Call of Duty: World at War
Oct 8, 2008"Man down!"
I risk a glance over the uprooted tree that I'm using as cover while a hail of bullets peels off splinters and bark. One of our guys is down on the other side of the channel, calling out for help in the mud. He desperately fires a pistol at the Imperial Japanese forces rushing down the ravine, their bayonets gleaming in the hot Pacific sun. I swear under my breath. "What part of 'We're all going to the right' didn't you understand?" I cry. Head down, I sprint across the mud to rescue my comrade...
Call of Duty: World at War is the anticipated follow-up to
Producer Dan Bunting described the title as "six games in one," with modes to cater to every taste. You've got your single-player campaign, your co-op campaign (co-op play is new to the franchise), an interesting spin called "competitive co-op" (where you're racing to contribute more than your allies), and a handful of competitive online multiplayer modes. In addition, there's something called "Death Cards," collectable items that allow players to customize their co-op play. And finally there's a sixth mode Bunting told us was "super top-secret," which no amount of prying could reveal. We're expecting an announcement on that front soon.
Banding With Your Brothers
We were greeted with
But the highlight of the recent Activision press event was a chance to play through the co-op mode. We'd tinkered around with this earlier (
Downed players can be revived if you can stay next to them for a few seconds without getting shot. It's worth a lot of experience to resurrect a comrade, and once players realized this, everyone started rushing in to play battlefield medic. Of course you're no good to your friend if a grenade or machine gun takes you out while you're trying to heal him, so it pays to clear the area first or have a friend provide cover.
The first map we played was "Hard Landing," the mission near a downed glider that we wrote about in our earlier preview. That was a cakewalk compared to the next map, "Relentless," which was new. The mission started off with us and our fellow soldiers riding on the tops of tanks in an armored column. When the ambush hit us, we were flung to the ground, our vision disoriented for several seconds while shouts echoed around us and the tanks disintegrated into balls of fire and inky black smoke. The jungle foliage was thick on either end of a mud-choked ravine, presided over by a fortified Japanese emplacement. We found it almost impossible to keep each other alive amidst the rain of grenades, the continual gunfire, and worst of all the charging soldiers who would come screaming out of the underbrush to engage us at bayonet-point.
Activision is making it clear that this game is going to explore the real grittiness of World War II's most brutal conflicts, and when I looked down at the severed arm of a Japanese soldier still clutching his rifle, I believed it. Ultimately, the only way we were able to fight our way through the "Relentless" map was by having all four soldiers concentrate on one approach, but not clustering together because of the continual grenades. Every inch of ground was a slaughter as we made our way up the ravine, over a bunker, and ultimately through a network of tunnels. This game isn't easy, but that makes the eventual victory all the more satisfying.
Among the highlights of Call of Duty 4 were the tremendous graphics and the spectacle of big, scripted events. Call of Duty: World at War delivers on this front, as well. The maps are rich in detail, supported by some of the industry's best audio. During the "Hard Landing" map, you're forced to defend an occupied Japanese position against a determined counterattack. The best way to do this is by turning the anti-aircraft guns toward the ground, where you can mow down a line of incoming tanks and light vehicles. Trucks roll over and burst into flames while soldiers go whirling off into the sky. Flames race across the ground as fuel tanks explode. Then the bombers come tearing out of the sky to finish the job -- the visuals are epic. On the "Relentless" map we watched Allied soldiers desperately grabbing charging Japanese infantry and throwing them to the ground. The flamethrower deserves special mention. Graphically the flames are cool, but the accompanying animations -- the startling reactions of soldiers engulfed in flames -- really give the experience some power.
After playing co-op on the PC, it was over to the Xbox 360 to enjoy some good old-fashioned multiplayer deathmatch. There are no real surprises here; if you loved the pacing and rewards of Call of Duty 4, then World at War won't disappoint. Instead you're getting more of everything. More weapons, more perks, more types of grenades (the Bouncing Betty is particularly horrific), and an insane number of different leaderboards to compete in. There are more "create a soldier" slots to fill and some unique ways to customize them. You can even wear sunglasses as a perk.
Vehicles can now play a role in multiplayer games. Driving a tank in deathmatch sounds like a blast, although in reality you merely become the biggest target on the map. Players can choose from a series of vehicle perks, such as faster acceleration or bonus armor. Where vehicles will really come in handy is in the team-based modes, where players can protect your flanks.
Speaking of team play, "Capture the Flag" is also making a comeback. Maybe old-fashioned CTF gameplay doesn't fit into the gritty World War II theme, but the classic mix of offense and defense should make for great gameplay. A new "momentum meter" makes capture-and-hold maps more interesting by allowing the winning side to more quickly conquer the next point.
But we've saved the best for last. As with Call of Duty 4, players are rewarded for long kill streaks by being able to activate radar, call in artillery, and other bonuses. This time, however, if you scored enough kills you could release... war dogs. These terrible mutts would race across the map, bundles of barking teeth and claws tearing toward the throats of enemy players. After a few multiplayer maps we learned to fear and dread the sound of howling and barking that accompanied the release of the dogs. Fun stuff!
Call of Duty: World at War may not break innovative new ground, but when you're building off of the Game of the Year it pays to stick with what works. This title looks to give us more of everything we loved about Call of Duty 4, along with several new ways to play. Getting our hands on it only solidified our high expectations -- we'll be watching this one closely as it nears its November 11 release.
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Axis of Awesome
Two multiplayer maps showed the diversity of environments. A bombed-out European trainyard featured more rubble than solid ground, where the ruined buildings and overturned freight cars provided ample cover for hit-and-run submachinegunning. Contrast that with an open Japanese terrace level, where multiple levels of mazelike gardens provided a surreal backdrop to all the flame-throwing action within.