The Daddy of Modern FPS Goes Back to Basic Training
Review by: Amir Rothman.
After spending 10 years setting up the Call of Duty (CoD) franchise in a modern warfare setting with a futuristic version of war, the CoD series is throwing things back to 1955 with Call of Duty: World War II (CoD: WWII.)
Published by Activision and developed by Sledgehammer Games, CoD: WWII is something of a Hail Mary play for the developers as it’s no secret that the general gaming community has gotten bored with the direction the series has taken over the past few iterations. Gone are the past games’ verticality and speed but this is a good thing in my opinion. Players now have to think about their actions as opposed to just firing out of reflex.
Single Player
Campaign mode in CoD: WWII puts you into the heart of the European theatre of combat, centred around the 1st Infantry Division. You play US Army Private, Ronald “Red” Daniels as he takes part in the Normandy D-Day landings while slowly advancing through the Western Front. The series’ combat eases back into this historical setting with good storytelling and some real fun action movie-style sequences.
As you bond with your fellow brothers-in-arms over the course of the campaign, these bonds carry into the game mechanics as Red relies on each squad member for different utilities, like replenishing ammo, health kits, highlighting enemies or calling in mortar strikes. As health doesn’t regenerate like it used to, requesting for health packs becomes a necessity if you hope to survive the horror of combat.
Speaking about the horrors of war, the campaign does a good job of implementing moral implications throughout the playthrough. You can’t kill enemies if they’ve surrendered; attempting to kill them will restart you at the last checkpoint.
There are also optional Heroic Actions, which forces the players to think and act fast to help their fellow soldiers or suffer the guilt of failing to save them. These little touches set within a war-torn Europe makes for some emotionally heavy moments. The campaign toes the line between being an interactive history lesson and a fun action-packed shooter.
The entire campaign playthrough will take about six hours of riveting gameplay, which some might consider short. In all fairness, I felt that the campaign storyline is one of the better ones, rivalling even CoD: Black Ops, in terms of player engagement.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer has gone through some massive revamps with the introduction of a new social space called Headquarters; this is a nod towards the Tower in the Destiny series. At the Headquarters, players can open Supply Drops, go through multiplayer challenges for extra rewards, engage with other players and more.
Also gone are the Create-a-Class and perks system. Instead, players can now enlist into one of five Divisions with their own set of unique skills. Players are not limited to certain weapon choices after enlisting in a specific division. The key is to utilise each division’s unique benefits, like choosing a sniper rifle when enlisting in the Mountain Division, catered towards snipers.
Another new game mode for multiplayer that deserves a mention is War Mode. This new, team-based and objective-oriented game mode makes you choose between Axis or Allies and compete over a series of attack-and-defend objectives. One map allows you to relive the intense opening moments of D-Day as you and your friends attempt to storm or defend the beach, based on which side you chose earlier.
Zombies
I’m not ashamed to say that my main reason to play Call of Duty games in recent years is due to Zombies mode and it’s no different this time round. The first map, The Final Reich is led by a star-studded cast with Katheryn Winnick from Vikings, David Tennant from Doctor Who, Elodie Yung from Daredevil and Ving Rhames from Mission Impossible playing a part.
The foursome is attempting to recover priceless works of art stolen by the Axis powers but end up in a tiny German village filled with hordes of the undead. A new addition to Zombies mode is the ability to choose one of four roles to play: Offense, Medic, Support and Control.
Each role provides you with temporary abilities and cooldowns; all these abilities come in handy as Zombies mode is now a far cry from the goofy antics of CoD: Infinite Warfare. The horror level increases to 11 with the general ambience of the village is creepy and zombies will appear out of thin air.
As someone who hates jump scares, the fear factor in Zombies mode is intense. Funny enough, I cannot get enough of it.
Conclusion
In the end, CoD: WWII is a welcome return to form for a franchise that has been stale over the last few years. While not perfect, the campaign mode is still plenty of fun with a more engaging and personal story. Multiplayer mixes things up but still maintains its classic CoD experience; you kill players and will get killed. The best part of it all is when someone starts screaming incessant garbage through the mic. Oh, the wonders of multiplayer games.
Zombies mode is also a real treat time for both new and veteran players. All in all, CoD: WWII is one of the better CoD games in recent years but the best in the series. I’d give it an A for effort though.
