Gaming Call of Duty: World at War

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2008/...world-at-war/1

Call of Duty has gone back to the second world war and is hoping a more adult take on the Pacific Theatre will help keep things spicy. Are we as convinced that torture, execution and flamethrowers make a great game? The only way to find out is to read on!

[Mankz]

I just hope COD6 is going to be like COD4.

I like my red tiger RPD too much :P

[mrb_no1]

after some incidents at work part of me was believing that elements of this country were losing their bride in being british and the respect for those fallen in combat to protect our land and the rights of others in the name of the queen. that opening page made me feel good when you look at the necessity of including the real brutality of war in order to gloss it over and dramatise it so that kids can feel more like rambo when playing the game, or something like that. It was a nice opening page and the point of making the point about being released on remembrance day is nice mate, as an ex otc from soton and someone who is applying as a Royal Marines Officer at the moment it was nice to read.

as for the game, looks like another COD to me. i'm not a fan of the franchise but have played most of the games in order to "give 'em a chance" and i will play a bit of multi on cod 4 round my mates on his 360 but this is just another one churned out of the mill imo. they are killing the idea, hell ea only did bf1942, desert storm, bf2 and then 2142 didnt they, atleast they had the scope to move into the future for a bit. i say to the boys at cod, dream up something new, then maybe i'll buy one of your games (note, i signed to the beta of this one for pc as my bf2142 clan has a heavy cod following).

nice review though Joe, hats to you dear boy

peace

fatman

[Jipa]

In the last chapter you've written "world OF war" instaed of "at", is that some kind of joke I missed or just a brainfart?

Anyhow I'm a long time CoD-fan (not a a fanboy, I just enjoy playing the series) and atleast the WaW Beta seemed OK. Sure it might just as well be a mod to the CoD4, but I reckon it's a good mod... I don't give a flying crap of the single player anyway so that doesn't interest me at all. In the end the main difference (beside the theme) is the increased amount of flying blood and guts. I don't know if this is a change to the better or worse, it's just a bit different from the earlier games of the series.

[naokaji]

Good Job on the review.

Can't say the same for Treyarch on the Game though, Just another WWII yet again Sequel #6536546.

I'll probably still get it though, but only for the multiplayer part.

[karx11erx]

You write that CoD:W@W has taken a more adult take on the war. It is always hard to understand for me why "adult" inevitably seems to refer to violence, sex and foul language. For me it rather has to do with intelligence, depth and challenge. But hey, I am German, and Germans think with their heads rather than with their guts as Anglo-Saxonians seem to prefer. I wish I'd see more adult games in the sense of my understanding of "adult".

[Goty]

I liked the review and feel it ties CoD: World at War up very well, but I have just one complaint: It's not "Call of Duty 5: World at War", it's "Call of Duty: World at War"! I think the next IW game is supposed to be CoD5.

[Adnoctum]

I'm glad I'm not alone in my distaste of such exploitation of human suffering for entertainment. Do you think we talk enough about such exploitation in films and now games? Do we need to use images of victims in order to make a profit? Was there no one at Treyarch who voiced second thoughts about using these images? Or is it company policy to leave your conscience at home before setting off to work.

As gamers we've all battled zombies, Nazis and Zombie Nazis, and games often include images or situations that are graphic or reference real historical events for, let us face it, entertainment.
There has always been a separation between the fiction that utilises historical imagery or national memories and the actual events and historical evidence. Where this has been blurred, such as in COD and MOHAA, I have always felt that their use was respectful of the events, even respectful of the truth of the events.

Without having seen COD:WW and how it treats the victims and perpetrators of wartime atrocities, I cannot gauge how I feel. But I imagine my reaction would be similar to Joe's.
I don't have a problem with using in-game artwork depicting events. I recall hanging bodies and charred corpses in Oblivion, for example. I do have a problem with Treyarch going to various national archives or private collections, collecting images of war crimes and utilising them for entertainment. It is disrespectful not just of those depicted and their families, but of basic human dignity.
Unless it is used in some way that retains that dignity, then it shouldn't have been utilised. If you are going to use them, the there must be some mitigating reason, perhaps to inform or educate. Otherwise such imagery could just have easily been simulated, and then I wouldn't have an issue with the morality. Just the tact.

I'm looking forward to Treyarch's 2010 releases "Concentration Camp Guard", and their daring adventure game set in the 1960's American deep south, "Cane & Lynch: Hot Southern Nights".

[Lepermessiah]

COD4 was just as bad, yet same old gameplay, outdated.

[Lepermessiah]

Originally Posted by Mankz.

I just hope COD6 is going to be like COD4.

I like my red tiger RPD too much :P

Like COD4? COD4 is just as bad, the only thing that changes is the scenery. All COD games have been stale for ages, the same outdated lame gameplay with bad spanrated, trigger points, no interactivity and small cramped areas where you cannot move past a 2 foot fence. Juts like paying taxes every year we get another COD expansion pack and they call it a new game. Most overrated series evee along with Halo/Gears.

[The boy 4rm oz]

I played the open BETA and must say it is a pile of FTL. The PC graphics suck (I guess that's cos the PC version was a spawned afterthought from the consoles ), the game play is pretty bad and they still insist on using the quick draw knife "HACK" button. A real downer really on the series. CoD and CoD2 cheesecake!!!

