Call of Duty: World at War

[블라스]

I never said anything about it being a bad idea. I understand exactly what Activision is doing. Reading Comprehension much??? What i was basically saying is that Treyarch wouldn't be able to tie their own shoes, let alone put out a game that has any quality to it if it wasn't for the work of IW before them. This gimmicky zombie mode is just some foolish game mode that Treyarch came up with because they have no "good" ideas of their own. Im not saying this game mode is bad, but like hippie said, it has no business being in this series and ill assure you it wont return when the real development team behind CoD returns to the series.

Dude, the zombie mode is getting a lot of praise from the reviews.

 

[Nightmare]

Still waitin for the IGN review.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Still waitin for the IGN review.

It's 1 page back.

http://uk.pc.ign.com/dor/objects/14222042/call-of-duty-5/videos/cod5_vidreview_111008.html

Although they seem to be split up by region. US/AU/UK with diffrent scores.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Dude, the zombie mode is getting a lot of praise from the reviews.

Yea, i dont think its a bad game mode, i just dont feel it has any business being in this game. To me its like going to watch a movie like Changeling and then having bloopers during the credits, just not needed and inappropriate.

 

[블라스]

Hahaha bloopers during the Changeling would be kinda funny
But yeah, I see your point.
I don't know, man....I'm pretty happy it's getting good scores, I didn't expect that.
To be honest, I enjoy WW2 games a lot more than modern combat, and if this is CoD4 with a WW2 paintjob, I'mgonna be damn happy

 

[Spidey-Bat]

I'm with you, 블라스. Modern Combat was too easy. The red dot made it so easy to get precise shots even with the most inaccurate weapon. And there's nothing like shooting a Nazi in the head with an M1 Garand. I might ask for this for Christmas or get it with my giftcard money. Don't have a strong desire to play it immediately.

 

[블라스]

I'm with you, 블라스. Modern Combat was too easy. The red dot made it so easy to get precise shots even with the most inaccurate weapon. And there's nothing like shooting a Nazi in the head with an M1 Garand. I might ask for this for Christmas or get it with my giftcard money. Don't have a strong desire to play it immediately.

Hahaha my kinda guy t:

8.7 from GameTrailers: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42153.html

I am sold

 

[Nightmare]

It's 1 page back.

http://uk.pc.ign.com/dor/objects/14222042/call-of-duty-5/videos/cod5_vidreview_111008.html

Although they seem to be split up by region. US/AU/UK with diffrent scores.

Cool thanks.

 

[Superhero 101]

Playing the Beta on the made me not want to buy it. It just felt really weird.

 

[primemover]

Its more that I'm a fan of Infinity Ward. I HATE seeing Infinity Wards game being prostituted by Activision and handed to a developer that doesn't have the talent of Infinity Ward. IW has made the Call of Duty series what it is, and IW should be the only developer behind it. With that said, i plan on spending time with WaW and if it turns out to be a good game then ill prob purchase it, but it still doesnt change the fact that i think IW should be the sole developer behind this title.

I just don't see how being a lesser developer than IW equates to Treyarch not being able to tie their own shoes, there was a lot of anger coming from somebody that simply enjoys IW's games more than Treyarchs.

Question though, how does Treyarch's slightly less quality CoD games keep you from enjoying IW's CoD games?

 

[primemover]

Yea, i dont think its a bad game mode, i just dont feel it has any business being in this game. To me its like going to watch a movie like Changeling and then having bloopers during the credits, just not needed and inappropriate.

This mode is, how do you say . . optional. IW included 'old timey mode' goofiness with their game as a cheat, how does that fit with Modern Warfare?

 

[hippie_hunter]

Its more that I'm a fan of Infinity Ward. I HATE seeing Infinity Wards game being prostituted by Activision and handed to a developer that doesn't have the talent of Infinity Ward. IW has made the Call of Duty series what it is, and IW should be the only developer behind it. With that said, i plan on spending time with WaW and if it turns out to be a good game then ill prob purchase it, but it still doesnt change the fact that i think IW should be the sole developer behind this title.

