Call of Duty 5: World at War (Xbox 360)

...Review! This time I'm reviewing Call of Duty World at War for the Xbox 360. If there's anything you think I've missed out of this review then please let me know in the form of a comment! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy.
~~~~~~~~ Foreword ~~~~~~~~
Please be aware, I never rate a game 10/10 - simply because that would mean the game would be perfect, when there is no such thing as the perfect game.
Call of Duty World At War.
...the exact same engine as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. So how can it score any differently? Well, it does! But It's like racing two identical horses but with different jockeys. The race will be tight!
~~~~~~~~ GRAPHICS ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~ 8.0 out of 10 ~~~~~~~~~~
I always start with the Graphics, as you should always start with first impressions.

Weirdly, I don't think the graphics are as good as Call of Duty ... more

Welcome to another Smeep Review! This time I'm reviewing Call of Duty World at War for the Xbox 360. If there's anything you think I've missed out of this review then please let me know in the form of a comment! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy.
~~~~~~~~ Foreword ~~~~~~~~
Please be aware, I never rate a game 10/10 - simply because that would mean the game would be perfect, when there is no such thing as the perfect game.
Call of Duty World At War.
I'm actually not looking forward to reviewing this. I mean, the game uses the exact same engine as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. So how can it score any differently? Well, it does! But It's like racing two identical horses but with different jockeys. The race will be tight!
~~~~~~~~ GRAPHICS ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~ 8.0 out of 10 ~~~~~~~~~~
I always start with the Graphics, as you should always start with first impressions.

Weirdly, I don't think the graphics are as good as Call of Duty 4. The scenery, do not get me wrong, is lush, deep and beautiful - but the people just seem much more plastic. Everything seems to have this 'wetter than wet' shine about it, as seen in CoD3. I'm pretty sure it's there on purpose, but it distracts from reality in places. Such as one of the early times you get ambushed, you see bright reflections of the backs of your own men. I just doesn't seem that great. That being said, the graphics are still amazing and a cut ahead of the rest. It will be impressive to see how far they can push the CoD engine.

The graphics definitely shine best when it comes to the environment though - some of the city scapes are outstanding and the attention to detail on-line seems to be much more present than in previous encounters.
~~~~~~~~ SOUND ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~ 9.9 out of 10 ~~~~~~~~~~

A great job on sound here. Truly. I scored CoD4 9.9 and I wish I hadn't. The sound in CoDWaW is brilliant in a different way. There are so many environmental sounds going on at once that you don't notice that it's a game. The sound is very involving. Not only that, but they've much improved the sounds of the guns in accordance with the time setting - and explosions around corners are dulled accordingly too. They've done a really great job with making this sound as realistic as possible.

The voice acting is top notch too, with some A Class voices appearing in the game.

~~~~~~~~ STORY ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~ 7.5 out of 10 ~~~~~~~~~~

I hate to say it, but despite the fact it kept me interested the story is dull in comparison to previews Call of Duty games. The biggest down fall is how painfully short it is - it's much shorter than Call of Duty 4 and just not as involving. In CoD4 there were moments that really stopped the heart - there's nothing like that in Call of Duty World at War, and the one part that tries to bring that to you just didn't really grip me. I found I wasn't attached the the characters the same way you get attached to Price and co in Modern Warfare.

The story isn't terrible though, it just doesn't have enough grip. The best moments to me are the Russian missions, as they seem to have a much more pulse racing feel to them as it's just you and one other person against a possible army of Germans for most of it. The american missions have to much of that run-and-gun feel to them. Which doesn't fit so well with Call of Duty due to the nature of the game play. Especially on the harder modes, when you captain tells you to charge you literally ignore them because of how dangerous it is to put your head up.

