Besides feeling like a WWII version of Call of Duty 4, it's still pretty good.
The previous Call of Duty game by Infinity Ward was a groundbreaking success. It had an epic, action-packed single-player campaign and online multiplayer that was like nothing ever seen before. It had me locked up in my room for hours on end, Pepsi in hand, playing and playing and playing. The light of day was rarely seen. The result of this was the expectations of the next Call of Duty set extremely high. It was Treyarch's turn to develop the next game, but they aren't quite as genius as Infinity Ward. Call of Duty: World of War is great, but doesn't quite reach the bar set by the previous game.
You play through the game from two different perspectives, the American and the Russian. The game begins at the American perspective, where you are Private Miller, deemed MIA. Your fellow Marines come just at the right time, for you're about to be killed by Japanese. The Russian perspective begins in a much more dramatic way. You're Private Dimintri, and you're ling on the cold, wet ground among your fellow soldiers. But they're all dead. Except for one, and he gives you his sniper rifle as you begin one of the best sniper missions ever seen in a game.
Throughout the whole campaign, you'll notice that it's much, much more mature of a tone. If you thought Call of Duty 4 was grittier than the previous incarnations of the Call of Duty series, then you'll think of Call of Duty 4 as a child's game compared to World at War. This game is bloodier, more violent, and darker in terms of a story. Limbs can (and definitely will) fly off, heads will explode, chunks will be strewn about, and the new weapons added to your arsenal, as fun as they are, are brutal. Using the flamethrower for the first time will take some getting used to, especially when you set someone on fire and watch them scream, struggle, and roll around. It's a gruesome way to rid of someone, and the sight of them on fire makes the flamethrower feel almost unnecessary in a way, and almost inhumane. Almost like murder.
But we all know it's not murder if they're zombies. "What does this have to do with Call of Duty?", you may ask. Two words. Nazi. Zombies. After you've finished the campaign, there's an extra mode you can play online or off called Nazi Zombies. You and up to three other buddies can team up and kick some zombie @$$. This mini-game starts off with you in a house, which resembles a building found both in the campaign and on the multiplayer map Airfield. You're trapped in this house with nothing but boards for the windows, your friends, and a whole lotta guns. As the zombies try to get to you and presumably eat you, you can defend yourself with everything from a pistol, to an MG42, a flamethrower, grenades, and a Ray Gun. Yeah, ray gun. As you kill zombies you gain points, which can be used to get more guns and open up new areas of the house to run to. But wherever you go, the zombies can come, too, so no place is safe as you fight for your life. Nazi Zombies is just a little extra mode thrown in by the developers, but it's really fun (and gruesome) and I found myself devoting most of my time playing World at War to this little mini-game.
But the campaign and Nazi Zombies aren't the only things to be found here; there's still the multiplayer mode. It's a lot like that of Call of Duty 4. Actually, it pretty much is Call of Duty 4's multiplayer, except with a World War 2 makeover. The MP5 and AK47 won't be found here, but a lot of other WWII weapons will be, like the Thompson, MP40, and the M1 Garand, to name a few. Other than that, there's one more new addition to World at War's multiplayer mode, the Vehicle Perks. They are perks for when you enter a vehicle. But, that's not exactly good. The vehicles, which are just tanks, give an extremely unfair advantage to the player(s) in them. I've been in matches where on-foot player would get around 10 kills each, but those in vehicles would have well over 25. And that's not all, the maps with the tanks are huge, a little too huge. It was more of trying to find enemies than to kill enemies. But besides these faults, World at War's multiplayer is still pretty fun.
OVERVIEW
Although it doesn't quite meet the exceptionally high standards set by Call of Duty 4, it's still a pretty good game, with a fully-playable-online campaign and a survival mode called Nazi Zombies, besides the feeling of a WWII version of Call of Duty 4.
+ Same great multiplayer
+ Intense campaign
+ Nazi Zombies
+ Campaign is playable online
+ Awesome new weapons
+ Grittier, dirtier tone than the previous games
Cons
- Some multiplayer maps feel too large
- Online vehicles give an unfair advantage
- Somewhat like a WWII version of CoD 4
Score: 8.5/10
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(This review was originally posted by me on GiantBomb.com and has been edited and censored for GameSpot)