Call of Duty: World at War (Windows)

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Description

Call of Duty: World at War is, like its predecessors, a straightforward military first-person shooter with authentic weaponry like the Thompson Sub Machine Gun or the Arisaka Rifle Type 99, and fairly linear but heavily scripted levels that put the player right in the middle of the action with several NPC-controlled team mates always on his side to aid him and add to the atmosphere. The objectives in these missions range from clearing houses from enemies to planting bombs or defend a position. And instead of using medipacks or something similar to heal himself up, the player just needs to get out of fire for a few seconds to regenerate to full health. New this time around is the co-op campaign for up to four players, allowing everyone to play through the whole single player together with friends.

The first campaign begins on August 17, 1942 somewhere on the Makin-Atoll in the Asian-Pacific region where Pvt. Miller sits in a hut and has to watch how his squadmates are brutally murdered by Japanese soldiers. But as one soldier approaches him and prepares for the killing blow, an American bayonet comes out of his stomach. Now the roles are turned and in the following operations Pvt. Miller, under the supervision of Sgt. Roebuck, stills his lust for vengeance by helping the American troops drive back the yellow menace in recreations of real missions like "Operation Watchtower".

The second campaign puts the player in the shoes of Pvt. Petrenko and begins on September 17, 1942 in Stalingrad. Lying in a pool of blood, watching how the Germans put one more bullet in his dying comrades, the private survives and under the helpful guidance of Sgt. Reznov begins his journey through the destroyed city to the main goal: killing General Heinrich Amsel.

The game also features a multiplayer mode similar to the one from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare with the playtypes Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Search & Destroy in which one team needs to plant a bomb at one of two objectives and the other needs to defend both. The ranking system also makes a return. For every kill or completed objective the player gains experience points and levels up to unlock additional weaponry, attachments or abilities granting a higher accuracy and such. These then can be used to create up to five custom classes in addition to the five pre-defined ones (Rifleman, Light Gunner, Heavy Gunner, Close Assault and Sniper).

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "COD: WAW" -- Common abbreviation
• "COD5" -- Common abbreviation
• "Call of Duty 5" -- Informal name

Part of the Following Groups

• Anti-Cheat Technology: PunkBuster
• BPjS / BPjM indexed games
• Call of Duty series
• Call of Duty universe
• Historical conflict: World War II
• Middleware: DemonWare
• PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits releases
• Setting: City - Berlin
• Setting: City - Volgograd
• Technology: amBX

User Reviews

We don't need no water let the.........burn!	Thekwane Black (34)
Poor Nazis are executed by brutal Soviets, while heroic Americans eliminate the Japanese kamikazes	POMAH (52500)

Critic Reviews

Game Arena	Nov 27, 2008	9 out of 10	90
FiringSquad	Dec 17, 2008	89 out of 100	89
IGN UK	Nov 17, 2008	8.7 out of 10	87
Vgames	Nov 23, 2008	87 out of 100	87
Click!	Jan, 2009	8.73 out of 10	87
GameStar (Germany)	Nov, 2008	86 out of 100	86
GameZone	Nov 11, 2008	8.5 out of 10	85
Game Vortex	Dec, 2008	80 out of 100	80
Total PC Gaming	Nov 14, 2008	7.9 out of 10	79
1UP	Nov 21, 2008	B	75

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
The way Soviets are shown	19	Somebody bring me Sisko! (8) Jul 23, 2009

Trivia

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.

Related Web Sites

• Call of Duty Headquarters (official game website)
• PS3trophies.org (Trophy guide for Call of Duty: World at War)
• Wikipedia: Call of Duty: World at War (article in the open encyclopedia)
• X360A achievement guide for Call of Duty: World at War (X360A's achievement guide for World at War.)