Call of Duty: World at War

Dedication

There is an unfortunate grammatical error in the closing statements of the game:

"This game is dedicated to the veterans who sacrificed their lives..."

By proper definition a veteran is a survivor of a war, not one who was killed.

Film reference

At the beginning of the Russian campaign Pvt. Petrenko finds himself inside a fountain surrounded by enemies, before obtaining a rifle and killing several enemies. This scene seems inspired by the film "Enemy at the gates", where Jude Law does the same thing. Both in the film and in the game, the soldier's actions led him to become a sniper for the Red Army.

This is not the first time the film is referenced in the game series: the opening of the Soviet campaign in the first "Call of Duty" replays the opening scenes from the film almost verbatim, from the crossing of the Volga in barges under Stuka attacks to the first disastrous charge against the Nazis.

German version

In the German version almost all blood effects, all gore effects like cut off limbs and burning enemies were removed. Also missing are the zombie mode and several scripted events during the levels which show executions or killed innocents. All swastikas and SS runes were replaced with iron crosses. All video sequences are re-cut and swap certain scenes with other historical material, including all showings of Hitler. The German audio removes terms like "Nazi", "Wehrmacht", "Hitler" or "Führer". A detailed list of all changes can be found on schnittberichte.com (German)

Inconsistencies

• The flag-planting scene in Berlin is incorrect. The actual planting took place at night. It is likely the developers used the staged photo taken during the day as reference.
• Tiger II tanks are visible during the 1941 Russian mission. However, Tiger II tanks did not enter service until 1944.
• Pvt. Petrenko and Sgt. Reznov plant the Soviet flag on top of the Reichstag. This is in direct contrast to the original Call of Duty game which shows completely different soldiers planting the flag.

References to the Game

Actual scenes (as in not recreated for the show) from this game were included in the South Park episode The Ungroundable.

Technology

Most weapon models are re-used from Call of Duty 2. They were re-skinned with higher resolution textures, but the reload animations remain the same.

Awards

• GameSpy
  • 2008 – #4 Multiplayer Game of the Year
• GameStar (Germany)
  • February 26, 2009 - Best PC Action Game in 2008* Golden Joystick Awards
  • 2009 - Nintendo Game of the Year
  • 2009 - Multiplayer Game of the Year

Information also contributed by piltdown man.