World at War raging November 11, beta incoming

The week after Fallout 3 and two days after Resistance 2, it was Call of Duty: World at War's time to get on the date train. This morning, Activision announced that the fifth installment in its wildly popular shooter series will ship for various platforms on November 11. The game is rated M for Mature, and will retail for $59.99 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and $49.99 on the Wii and PC. The DS version is rated T for Teen and costs $29.99.

Curiously, today's announcement made no mention of the PlayStation 2 edition of the game, which was specifically called out by Activision CEO Mike Griffith during a May 2007 conference call. [UPDATE] However, Activision has since confirmed to GameSpot that the PS2 version, which has a slightly different storyline and a wholly different developer, Rebellion, will ship on the same day and date.

Developed by Treyarch, World at War returns the series to World War II following franchise founder Infinity Ward's massively successful Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It is the first game in the series to depict the Pacific Theater of WWII, where US marines fought Imperial Japanese forces in a series of fierce island battles. Europe is also featured in levels depicting that theater's climactic battle in a bombed-out Berlin. As outlined in GameSpot's recent preview, the game uses the Call of Duty 4 engine, but boasts some new additions such as a squad system, competitive co-op, and a single-player campaign experience system.

In October, Activision will be holding public multiplayer betas for the Xbox 360 and PC editions of Call of Duty: World at War. Those wishing to participate can register at the official Call of Duty site or preorder the game, which will include a token for beta access.