‘Call of Duty: World War II’ Review

Every year, the Call of Duty games are among the most popular out there. Seven of the 50 highest-selling video games of all-time come from the Call of Duty series, so it’s no surprise today’s release of Call of Duty: WWII was met with a lot of fanfare. For some, buying the game has become a tradition. But Call of Duty: WWII good?

 

Well, it’s Call of Duty. For better or worse. You can always rely on it as a game to play with a bunch of your friends for hours—it’s not too challenging of a game, as it’s a bit of a mix between of seriousness (it is with a lot of killing after all) and mindlessness. And that’s not a knock either. Just playing a video game for a bit to give some time to escape is kind of the point—they aren’t supposed to be critically important. You go 5 and 15 in a match, so what?

 

Let’s start with multiplayer. Basically, you know what you’re going to get when playing this game. It’s a Call of Duty game through and through, and it might not be like the beloved Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or Call of Duty: World at War, but at least there are no people flying around this year (which some like, and some despise).

 

A lot of the guns feel familiar if you’ve played Call of Duty before; and the kill streaks are very awesome, with the best (in my opinion) being a carpet bomb that does a ton of damage.

 

The maps are OK. Maybe I’m being nostalgic, but the maps just don’t seem as good as they were in Call of Duty: World at War for WWII maps. Instead, they feel more like the COD maps of recent years, with it just happening to come in a World War II game. Ardennes is definitely my favorite so far, as it’s in a snowy and sordid setting.

 

Basically, if you’ve been happy with multiplayer in the Call of Duty games over the last few years, you’ll be happy with this.

 

Campaign mode, I don’t want to get too much into because I don’t want to spoil anything for those that are going to play it. But the opening sequence is a lot like the movie Saving Private Ryan, and (like multiplayer) it’s immediately feels like a Call of Duty story mode. It’s difficult to live up to the great campaign mode of the original Modern Warfare but WWII’s is a solid story that’s worth completing over time.

 

As for Zombies, this is arguably the best version of it in any Call of Duty game. If you can get a few of your friends and try to get to the easter eggs (like the Panzermorder boss) it’s a real thrill. The World War II aspect of the game is what really makes it great, in my opinion. And it’s not as complex as some of the zombie modes in previous Call of Duty games—which is a major relief.

 

Overall, Call of Duty: World War II is no World at War, but itgets back to some of the more basic gameplay of previous games without having to worry about people flying around the map. Campaign is solid, and zombies is a mode that you can spend many late nights on.

 

Score: 8.4/10