World at Peace (my hope & prayer)

A little late in posting this, but I finally finished the Call of Duty: World at War campaign (end of March 2009).

Good game; definitely on par with COD4:MW. But I think the newness of the COD experience was gone. The game play was great; the environment was beautiful because it was old and gritty. The story was OK – a little campy at the end. I feel I would have enjoyed my character better –Dmitri – if his story was not interrupted by the Japanese story line.

I thought the gore was over the top in COD:WaW. In fact, it may have been glorified. The cut scenes with actual footage – which I liked – had actual executions and battles. The enemy deaths were more graphic: blown apart and missing limbs. You stab the Japanese solders in the neck when they try to stab you – and when you use the bayonet on them, the blood rushes from their heart. I didn’t like using the flamethrower – you actually hear the screams of the thrashing soldiers as they burn to death. At the entrance to the subway, you decide how two German prisoners will die. Treyarch may have been trying to teach gamers about the horrors or war (I watch Saving Private Ryan every Memorial Day for the purpose. “Earn this.”). At the end of the game, just before the credits, “60 million lives were lost as a result of World War II” is written on the screen. Having this appear after the final victory didn’t work for me.

The addition of zombies is great – and ‘Nazi’ zombies are somehow better (“Nazis! I hate these guys,” Indiana Jones). This mini game is much better with a friend or three. And ‘Thank you’ Treyarch for the new Zombie level.

I guess the best part of World at War is the on-line multiplayer. It’s so additive and so rewarding. I like that there are no classes unlike KillZone 2 or Resistance 2 – it’s just simpler. It takes some time to find your weapon load-out for each map and devise a strategy. And I like the After Gameplay statistics – I wish there were more. I have not reached the first prestige yet – it takes a long time – but I am close.