Will You Answer the Call of Duty?

By Jay Williams

"Private Miller, 1st Marine Division reporting for duty sir!"

Hang on a minute... Am I having another mental meltdown?

Last time I had one of these so-called episode's I found myself wearing a moomoo and singing a well-known Jon Bon Jovi song to a bus full of geriatrics. Weird. 

Call of Duty: World at War is an intense, chaotic, and often horrific war game that sees you fighting from two different fronts, the United States vs Japan and the Soviet Union vs Nazi Germany.

It's a very vivid game with lots of gruesome moments and it can give you weird dreams...

Set in World War II (again) the franchise is still very impressive, but seems to be making a slight backwards step. 

I mean the World War II shooter has been done to death, even moreso with the recent release of Brothers In Arms.

And Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was a breath of fresh air for the franchise, and having been set in the modern era I thought that's the direction developer Treyarch would go. Maybe a futuristic version next?

If you've played a Call of Duty game before, you'll be in familiar territory. The gameplay is very solid, but we've seen it all before.

Follow orders, try not to get shot, and complete the various objectives in between gunning down hordes of enemy soldiers against a backdrop of luscious jungles, open plains and crumbling cities amidst mortar explosions, lots of yelling and other atmospheric effects.

The feeling of 'being there' is pretty full on, and this is one of the things that makes the game compelling, but other than new levels and missions and guns, there's not much we haven't seen before.

However there is one new aspect to the game that makes it worth getting: the cooperative gameplay mode (which is part of the excellent multiplayer portion of the game). 

You can team with a buddy for some split screen action on the same console which is a brilliant feature (not everyone has broadband), but it also supports up to four players online, where you play through the story which adds immensely to the fun.

Once you've beaten the story mode of the game, multiplayer is where you'll spend most of your time and in this respect it's offers plenty of replay value and a solid challenge. I got belted in my first matches!

Graphically, I didn't think this game looked as good as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but it was more gruesome. Headshots anyone?

It looks great, and the violence is grittier and more realistic and there's some new environmental effects (you can set fire to grass for example), but overall I didn't think it was a step forward.

This challenging first person shoot-em-up begins with you in the shoes of Pvt.Miller (USA), and while scouting out Makin Island in South East Asia you are captured by a blood-thirsty Japanese general.

Due to the language barrier you're not quite sure what's going on. You're tied up and the Japanese don't sound happy, yelling lots, and the situation doesn't look good for you.

Things go from bad to worst as you witness the throat-slitting of a fellow soldier, his blood spattering all over the wall, and then the attention is focused on you. 

All the while your thinking "I'm a gonner for sure". Well you're wrong! 

Corporal Roebuck (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) and his team storms the beach and saves your neck in the nick of time, and this is where the first mission takes place, flowing seamlessly from cut-scene to action. 

Joining Corporal Roebuck's unit, you takes part in brining down the Japanese controlled islands   including Makin Island and Peleliu. 

You also fight for the Soviets in the story mode, as Private Dimitri Petrenko, where you have to take on the German Nazis, and you're joined by Sergeant Reznov (voiced by Gary Oldman).

The dark horse in this game goes by the name of Petty Officer Locke (USA), a weapons operator on a PBY Catalina. He makes his debut in the mission "Black Cats" which is one of the most memorable parts of the game.

Mission "Black Cats", where do I begin? Well, hold on to your seats people: this is going to be one hell of a wild ride! 

Being one of the standout missions in the game, you play as Locke and your squadron of attack planes is making a midnight raid on a Japanese merchant fleet transporting supplies for the Japanese force on Okinawa. 

The gameplay sees you taking control of three different types of guns: 

Anti-air
Anti-ground
Super carnage heavy artillery

You have to try and gun down three giant battle ships, and each ship has its own defenses. 

There are also mini boats trying to gun you down and the action gets fast and furious as you change between guns. 

During all the gunfire, you have to press the X button (a little reminder flashes on screen) and in doing so you madly run through the plane trying to get to the next gun in time and it looks great and really draws you into the skirmishes.

Things start getting really heated as the battle ships call in air support, so there you are in the sky with one other Allied plane (which doesn't help much) fighting against three massive battle ships, numerous mini boats and throw in some kamikaze fighters for good measure and you truly have one insane time on your hands. Ayah!

Once you have battled and cheated your way through death, your plane lands down on the water to help rescue survivors and just as you think the action is over -- SLAP -- there's even more sh*t hitting the fan. 

So later you have to man the anti-air gun only to stop shooting so you can drag a floating survivor to safety and you have your own ships to worry about those damed kamikaze fighters are now slamming themselves into your support ships, and ZOMG!

It's really, really exhilarating and a lot of fun.

Apart from the "Black Cats" mission, there is another standout mission on the Soviet side called "Blood & Iron". 

This puts you in control of a tank and not just any ordinary tank either. This one comes with it's very own flame thrower!! Can I get a heck yes?!! 

By simply pressing the left bumper on your Xbox 360 controller you can ignite a flowing stream of red hot death, charring the those pesky foot soldiers in the blink of an eye. 

The aim of this tank-based mission is to take out four heavy artillery guns, a group of tanks and a few scout towers. The Soviet tank mission isn't quite as cool as the flying gunship level, it's still heaps of fun.

It was a shame that we didn't see more of these types of mission throughout the game, because they add such value to the experience. 

Next time Treyarch, do us a favour and alternate the levels - one normal mission followed by a vehicle mission repeated would make this game a must-have.

One of things that makes this game more involving are the realistic sound effects. 

You can hear explosions going off left and right through the surround sound system, soldiers bark orders moments before being shot, fighter planes roar by overhead and artillery guns pump loudly in the distance. The sound quality is excellent.+

It's a very good game this one, and is well worth adding to the collection if you already have a number of Call of Duty games, and probably worth playing even if you're new to the franchise.

Some of the bad points though included the poor AI pathing. Sometimes your own men will block your way while trying to avoid an explosion or enemy fire.

And the grenade indicator upset me a bit because it wasn't clear enough. Half the time you don't even know when you're gonna die from a grenade explosion. Pop, you're dead. Thanks game.

Overall, this is a very polished game. It looks great, it plays well and is one of the more involving WWII shooters available.

Mental meltdowns and '80s power ballads aside, Call of Duty: World at War is not as good as it could have been, but is worth a look as there's hours upon hours of gaming to be had. 

And if you're a fan of co-op gaming, the new Call of Duty game is definitely one to grab.

Game: Call of Duty: World at War
System: Xbox 360
Players: 1-multi
Online: Yes
Developer: Treyarch
Distributor: Activision

Rating: 75%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)