Video Game Review – Call of Duty: World at War

I just got done playing through Call of Duty: World at War, and I have to declare that it is pretty good.  It was an incredibly visceral experience which did an excellent job capturing the brutality of World War II.  Of course, there is a bit of dramatic license (parts which will be obvious when you play the game, however, I don’t want to play spoiler) but that’s why it’s entertaining.  One thing that was quite impressive was the way in which it captured the brutality of the “good guys” as well as that of the bad guys.  As a matter of fact, taking the game out of historical context, one would assume that the Soviets were the “bad guys”, and of course the Americans had their fair share of brutality.

A lot of people were concerned (myself included) with having another World War II game in an already saturated market, but the way in which the game is played eliminated that concern for me.  Although there have been hundreds of World War II based computer and video games in the last 10 years, this one is different because of the way in which it handles the Pacific Theater of the war.  For the first time in history, rather than swapping a swastika for a rising sun, the developers actually examined the ways in which the Japanese fought the war in the jungle.  Thus, when you switch between fighting the Japanese and fighting the Germans, it doesn’t feel like just a simple scenery change, but a whole change in gameplay.

As video games become more of a mainstream medium, the quality of the voice acting increases.  This is abundantly evident in this game, as actors Gary Oldman and Kiefer Sutherland lend their voices to Call of Duty: World at War (video below).

Finally, one of the interesting Easter eggs in Call of Duty: World at War is the Nazi zombie mode that is unlocked after beating the game on any difficulty.  Basically, you get locked in a farmhouse and have to survive wave after wave of Nazi zombie infiltration, and best of all, you can play with up to three friends in co-op mode.  Of course, it’s no Left 4 Dead, but you’re playing a World War II shooter, so what do you want for free?  Overall, this is an incredibly fun game, and while I didn’t mention it because it doesn’t have a story, there is an online multiplayer mode.  I definitely recommend this game for any fan of World War II based video games.

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