Reviews: Call of Duty: World at War Video Review

[Ryuzaki]

I think I prefer COD4 to COD5. There is nothing inherently wrong with this game, it is a good game, but it just does not really compare well with its predecessor in my opinion.

I agree that they should make games which allow you to play on the axis powers side. Generalisation can be a terrible thing. Not all Germans were Nazis and the allied view on the Japanese at that time can be shocking.
I think that it is time for a game like COD to be made from the prospective of a person on one of those sides. They do it in movies ('Letters from Iwo Jima' is a good example as pointed out earlier) so why can this not progress into games?

 

[John Funk]

It's really interesting to see that so many people agree that we need a game playing from the point of view of the Axis powers - Jordan, Susan and myself had some interesting discussions about it here in the Escapist offices. We agree that it'd be a great idea, but... well, some hurdles that need to be overcome. For one, even though yes, we now know that not all the German or Japanese soldiers were evil, it'd still be a PR nightmare to get past the "you play as a Nazi!!" kneejerk reaction.

Also... you lose. How do you make a game where the end goal has you losing, when games are usually all about winning in the first place?

 

[estro_pajo]

Ok, but what about playing as a soldier of maybe the most important nation that fought in the second World War ? Poland.
We always get to play as Americans, Russians (and they were in fact the villians, just as much, if not more then the Germans), French, British...

I'd want to play as a Pole during the invasion of Poland in 1939 ? this is a historical moment!

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

It's really interesting to see that so many people agree that we need a game playing from the point of view of the Axis powers - Jordan, Susan and myself had some interesting discussions about it here in the Escapist offices. We agree that it'd be a great idea, but... well, some hurdles that need to be overcome. For one, even though yes, we now know that not all the German or Japanese soldiers were evil, it'd still be a PR nightmare to get past the "you play as a Nazi!!" kneejerk reaction.

Also... you lose. How do you make a game where the end goal has you losing, when games are usually all about winning in the first place?

I suppose you could play a Nazi deserter. Playing a mission where you decide to save a Jewish prisoner and then have to flee with them would be pretty intense. Given that Call of Duty is mostly concerned with depicting war as hell, they wouldn't have to violate their portrayal in any way.

You could play a soldier trying to escape from Berlin, the siege on Moscow, or invading Paris. You gotta admit, cruising by the French barricades in a tank would be pretty amusing.

 

[Chattermouth]

Am I the only one who thinks the linearity is somehow even more oppressing in this game than in other COD games? Especially in the American campaign, where there is no room to move at all.

When a handful of men are outnumbered and pursued on enemy territory by a superior foe, it seems completely insane to trot along the paths in the forest. Anyone with a right mind would head straight into the woods which evens the playingfield (!) a little.

Instead, in this game, one can't set a single foot into the woods without being blocked by the invisible wall or a twig one is unable to step over. The only way is to follow the paths and run into one scripted ambush after another.
It is truly a step back from COD Modern Warfare.

I actually found this game, atleast the American campaign, incredibly dull...

 

[estro_pajo]

it is. absolutely, but so many modern FPS games look like a railway shopters, almost all of them!
But I'm playing coop games almost exclusively, so that doesn't bother me as much, most of the timel

 

[keyper159]

enough WWII games already this one was ok and should be THE LAST WWII GAME EVER!!!!

 

[LumiHawke]

They should make more, but for once go to different points of view? Americans are getting old, it's nice seeing the Pacific for once, but you played as the Russians a dozen times, and the Americans as a dozen times. I was looking forward to a nice German faction version of the game, play a German campaign and Japanese campaign, get to see the war in the eyes of those you're used to fighting. Its something that Relic did with Company of Heroes with Opposing Fronts and are doing again with Tales of Valor.

 

[Brett Alex]

It's really interesting to see that so many people agree that we need a game playing from the point of view of the Axis powers - Jordan, Susan and myself had some interesting discussions about it here in the Escapist offices. We agree that it'd be a great idea, but... well, some hurdles that need to be overcome. For one, even though yes, we now know that not all the German or Japanese soldiers were evil, it'd still be a PR nightmare to get past the "you play as a Nazi!!" kneejerk reaction.

Also... you lose. How do you make a game where the end goal has you losing, when games are usually all about winning in the first place?

I would really like a game you lost almost as much as a game where you played as the 'bad guys'. It would be really interesting, no matter how well you or your squad do, no matter how many enemies you kill, there is that sense that you a very definitely losing.

You could have one of those 'defend the bridge' missions, but when you last the time limit, having held off for as long as you can, instead of reinforcements arriving to save the day, you get an order from HQ telling you to retreat, and you realise all that work you put in was ultimately useless.

 

[-bladerunner-]

If you ask me it is too similar to cod4 in it's design however story may prove worth looking at...

 

[Danny Ocean]

French, British...

I'd want to play as a Pole during the invasion of Poland in 1939 ? this is a historical moment!

Which games?

Also, I don't think that would make for a very long game. I mean, they steamrollered most of the continent in a few months. The only reason the UK was saved was because there was a lot of water between us and them, and Russia had a lot of snow.

As for CoD5. That game really is a re-skin of CoD4. A couple of the levels (Flying one, or Tank one, for examples.) really are just re-skinned versions of old ones. Some even older than CoD4.

People keep saying that there isn't much ground left to tread in the WWII franchise, but I've yet to play a game set in that time period that's actually really gripping in the same way CoD4 was (Except CoH, but that's an RTS.). What about actually doing the British all the way from the start of the war, or the Chinese countries?