I really wish that Infinity Ward was a part of EA and that EA replaced Medal of Honor with Call of Duty. Call of Duty would fit so much better with EA than god damn Activision.

 

[Nightmare]

Call of Duty by EA? ew. I wish it was exclusive to Treyarch.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Call of Duty by EA? ew. I wish it was exclusive to Treyarch.

People need to realize that the Electronic Arts that published nothing but licensed titles and milking their franchises to the bone is dead now.

Electronic Arts now prides over quality by releasing titles such as Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Spore, Skate, Warhammer Online, Mass Effect, Mercenaries 2. They work deals with companies like Valve, iD, Crytek, and Harmonix to release The Orange Box, Left 4 Dead, Rage, Crysis, and Rock Band.

They are now led by quality developers and they let them do their own things: Bioware, Pandemic, Digital Illusions CE, Maxis, Criterion, and Mythic.

Electronic Arts is no longer gaming's evil empire. So I stand by my statement that Call of Duty would benefit better under EA. A Call of Duty under EA would remain at Infinity Ward and only Infinity Ward.

There is a new evil empire in gaming, and that empire is Activision Blizzard.

 

[Soapy]

People need to realize that the Electronic Arts that published nothing but licensed titles and milking their franchises to the bone is dead now.

Electronic Arts now prides over quality by releasing titles such as Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Spore, Skate, Warhammer Online, Mass Effect, Mercenaries 2. They work deals with companies like Valve, iD, Crytek, and Harmonix to release The Orange Box, Left 4 Dead, Rage, Crysis, and Rock Band.

They are now led by quality developers and they let them do their own things: Bioware, Pandemic, Digital Illusions CE, Maxis, Criterion, and Mythic.

Electronic Arts is no longer gaming's evil empire. So I stand by my statement that Call of Duty would benefit better under EA. A Call of Duty under EA would remain at Infinity Ward and only Infinity Ward.

There is a new evil empire in gaming, and that empire is Activision Blizzard.

AGREED! Activision basically thinks that gamers are complete idiots and treats them as such. At least when EA was "evil" they had the good sense not to flaunt it in gamer's faces. Activision has stated loud and clear (I'm paraphrasing, but it's surprisingly accurate) that they are going to milk their franchises dry and run them into the ground because they know that people will buy their games regardless.

And not to mention that Blizzard is swallowing the PC game industry whole.

EA was/is nowhere near as bad as Activision Blizzard.

 

[chaseter]

Tons of people already glitched out of the maps in the beta so I was said nope to this game. It was fun but I hate the weapons after already having such great weapons in CoD4. I still think CoD4 will prevail over this game and after the holidays CoD4 will once again have more players than this.

 

[DIRECTOR]

i'm actually getting bored with COD4, I don't know whether it's because I want more maps, but I'm getting bored. It REPETITIVE.

 

[Darthphere]

I really wish that Infinity Ward was a part of EA and that EA replaced Medal of Honor with Call of Duty. Call of Duty would fit so much better with EA than god damn Activision.

Except that the whole point behind Infinity Ward was to get away from EA and Medal of Honor.

 

[0neDisturbedSOB]

I picked up the game last night and played through the first few levels. The opening level is intense, the whole torturing thing definitely adds to the realism of the game. I'm playing it on hard so some of the things are a little more tricky to pull off (I'm at the sniper part and the guy is ridiculously fast) but so far I'm enjoying it.

I was disappointed that they didn't stick with the modern warfare aspect, but then again I do love WWII themed games so it all works great. I will say that the enemies hiding in the trees and the grass is a great addition and sometimes they can really surprise you....that's where the flamethrower comes in handy.

I'm liking it so far. Definitely recommend it to any COD fans.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

Can you skip the opening scenes of missions? That really pissed me off in CoD3.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

They already done Berlin in the first one, ends with Russians waving the flag over Reichstag in a heroic fashion just like the iconic photograph. (But cuts out the part afterwards were they go on a raping spree for some odd reason). Probably pick it up on budget, at worst it will be a good distraction.