[frontline]

The game isn't bad tbh, 7/10 is probably about right, the multiplayer and co-op features are well implemented. I think they possibly picked the worst maps to put in the multiplayer beta as there are a lot better maps in the final release. The 'adult' themes are just basically crude shock tactics involving 2 dimensional characters, but there are some nice set-piece battles, as seen in other COD games.

[cjmUK]

"we’ve spent so much time storming French farmhouse that we’ve had to apply for dual-nationality"

lol

Well this is the kind of review I was fearing - BT haven't done me any favours at all. It's been confirmed that the best bits of CoD4 are there (MP mainly) and that the worst bits of CoD2/4 are there (SP, same old, same old). It's neither a must-buy nor a must-ignore.

I guess I will wait to see what else I am playing in the new year....

[lewchenko]

Just bought my copy for the PC. (yep bought.... this is a torrent free zone! Im no thief !)

Where criticism has been made by the public, it always seems to be to the extremes... which makes me think that its 12yr old kids writing it. The more balanced reviews have given it a fair grade, and it looks like there is much fun to be had, even with the minor issues.

as for shock image tactics.. I wouldnt mark the game down for that. War is a messy business, and congrats to the developer for bringing it to the forefront of our attention.

[Tim S]

It wasn't marked down based on the shock image tactics... that was something we had to get off our chest, especially given the day this was released in the USA.

It's just a run of the mill game, frankly.

[talladega]

Originally Posted by karx11erx

You write that CoD:W@W has taken a more adult take on the war. It is always hard to understand for me why "adult" inevitably seems to refer to violence, sex and foul language. For me it rather has to do with intelligence, depth and challenge. But hey, I am German, and Germans think with their heads rather than with their guts as Anglo-Saxonians seem to prefer. I wish I'd see more adult games in the sense of my understanding of "adult".

You realize it's not WWII and we don't need elitist attitude here.

wow





Anyways, good review. I probly wont get this as I have other games to play but it looks good and fun but nothing compared to COD4. Though I dont really care for the single player as it is quite lame. You stay in one spot and the enemies keep spawning. Only way to kill them is constantly moving forward. I like to pick them off from a distance, but I can in COD. So I stick to online, which I put in over 240 hours on COD4.

Will wait for COD6.

[DXR_13KE]

a COD in the future would be awesome...

[talladega]

Originally Posted by DXR_13KE

a COD in the future would be awesome...

Thats what I hope is ISNT. I dont like all those fake sci-fi guns and stuff like Halo has. But thats my opinion.

[SPQQKY]

Originally Posted by karx11erx

You write that CoD:W@W has taken a more adult take on the war. It is always hard to understand for me why "adult" inevitably seems to refer to violence, sex and foul language. For me it rather has to do with intelligence, depth and challenge. But hey, I am German, and Germans think with their heads rather than with their guts as Anglo-Saxonians seem to prefer. I wish I'd see more adult games in the sense of my understanding of "adult".

Adult content does not always have to mean intelligence, it's simply that...adult content.
Nice to know Germans look down upon the rest of the world. I understand your initial point, but to continue on that Germans in some way are smarter than the rest of us is a bit disturbing and down right insulting. BTW, it's just Anglo-Saxons, not Anglo-Saxonians (didn't you say you think with your head...?...so why are you making up words? Doesn't seem very intelligent to me)
This game is based on WWII, where I'm pretty sure <insert sarcasm> it was the Germans, in their infinite wisdom, followed a fascist and terroristic dictator across the globe in a slaughter of innocent human beings. I'm glad your country has done a complete 360 and even decided to elevate itself above the rest as you seem to care to believe (wait, who does that sound like?) It's that very attitude of being mightier than thou that put world war I and II into motion. Don't be a hater....

...back on subject. It would seem most FPS games are doomed to be the same old same old. Just as most RPG's. You can only do so much before you've run the gambit and it's time for a new approach.
In a FPS, you can add puzzles and force someone to walk through mazes or find items that'll you'll need to continue, but then you start to take away from a persons personal taste, the whole reason someone may like a FPS is the fast action, visuals and sounds. Add too many extras and it takes away from the whole point of being a fps. I think the last truly exciting FPS was Bioshock. It added enough additional element without taking away too much from the fast paced action of an FPS game. Sad to think that due to the age of the game.

[Tim S]

Originally Posted by karx11erx

You write that CoD:W@W has taken a more adult take on the war. It is always hard to understand for me why "adult" inevitably seems to refer to violence, sex and foul language. For me it rather has to do with intelligence, depth and challenge. But hey, I am German, and Germans think with their heads rather than with their guts as Anglo-Saxonians seem to prefer. I wish I'd see more adult games in the sense of my understanding of "adult".

Originally Posted by SPQQKY

This game is based on WWII, where I'm pretty sure <insert sarcasm> it was the Germans, in their infinite wisdom, followed a fascist and terroristic dictator across the globe in a slaughter of innocent human beings. I'm glad your country has done a complete 360 and even decided to elevate itself above the rest as you seem to care to believe (wait, who does that sound like?) It's that very attitude of being mightier than thou that put world war I and II into motion. Don't be a hater....

now now, there's no need for that - play nicely children...