CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR (2008) REVIEW

Unattractive, unnerving and unpleasant for all the right reasons.

PS3 version reviewed.

Call of Duty: World at War is a first person shooter published by Activision and developed by Treyarch for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS and PC.

What I really liked about this game was how it was so far against depicting war as glamorous, down to the unwelcoming dark title screen and music to the gruelling and gruesome campaign. The game held nothing back in showing how horrible war can be and how it should never have to be a viable option.

GAMEPLAY
Multiplayer maps are a lot more open than in Modern Warfare, but I couldn't help but feel how well made some of the maps actually were. Outskirts may be one of the best Call of Duty maps ever with the variety of ways you can come out on top in it. Most of the DLC maps are outstanding too, the most noteworthy for me being Battery and Breach.

Guns in multiplayer are for the most part well balanced, while the sub machine guns are generally the best and useful in all the maps, there are some maps that will be won and lost over snipers or shotguns. As you can guess maps really vary in size too, which is a nice change from the tighter Modern Warfare designs, World at War even found room to put tanks in some of them.

I really enjoyed the new War game mode in multiplayer, with the momentum and things in certainly brought something a bit new to the table and a welcome break from the usual death matches, even if that's where you'll still find most people.

The campaign was very good, although I do wish there was a western front setting, as it seems a bit strange to call it one of the definitive WWII games when it doesn't feature one of the major places of conflict (Although apparently the PS2 counterpart Final Fronts does).

The unexpected zombies mode was a nice feature, and looking back in retrospective probably the biggest idea Call of Duty came up with since the franchise's inception.

STORY
While the story might not be anything complex, the atmospheres the game creates are fantastic

GRAPHICS

The game looks fine and the performance seems good.

Seeing people loose limbs or watching them turn into burnt husks is both horrifying and gruesome, and Treyarch deserve some credit for not daring to shy away from how graphic war can be. It really isn't nice to watch and may even make you contemplate why you're playing the game, but that's exactly how they want you to feel.

SOUND
At first I didn't like Sean Murray's soundtrack because I found it dark and unnerving, thinking it wasn't really something I would want to listen to again. I must have been a bit stupid because that's exactly what this soundtrack is supposed to bring across. This game isn't supposed to be about happy times we like to remember, but rather a time we'd like to forget but know we shouldn't. The soundtrack fits the bill perfectly and is a complement to the games gritty and odious direction.

VALUE FOR MONEY
Worth the price for the campaign as well as multiplayer and zombies mode. Props to Treyarch for making all the DLC free on PC too.

OVERALL
This could be the definitive World War II game. If you're a fan of the setting or the genre this is definitely worth picking up.