That being said, the last moment in the game feels good so it all ties up really really well.

~~~~~~~~ GAMEPLAY ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~ 9.5 out of 10 ~~~~~~~~~~

Why not 9.8 like CoD4? Surely it's the same engine, it plays the same? You know, if it isn't broke don't fix it. So they didn't.

The problem was certain things about CoD4 were broken. Like the inability to get your men to advance on harder difficulties. There really are times when despite the squad that is with you, you feel alone. You always take point - which is fine on the easier modes where you can take a couple of shots before you die. But on the Veteran difficulty your strategy must drastically change - one bullet can kill you if it hits you in the head, which is where a little more team work would be appreciated. Why should you always be the one taking point. Why can't you be the cover for once?

Even though there are floors, the game still scores very very well - the engine is CoD4 so the controls are spot on, it's fluid and smooth. Really well put together. The guns feel great, especially realistically mechanical, like more guns were back in WWII.

What helps it score high for me though is the Japanese. The sudden 'Kamikaze' approach they have really makes you think on your feet. They don't do what the Germans do and hide behind cover lobbing grenades, they come and find you and try to stab you. They'll hide in trees, in the grass and even underground in little dog-holes. It really puts you on edge at times - and it makes it even more satisfying when you lob a grenade and take a few out, and more satisfying still to use a Mortar like a grenade and take a LOAD of them out.

Excellent controls and really thought out level design make the game play here an absolute winner.
~~~~~~~~ MULTIPLAYER ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~ 9.9 out of 10 ~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, so the multiplayer is just a clone of CoD4's multiplayer, with a few extra challenges and different maps, oh and of course different weapons. When I fired it up, I tried not to compare it to Call of Duty 4. So what I'll say is this.

There are people out there who hate it. People who love it. And people like me, who really do think it's the same. It seems the deciding factor on if you'll like the MP mode or not is if you like WWII weapons or modern weapons.

All the game modes are mostly the same, however the kill bonsus's you get are slightly different! 3 kills is now a Radar plane (UAV), 5 kills is now an Artillery strike (like an airstrike, but more sparse and more powerfull explosions that mess up both the enemy and your teams vision) and then 7 kills allows you to release dogs upon your enemies. Pretty sweet and dangerous.

The guns are different, obviously - but it's just a mix of different rates of fire, handling and accuracy. You just need to be a bit diverse!

The downside to to gaming on this version is there is a severe case of idiotic spawning. Sometimes you literally spawn right behind someone and get an easy kill. Other times, you keep spawning in front of the same person that just killed you three times. Rumours are they're bringing in team based spawning like CoD4, but they are just rumours.

There is one mode that is simply amazing - Nazi Zombies. Unlocked by completing the main story line and watching the ending credits, in which you and 3 others have to defend against an infinite amount of zombies in increasingly stronger and faster waves - at some points you're literally flooded with zombies. An instant hit between friends.

The only other difference is the maps. They're equally as well designed, but some of the maps seem much bigger than the amount of people in the game really promotes some times.

Other than that, it's still the same fast paced action it always was, just in world war 2!

~~~~~~~~ LONGEVITY ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~ 6.5 out of 10 ~~~~~~~~~~

If you don't like multiplayer, you could complete this in 3 hours. 5 hours straight on the hardest mode. If you love the MP mode, a few months - but if you've already done all the prestige modes on cod4 chances are you'll not want to do it again so I don't think this will last all that long - but if you get it at the right price then you should be sitting pretty!

~~~~~~~~ SUMMARY ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~ 8.6 out of 10 ~~~~~~~~~~
The game ultimately only scores 8.6 due to it's slightly dated feel and repetition of times past - however, 8.6 is still an incredible result! You should definitely have this game in your collection - especially if you play on Xbox Live!

~~~~~~~~ RECOMMENDED PRICE ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ £29.99-£34.99 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Never pay retail price for a game, and if you have to at least go for the pre-owned version and save a bit of cash. I'm sure if you shopped around hard enough on-line you'd find it for about the £35 mark on some special offer somewhere.
~~~~~~~~ EXTRA ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A great overall game that everyone should at least try! 

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