 

[블라스]

I really like this review: http://www.gameplayer.com.au/gp_documents/081111Codwaw.aspx?Page=1

Call of Duty: World at War (hereafter referred to with the gibberish noise ‘Codwaw&#8217 is a game about personal touches. Now, when we say ‘personal touches’, you might think we're referring to its visual fidelity and meticulous attention to detail. Sure that's a factor, but we could just be talking about the way the combat requires a more personal touch from you (like shish kabobbing up a storm with your trusty bayonet). You may even think that the term ‘personal touches’ relates to the way Treyarch has included not only online four player co-op, but some old school split-screen multiplayer action too.

True, extra multiplayer options are always welcome, but a better ‘personal touch’ is the way Treyarch decided to include an awesome unlockable survival horror mode. Finally, you might even be under the impression that ‘personal touches’ is what some hardcore fans will give themselves when they rediscover the ocular orgasm that is the Cod4 engine. Yep, that is exactly what we meant...

Duty just called. Will YOU accept the charges?

Speaking plainly, Codwaw has been an uphill battle for the developers. Despite their minor, largely ignored, successes with Call of Duty 3, these guys have been living squarely in the shadow of 'the good Call of Duty developer' Infinity Ward (the talented team which brought us Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare). Besieged by rabid fanboys and horny Infinity Ward groupies, Treyarch has also had to deal with the *****ing of yet another group of idiots; the cry babies who cringe at the sight of 'yet another WWII game’. Take it from us, life ain't easy when you're named Treyarch. But God bless ‘em, despite all the odds being against their favour they've managed to Semper Fi and knock the sceptics and the sheep out of the ballpark with this very worthy addition to the hallowed Cod series. How did they manage to do it? By sticking to what works...

Like the WWII Call of Duty games before it, Codwaw's narrative jumps between two very different stories on two separate battlefronts. The first covers the exploits of Private Miller of the US Marines as the he goes head to head against the very unconventional Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific. The second storyline follows Pvt Petrenko, a Russian sniper in Stalingrad who rips off every cool scene from the movie Enemy at the Gates, before he decides to whip the sour Krauts all the way back to Berlin.



The basic structure of the gameplay is as follows; the scene will get set with a fancy pants intro movie that fuses dynamic animation with shocking archival footage (‘shocking’ both in terms of quality, and content). Thusly psyched, you’re given two or three missions as one character (until a cliffhanger situation happens), and then it'll switch you back over to the other guy. To mix this process up, you're also given the occasional on rails/vehicle section too, like raining tracer death on Japanese merchant ships in a PBY Catalina or flambéing fascists with a Russian fire tank. On the whole, this setup helps maintain interest levels and the experience lasts longer than Cod4’s shockingly short campaign.

Another way Treyarch has helped to keep the ride interesting is with violence. Tonnes and tonnes of violence. Codwaw has got to be the grittiest, gore filled Call of Duty ever produced, and it’ll definitely come as a shock for most Cod veterans. Like Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway, the brutality on display really does two things: it raises the sense of immersion and, more importantly, it reminds you just how insane these historical battles really were. Sure, it doesn’t feature the fandangle, slow motion ‘kill cam’ of BIA, but there will be moments - when you blast someone’s legs off, or watch a comrade get incinerated alive (and subsequently exploded) by his own ruptured flamethrower tank – when you’ll utter an unintentional “Woah!” under your breath.

The occasional Keanu Reeves ‘Woah moment’ permitted, Codwaw still seems to be lacking in the ‘wow factor’ when compared to Cod4.That isn’t to say there aren’t thrills and frills, there are some admittedly cool moments like using the deafening noise of overhead bombers to snipe unsuspecting Germans. Plus they’ve shoehorned some of the dog attacks of Cod4 into being the banzai bayonet charges of the Japanese. When this happens you have a very brief window of opportunity to knock aside the blade by clicking RS (right stick) before he stabs you and you’re RS (rat ****).

