The World At Large

I think we can all remember one of last year's most popular titles on the market. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. After taking the conflict to modern times, what did they do for the next title? Back to WWII. "Ugh," I thought, "Isn't that getting old yet? Going through the same old missions, shooting the same old Nazis with the same old guns and the same old plot." Well lets just say that Call of Duty: World at War, would make an excellent finale to the WWII shooting genre. I'm going to warn you now, for there are going to spoilers.

*Story*
Half the game you play as Pvt. Miller in the Marine Core, who you find out at the beginning was a prisoner of war. A friendly squad saves you and you join them on their adventure through the various Japanese Territories in the Pacific. As you fight your way through history's first taste of guerrilla warfare you get to watch both your Cpt. and your Sgt. die. The other half, you play as Pvt. Petrenko of the Russian's Red Army. He's a convenient, "accidental" survivor of the Stalingrad massacre and so is his Sgt. Reznov, who just so happens to have a sniper rifle and full ammunition to give you. Oh yeah, and there's some third guy you play as on a mission where you work all the turrets on some bomber plane in the Pacific. But I don't care about him because there's no point in him being there. He has absolutely nothing to do with either story.

The American story is that of fear and anguish. Struggling through the Pacific only to see both your commanding officers die is a disheartening plot. But it has a nice ambiance to it. I enjoyed trudging through the woods, watching out for Tojo hiding in the bush, waiting for the right moment to jab his bayonet in my back. The characters came up a little short, however. I didn't feel much remorse when our Cpt. or Sgt. died because they're wasn't enough reason for me to.

The Russian half of the story (my favorite half mind you) is of anger and vengeance. Drag yourself from amongst your slaughtered brothers, brush a little blood off your coat, grab a rifle and start on the long road to Vendetta. Even though the only character you associate with in the Russian half is Reznov, he was much more enjoyable company and he saved my life three or four times. As I accompanied him through the German-captured territories I really felt his thirst for revenge. And I don't think I ever felt so moved by an ending (SPOILER ALERT) as when he let me raise the Russian flag.

*Gameplay*
Well... What can I say? Take the gameplay from CoD 4, turn back the clock a few decades or so and BANG! You've got CoD: WaW. Ok, so that's not entirely true. I think it had a nice variety of levels and some battles were much larger and explosive, but it was a rather similar variety to CoD 4. And they featured a level where you get to operate a tank, but if you ask me, it didn't really do anything for the game. I think I would have preferred to run through that level escorting other tanks. I also thought that level on the plane was pretty useless too. Sure, it was kind of fun, but it had nothing to do with the story. The only reason I could think for having these useless missions... can you say fan service?

*Multiplayer*
Now some have said that the multiplayer in CoD: WaW resembles CoD 4. Push that thought out your minds right now. It isn't like CoD 4, really it isn't. It IS CoD 4. It is the exact same, pain in the neck multiplayer that ticked me off in CoD 4. Now I really must say, it is fun at times. Unfortunately, luck plays a big factor (which no one else is willing to admit). And I'm the unluckiest guy to play the game. So I die, a lot, and find it pretty frustrating. So, I generally try to avoid playing it except on certain occasions when my blood pressure is nice and low.

*Final Thoughts*
It was a fun adventure while it lasted, but I don't think I'll be adding this number to my Christmas List after I return the rental.

Tanks for reading.
This is The Blade, signing off.