

However I'm really not sure gaming, or the world, is ready for the horror and fallout of an interactive holocaust.

I'm not sure if they'll be ready for a long time to come. It's too controversial, and will have too many people raising hell about it, so to speak.

I just think it would be a very effective piece of storytelling and history. Just having the player walk through a concentration camp and being able to bear first person witness to the shear volume of human suffering would just be so impacting. Granted it would probably seem exploitative, but it isn't seen so in movies, I don't know why it wouldn't fit into games as well.

 

[kapzer]

I know it sounds a little callous, but I can't wait until we get a WW2 game with a depressing, soul shattering Concentration Camp level. Sort of like the brillaint Band of Brothers episode where they first find an abandoned one.

It'd sort of be the WW2 equivalent of the Nuke Sequence from COD4.

However I'm really not sure gaming, or the world, is ready for the horror and fallout of an interactive holocaust.

I'm not sure if they'll be ready for a long time to come. It's too controversial, and will have too many people raising hell about it, so to speak.

I just think it would be a very effective piece of storytelling and history. Just having the player walk through a concentration camp and being able to bear first person witness to the shear volume of human suffering would just be so impacting. Granted it would probably seem exploitative, but it isn't seen so in movies, I don't know why it wouldn't fit into games as well.

Read your last sentence to yourself. Forget that games are not seen at the same level as movies yet? Movies are considered art, games are only really considered art in the eyes of gamers.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I know it sounds a little callous, but I can't wait until we get a WW2 game with a depressing, soul shattering Concentration Camp level. Sort of like the brillaint Band of Brothers episode where they first find an abandoned one.

It'd sort of be the WW2 equivalent of the Nuke Sequence from COD4.

However I'm really not sure gaming, or the world, is ready for the horror and fallout of an interactive holocaust.

I'm not sure if they'll be ready for a long time to come. It's too controversial, and will have too many people raising hell about it, so to speak.

I just think it would be a very effective piece of storytelling and history. Just having the player walk through a concentration camp and being able to bear first person witness to the shear volume of human suffering would just be so impacting. Granted it would probably seem exploitative, but it isn't seen so in movies, I don't know why it wouldn't fit into games as well.

Read your last sentence to yourself. Forget that games are not seen at the same level as movies yet? Movies are considered art, games are only really considered art in the eyes of gamers.

That's a good point, still, it would be brilliantly effective. It'd make me cry anyway.

 

[Geoffrey42]

I'm entertained, sort of, by how much mention of storming the Reichstag gives me a feeling of "been there, done that". It's not Normandy, and it is a big moment, but it just hammers home how well-tread this time period is. Where's my dramatic re-enactment of the Battle of the Bulge?

EDIT: Repetitivity reduced.

 

[Jordan Deam]

Where's my dramatic re-enactment of the Battle of the Bulge?

In the final mission of Medal of Honor: European Assault, of course. Yeah, there's not much unexplored territory left for World War II games to cover.

Personally, I'd be curious to play a WWII game where you're on the losing side. We're constantly the Americans, Brits or Russians - why not the Germans or Japanese? I think the moral queasiness could be pretty instructive.

 

[Geoffrey42]

In the final mission of Medal of Honor: European Assault, of course. Yeah, there's not much unexplored territory left for World War II games to cover.

Personally, I'd be curious to play a WWII game where you're on the losing side. We're constantly the Americans, Brits or Russians - why not the Germans or Japanese? I think the moral queasiness could be pretty instructive.

Apparently my google-fu is too weak; I tried to find an example of that battle in a videogame before posting, but I failed. And I missed that particular game because I've only ever played MoH on the PC.

And yes, I would like to see the game that lets me play the losing side. Almost all Nazis were German, but not all Germans were Nazis, even those fighting in the war. I've been waiting for that game/movie/book for a long time (if anyone has suggestions that aren't related to the Hitler assassination attempt, I'm all ears). Where is my German 'Letters from Iwo Jima'?

 

[Mr.Pandah]

Great game, good review. And I wholeheartedly agree, Nazi Zombies must be in every game from now on. That alone made the game worth the purchase in my opinion. I feel its better than Left 4 Dead, mostly because I enjoy defending much more than I do running from point A to point B. I just hope they add some new levels to hold off against the zombie horde.

I agree that the Russian missions were far better than their American counterparts, mostly because the Russian levels made me feel like I was that character. As soon as you start off as the Russians, you knew it was a golden campaign. The ending was also great. The American campaign had my attention because of the location, but the ending didn't give me much closure. Any reason you didn't review the multiplayer by the way? Just curious.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Where's my dramatic re-enactment of the Battle of the Bulge?

In the final mission of Medal of Honor: European Assault, of course. Yeah, there's not much unexplored territory left for World War II games to cover.

Personally, I'd be curious to play a WWII game where you're on the losing side. We're constantly the Americans, Brits or Russians - why not the Germans or Japanese? I think the moral queasiness could be pretty instructive.

It's high time we saw "Stalingrad: The Game," the germans don't have to be "heroes" but a plot like that can really make them sympathetic.

 

[Pseudonym2]

I know it sounds a little callous, but I can't wait until we get a WW2 game with a depressing, soul shattering Concentration Camp level. Sort of like the brillaint Band of Brothers episode where they first find an abandoned one.

Wasn't this the entire premise of Prisoner of War?

 

[Dommyboy]

I found the video review to be a bit poor. Did you actually try to use the flame thrower on hardened or Veteran? You get shot down in a few moments while trying to burn the enemy. I also didn't find really any bugs with the PC version or maybe I am just lucky.

 

[Misnomer]

Geoffrey,

I do beleive Call of Duty United Offensive actually starts in the Battle of the Bulge. It is a bit old but it is still one of the best games in the series.

Also. If you play Company of Heroes: Opposing Front (the expansion pack to the original CoH) you get to play as the Germans in single player. Sure it is an RTS so not quite the same thing, but the cut scenes deal with a pair of brothers fighting towards the end of the war and I think it showed that it is perfectly feasible to have a German caimpaign in a WW2 game.

I once saw a list of all the WW2 games ever made and all the modern weapon games ever made...it is not as skewed as some might think. The problem is that there are only a few good Modern Weapon games whereas IW and Treyarch have been producing high quality WW2 games for a while now. You can say BF1942 started it all, but they have released a modern weapons game in the series with BF2. Counter Strike and Coutner Strike Source are still the most popular online games altogether.

 

[Mariena]

I'm still waiting for a realistic game on the scale of Call of Duty, in a realistic setting (as in, actual *battlegrounds*, not those linear levels. Move up, checkpoint, move up, checkpoint).

Keep dreaming, I guess.

 

[Beowulf DW]

Unless some one out there has the balls to make a video game from the viewpoint of the Nazis or the Japanese, there should be a moratorium on WW2 games. If there isn't one level in which you're a part of a banzai charge, or an SS task force, it shouldn't even be published.

If a game like that was made, it might be the boost needed to get games to be seen as art.