Doesn't really cut the mustard. (Call of Duty World at War (PC))

Member Name: Dipsticks

Product:	Call of Duty World at War (PC)
Date:	12/01/09 (126 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: New maps, old weapons, new perks.

Disadvantages: A mash of CoD4 and CoD2.

The fifth installment in the Call of Duty franchise takes us back to WW2, but does it take us back to the Call of Duty UO and CoD2 days? Well, yes and no. The game falls somewhere between the earlier games and CoD4. In theory this should mean it appeals to anyone who's ever enjoyed a Call of Duty game. Unfortunately, the reverse is probably closer to the truth. Personally, I prefer CoD2 over all the others and I was left feeling disappointed. It basically feels like you're playing CoD4 but your weapons look different. And the weapons don't function in the same way as they did in the earlier games. For example, I was looking forward to getting back the the powerful, accurate and heavy MP44 and instead I found myself feeling like I was using a pea-shooter which sounded like a cap-gun. And for those people who preferred COD4? Well, they've all gone back to playing COD4...


System Specs:

This should be your first consideration when deciding whether to buy the game. Although it uses the same engine as CoD4 it has a lot more detail. My general rule is if your PC could play Cod4 well then you will just be able to run World at War. If your PC could only just manage CoD4 it will not cope with World at War.

These are the 'official' specs:
Processor: AMD 64 3200+/Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz or better
Memory: 8 GB free hard-drive space, 512MB RAM (XP)/1GB RAM (Vista)
Graphics: Shader 3.0 or better, 256MB Nvidia GeForce 6600GT/ATI Radeon 1600XT or better

However, I had a better graphics card than their minimum and I still had to wait for my new one (9600GT) to play the game properly.


Single-player:

The single-player is as solid as you would expect from any Call of Duty. This is where they made the most effort with the game. It's almost like playing a different game on every level. As with most First Person Shooters which have online play though, the single-player isn't very long.


Multi-player:

Capture the Flag is back, which is excellent. Also they've introduced a new gametype: War, which is a mix between Capture the Flag and Domination. Along with these are all the previous gametypes like Sabotage and Search and Destroy etc. The online experience is as fast-paced and engaging as ever. They've retained the perks from CoD4 and added tanks into the mix, which definitely makes things more interesting. Each online server is either Hardcore or non-Hardcore (hardcore meaning it's easier to kill people). The new maps are superb and the level of detail really has to be seen to be believed.

You rank up online by completing challenges and ranking up your guns. Once you reach rank 65 you have the option to enter 'Prestige mode' where you basically start at rank 1 again. Which means newer people to the game aren't immediately destroyed because they don't have all the best guns. With each Prestige mode you complete you unlock another custom class. There are 10 Prestige modes to complete in total. This was an excellent idea as in Cod4 you could completely rank up in a fortnight. This should have elongated the multi-player aspect substantially. Unfortunately (in my opinion) many people chose to glitch their servers so you could rank up in a matter of hours/days rather than weeks/months. So many people had the 10th level of Prestige in the first week. A real shame.

Overall:
The game is good and it is enjoyable, but it's not of the same calibre as 4 or 2. It was made by Treyarch who made Cod3 which unfortunately tells us all we need to know. The game feels rushed and lacking in real originality. A way to make some money over Christmas while Infinity Award are probably busy developing the 'real' next Call of Duty.

Summary: Good idea, poor execution.