Entering a World at War

Published November 21, 2008

Last year's Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™ catapulted an already successful series into a pop culture phenomenon capable of regularly supplanting even Halo® 3 for the top spot on Xbox LIVE® week in and week out.

It's a whole new theater this time around.

Pacific Theater
With Call of Duty®: World at War, developer Treyarch has taken control of the award-winning CoD4 engine and run back to the series' World War II roots. Rather than tread back over familiar ground, World at War takes gamers to the rarely seen Pacific Theater to battle a Japanese threat that plays by different rules than the usual German adversaries.

The flamethrower allows you to control the engagement
on your own terms rather than be forced to react
to the whims andtactics of your enemy.

When invading and securing islands like Peleliu and Okinawa, you can't count on finding predictable enemy checkpoints and strongholds. The tension of the ambush is all-pervading in World at War as entire Japanese platoons lie expertly camouflaged in the island undergrowth just waiting to spring up from the ground in a torrent of bullets and kamikaze bayonet rushes. Enemy marksmen blend into their palm tree sniper posts, and hard-to-notice bunkers carved into hillsides explode suddenly into violence.

Veteran gamers will need to rethink their Call of Duty tactics and sharpen their powers of observation in order to survive these more unpredictable encounters.

The Russian Offensive
While the Pacific Theater offers gamers a previously unknown World War II experience, World at War breaks up the new with the classic by taking us to the shattered remains of Stalingrad and the surrounding European countryside. Here you play as Dimitri Petrenko as he and his comrades survive the Battle of Stalingrad, fight to retake the city, and eventually launch an inspired offensive onto German soil.

They're everywhere.

Oldman and Sutherland
Adding some much needed dramatic gravitas to the war proceedings are actors Kiefer Sutherland and Gary Oldman. Sutherland plays the American squad's war-weary, no-nonsense leader, Roebuck. His orders, commentary, and actions in the heat of battle inject each encounter and mission with urgency and raw, war-ravaged emotion as he desperately ushers you and the troops through some of the war's most memorable and tragic battles.

On the Russian front you'll find Sergeant Reznov voiced by Gary Oldman, a sniper whose mutilated hand leaves him unable to fill his marksman role. Fueled by sorrow at the state of his beloved motherland and hatred for the German invasion, Reznov guides young Dmitri (you) through the Russian campaign in a quest to restore his country's honor and reap cold-blooded revenge on his country's enemies.

Both actors also narrate the intro cinematics for each level, adding historical and personal context to the upcoming mission.

Flame Time
It's not often that a single weapon changes the course of gameplay but the flamethrower in World at War changes the very nature of the battlefield. While useful for burning down enemies at close range, its true merit is found when lighting up a field of dry grass to smoke out the enemies hidden in the brush. Or let it loose into a bunker to eliminate entire enemy teams without relying on precision aim. Likewise, setting palm trees on fire to eliminate snipers on the move, rather than holding still long enough to paint yourself as a prime target, works wonderfully.

When used properly, the flamethrower allows you to control the engagement on your own terms rather than be forced to react to the whims and tactics of your enemy.

Scripted Drama
The Call of Duty series has long been known for remarkably well-choreographed scripted events that help drive the drama as well as create unique strategic opportunities. Who can forget the poor soldier ripped to shreds through a doorway in Call of Duty 2 , or your own character's stumbling, irradiated death walk in Modern Warfare?

Wonderful new tool.

In Call of Duty: World at War, developer Treyarch has taken this well-trodden formula and perfected it to make their mark not just on the franchise, but gaming as a whole. From the cataclysmic boat ride to the island Peleliu, to belly-crawling through a burning hallway to avoid flamethrower fire, the game's scripted events stand second to none in the series.

Cooperative War
For the first time ever, a Call of Duty game can be played cooperatively over Xbox LIVE® with up to four players. Anyone that's played through any of the games on Veteran difficulty can appreciate how much of a boost even a single partner can be. Also, while the whole group may have to reset to the last checkpoint if a member dies, you do have time to revive any fallen teammate to keep the mission going.

Cooperative play may require players to work together to succeed, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy a bit of simultaneous friendly competition. Play competitive co-op where each player earns a unique score to be compared and contrasted with their squad mates to see just who soldiered up for the high score. Or, combine your scores together to post massive high scores on the worldwide Leaderboard as well.

Call of Duty: World at Wartakes the torch passed to it by its acclaimed predecessor and runs with it proudly. All the strides made by Modern Warfare in both technology and game design have been refined and polished in World at War, including brand new innovations the franchise has never seen. If you're curious about the multiplayer changes and improvements this time around, look forward to our World at War multiplayer preview. Until then, grab your rifle and sidearm and help make history.

Article by Ryan Treit