While these new moments are cool, we can still recall key moments in Cod4 that will be forever burned into our memory, like the gillie suit sniper level, chunking big gobs of death on people with the gunship, and the exquisite horror of getting our throat torn out by our first guard pooch. Okay, Codwaw does feature ‘similar’ moments, but they really don’t seem to leap off the screen at you the second time around.



Pyromaniacs, welcome to your Graceland

Another area that hasn't exactly made leaps and bounds on Cod4 is the graphics engine. Ordinarily this would be a point of much wailing and gnashing of teeth for us, but given how delicious the engine was the first time around, it’s kind of hard to bag it out now. The only discernible upgrade made by Treyarch here is with the fire system - and Codwaw is a pyromaniac’s dream because of it.

Early on in the US campaign you’ll become best friends with the M2 Flamethrower - and you’ll both get on like a house on fire (or perhaps a bungalow on fire, or a tree, or a group of soldiers in some bushes ‘on fire&#8217. Yeah, you read that right, you can cause more disturbing deforestation with this sucker than you could with a free hair removalist in a metrosexual suburb of Sydney – and the fires you create will actively ignite anything around them, including trees, and foolish snipers camping in said trees. Beyond that enhancement, Codwaw looks just as sharp as the retina slicing Cod4. Just with a fresh lick of lead based, WWII paint.

As some of you may have already heard, Treyarch won a bunch of accolades for the audio engineering they did in Call of Duty 3, and it is in this area that the padawan has truly outshone the master. Rest assured, if you have a kick arse sound system, Codwaw is going to become your new benchmark tester. Bullets will whizz, the epic explosions will make angry neighbours key your car, and Jack Bauer (a.k.a Kiefer Sutherland) will be barking orders at you as the maniacal Japanese shriek bloody murder. All of this occurs alongside some truly adrenaline pumping music that uses traditional Russian instruments in the European theatre and heart pounding Japanese Taiko drums in the Pacific. It's truly fantastic stuff, and we haven’t experienced aural pleasures this satisfying and intense since our last holiday in Bangkok. (Not a typo. That seedy hotel in the red light district had a really, really good sound system).

Just like the graphics, when it came to designing the multiplayer Treyarch wisely took the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. Whether you’re a fan of the system or not, perks and ranks make a return and they once again reward the hardcore who play the game upside down in their sleep while absolutely raping the newer player who has just popped in to the mode to see if multiplayer is fun. Whatever the case, clearly this type of setup works with a lot of people, and of the thirty three available perks fifteen are new and the rest are re-jigged ‘WWII versions’ of the older ones.

A personal office favourite among the newies is deployable attack dogs, and when you know that two or three bites is enough to turn your arse into Chum, you really do freeze when you hear those distant barks approaching. Other than that, once again Codwaw just substitutes a bunch of things rather than going out on a limb and thinking up something amazing and new. Even still, all of you online bandits may safely buy the game knowing that the online killin' is rehashed but still well above average in terms of fun. Does it trump Cod4? Let’s just say it’s on par, and we’ll let angrier, less sunlight inclined people squabble over which one is ‘betterer’.

Unfortunately, the new Treyarch additions to the multiplayer experience are something of a mixed bag. To get the good stuff out of the way; the four player Online Co-operative works really well and if you don't work together and revive your buddies you're all going home in body bags - which is how co-op should work. However, try this experience on a single TV via split screen and things get more than a little seedy. Rather than slightly rework some of the ‘more solo inclined’ campaign levels to suit two people, Treyarch has chosen to weed them out completely.

Also some of the key cinematic moments in the single player campaign get neutered by a framerate saving fog that makes a level in Superman 64 look like a clear day in Crysis. Admittedly this phenomenon only occurs during the non-controllable, introductory sections - but it still is an eyesore that cheapens the experience. If that isn't bad enough, the split-screen forces you to use an unchangeable vertical split which leaves large, unsightly borders above and below both screens. Which is an unfortunate state of affairs.

Zombie Nazis, we hate these guys.

