Apr 25 2009
Call of Duty - does World War II ever get old?
Call of Duty: World at War is the latest entry in the wildly popular franchise, and one that surprised a lot of people over the holidays with its decision to once again revisit World War II.
I’ve had the opportunity to put on the boots for a brief run through one part of the game, and it was enough to give me a good first impression - which surprised me.
Have you heard of a little series called Call of Duty?
I’m not big on war games, basically because they’ve been done to death. Modern warfare recently ended the never ending stream of World War re-treads before this Call of Duty amazingly went back to the well once more. It’s gotten to the point where I can read a preview for these games and already be tired of playing them, so it was a surprise for me to see me wanting a bit more of Call of Duty: World at War.
Perhaps part of its intrigue for me is the fact that I’ve been avoiding these types of games for years, so it’s almost become a fresh premise again. The bigger reason, though, is the amazing work by developer Treyarch in creating a realistic setting where you’re always in control of the pacing.
Unlike games like Gears of War, your squad doesn’t go storming ahead without you. Plus, the overwhelming number of enemy soldiers pretty much forces you to slow down, find cover, and start picking away at the enemy numbers. If this is a lull, the action varies itself by picking up steam when the bad guys start driving in on tanks, for instance.
As the enemy reloads their machine guns, pick up this bad boy and show ‘em who’s boss.
To mix lulls and high-action sequences is to create good pacing and the challenge of reaching the next in a series of frequent checkpoints means there’s always reason to advance and a reward for doing so.
It’s a well-crafted experience and one I would’ve missed had it not shipped on this month’s Official Xbox Magazine demo disc. The games on this month’s disc range from shooters to shooters to racing with shooting elements, so it’s typical of a lot of the Xbox 360 library. This week, we’ll take a look at each of those games. Call of Duty: World at War may have been the most well-rounded of the bunch, but there are a few other surprises and also some surprising duds, so stick around to see what else is happening on the Xbox 360 at videogamer.today.com.
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