War is far from pretty, especially during World War II.  Call of Duty: World at War brings us back to the unpleasant aspects of not only the European struggle but the South Pacific struggle as well and Treyarch’s artistic vision of WWII is a grim one; those that are squeamish should probably refrain from playing this killing festival.  Some interesting points to make about this game are the lack of morality, the extreme brutality, and the playability which is not all bad.  Plus, the story is first rate and the multiplayer is equally impressive, it adds to the justification of owning this game.

   Veteran’s Day (November 11^th) was when this title was released, and to some it is disheartening.  World at War was a reminder to Vets everywhere about the hardships and loss of life that was achieved during the war.  Some argue the fact that this can be considered homage to the Vets, and that argument would be valid.  But there is another issue of questionable morality that I would like to discuss and that is the authentic footage of executions.

Having CG rendered killings is one thing but showing actual historic footage of somebody’s relative getting murdered is something totally different.  How would you like to see your grandfather or your grandfather’s friends being shot in the head or even hung?  Instances like these make me question the dignity of the developers.  Death of a real person should not be used for shock value.  But that is history and war is war.

The story is based on a few historical segments of the War.  First, there is the capturing of Peleliu, which is an island overrun with Japanese Infantry.  The next is the Russian campaign taking over the German Soldiers in Berlin.  Both are attention-grabbing and having voice-overs from Gary Oldman and Keifer Sutherland makes the game even better.  And running on the COD4 engine, the game could not be more smooth or gorgeous.

World at War is also incredibly brutal.  Many times throughout the game you will find yourself being confronted by an enemy, in close combat, and the only option is to kill or be killed.  Naturally, your course of action is to kill, and it is not a gun-butt to the head or a quick off-screen death, rather you pull the enemy up close to you and jab a big knife into his jugular spurting blood relentlessly (which is sadistic yet amusing).  There is also the wicked nature of the flame-thrower; this weapon is easily one of the meanest in the game, hearing the Japanese Infantry scream in pain as they burn to death is ruthless and gratifying.  In addition, when a person gets blown apart they really get blown apart; you can always find a corpse missing legs or whatnot.  I can handle that, but what I can not handle is the dog killing.  The visceral snapping of the German Sheppard’s neck plucks strings of guilt from my heart (poor dog).  But there is way more this game offers than just being brutal and that is in the multiplayer.

Multiplayer in Call of Duty: World at War is a fun way to past the time.  Co-op modes is pretty enjoyable, group in up to four player co-op and take it to the enemy soldiers or compete against each other for kills while playing the campaign.  It is a nice addition to this genre and I am glad it made its debut to the COD franchise.  Also, there are the standard multiplayer matches that are found in COD4 and perks have made a comeback here as well.  But the shining star of the multiplayer would have to be Zombie Nazi mode.

Zombie Nazis, they go together like peanut butter and jelly.  This mode finds you and some friends (if you like) in a defensive position inside a building with boarded up windows.  The zombies try to gain access by tearing the boards off the windows to get to the warm bloods found inside.  Luckily, you and your friends have weapons to keep them at bay.  Gain better weapons by scoring points which must be spent to unlock the artillery.  You can also gain access to different parts of the building by spending points as well.  Scoring is simple, each shot that hits a zombie garners you points, and another way to earn points is by barricading the windows with the missing boards.  This mode is only unlocked after you defeat the story campaign and it is a nice treat.

World at War is not perfect by any means; it lacks the interest that Modern Warfare had (probably due to the weapons).  If you are a shooter fan and have played all of the World War II games then you understand the over indulgence of the weaponry, thankfully the flame-thrower is new.  Another item is the relentless dying, even though there is a great checkpoint system you will find yourself playing more than you would like in some scenes (and that was on normal).  Disregard these quirks and you have a pretty stellar game. 

  Call of Duty: World at War is an excellent shooter and the multiplayer is decent, it is not everyday that you get to kill Nazi Zombies.  Judging this title on its vision of the War would be a great injustice, like I said before, war is not pretty and neither are some of the images of this game.  As it turns out, this game is a fine title for mature adults and if WWII interests you then chances are you will greatly enjoy this game.

8.5 out of 10