Thankfully Treyarch utterly redeem themselves by including a Night of the Nazi undead mode, that unlocks after you clock the game and is a metric stupid load of fun. The general idea is to take four online players, drop them in a broken shack and have them try to hold back an endless swarm of Nazi zombies – why are the Nazis zombies? Who really cares, grab a shotgun! Scoring hits on the advancing Kraut cadavers and rebuilding your dilapidated structure earns you points which may then be spent on ammo, better weapons, and access to better defendable positions within the shack. It's an admirable attempt to steal some of the thunder from the forthcoming Left 4 Dead, and we found ourselves playing more of this than we did the usual adversarial modes.

When the smoke clears and the war is won, Call of Duty World at War stands as an invigorating WWII romp through some of the more interesting, largely unseen parts of the war. Despite some similarities between itself and its much praised predecessor, Codwaw still manages to be its own creature, and a solid action title to boot. There will of course be a bunch of naysayers who will still view the single player campaign as a rehashed expansion pack – but this isn’t an accurate appraisal and it does the game, and Treyarch’s immense efforts, an injustice. Adversarial multiplayer is a different matter however, while it is as balanced and chaotic as always, fans who have played the death out of Cod4 and already shelved it may get over it quickly, new perks/maps/weapons and all.

Treyarch has more than made up for the shortcomings from ‘playing it safe’ by innovating in other areas, namely the four player online co-op campaign, some imperfect (but totally playable) split-screen options, and Zombie Nazis.

Whichever way you look at it, Call of Duty: World at War has had a lot of time spent on it, it takes full advantage of (and in some places improves upon) one of the best FPS engines there is, and its unflinching approach to the mature subject matter gives the immersion-factor a kick up the guts. Does all of this make Codwaw worthy of a purchase? Hell yes. Let’s face it, the second most of us heard the phrase ‘zombie Nazis’ we were already down for the ride….

People who're b1tching about this being "more fail by Treyarch" should really play it first.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Except that the whole point behind Infinity Ward was to get away from EA and Medal of Honor.

No, the employees that founded Infinity Ward just wanted to create their own development studio. Just like the employees of Naughty Dog and Blizzard with Ready at Dawn.

2015 was not owned by Electronic Arts and the only game they did with Electronic Arts was Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.

Not only that but the way EA was back when Infinity Ward was established and the EA of today are completely different and a development studio like Infinity Ward would thrive in today's EA. If only they weren't bought by Activision.

 

[A.J.Rimmer(BSC)]

People need to realize that the Electronic Arts that published nothing but licensed titles and milking their franchises to the bone is dead now.

Electronic Arts now prides over quality by releasing titles such as Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Spore, Skate, Warhammer Online, Mass Effect, Mercenaries 2. They work deals with companies like Valve, iD, Crytek, and Harmonix to release The Orange Box, Left 4 Dead, Rage, Crysis, and Rock Band.

They are now led by quality developers and they let them do their own things: Bioware, Pandemic, Digital Illusions CE, Maxis, Criterion, and Mythic.

Electronic Arts is no longer gaming's evil empire. So I stand by my statement that Call of Duty would benefit better under EA. A Call of Duty under EA would remain at Infinity Ward and only Infinity Ward.

There is a new evil empire in gaming, and that empire is Activision Blizzard.

Thats is pretty much bang on.

However, to endorse them for a game that prizes itself on the best FPS online gameplay is pure folly. The EA servers are a massive bag of monkey poo.

Team Fortress2 was ruined for me, and after initially having few problems, I can no longer have a game on Fifa 2009 online due to a horde of disconnects on either my machine or many other people. I like EA now, but online, they're a touch of death.

 

[Darthphere]

No, the employees that founded Infinity Ward just wanted to create their own development studio. Just like the employees of Naughty Dog and Blizzard with Ready at Dawn.

2015 was not owned by Electronic Arts and the only game they did with Electronic Arts was Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.

Not only that but the way EA was back when Infinity Ward was established and the EA of today are completely different and a development studio like Infinity Ward would thrive in today's EA. If only they weren't bought by Activision.

By leaving EA.