DESIGN REVIEW: Call of Duty: World at War

Fun, but has the "been there, done that" feeling. While it didn't really bring anything new to the table, it was an enjoyable FPS experience. Oddly, the Russian campaign felt more fun, even though it's been done in previous CoD games multiple times. The American campaign in the Pacific was alright and had some small new mechanics like enemy infantry popping out of the ground to surprise you, but my main problem was that all the missions blended in with each other, and only a few were memorable.

LIKED:
- Nazi Zombies Mode. Although not considered part of the main game, Nazi Zombies is the most fun I've had with the game. This awesome game mode locks you in a house and tasks you with defending yourself from increasingly difficult waves of zombies who are also Nazis - evil incarnated! While pretty fun by yourself, this mode becomes an absolute blast in co-op (up to 4 players). The zombies try to get into the house through windows, which you can board up as many times as you wish for free. You obtain points by killing zombies, and boarding up windows. These points can then be spent on things like specific weapons or mystery weapons, where you get a random weapon, but this is the only way of getting the most powerful weapons. So pretty much if you want to get far, you're going to have to gamble! Or you can also open up new areas in the house to run around in, increasing your odds of survival, but also increasing the windows you must defend. There's also temporary bonuses that you can pick up like 1 hit kills or more points per kill. It's a hectic and fun enjoyable experience!


- Mission Briefings. Each mission briefing is done in a very appealing style - combining CG with real life footage, and a voice over. Design-wise these flashy and stylish intros serve as a nice way for people who don't really care about history to pay attention to it.


- Mission Samples. Here are 2 missions which I thought were really cool. The first, Vendetta is the start of the Russian campaign and has a really nice dynamic to it, combining sneaking, sniping (drawing inspiration from Enemy at the Gates), and straight up combat, with a little storyline plot of trying to assassinate a German general.

Black Cats is an on the rails shooting mission where you're tasked with fending off Japanese zeroes and patrol boats with multiple gun turrets on the plane, while saving a couple people when you land in the ocean. Call of Duty: United Offensive had a similar mission, but this one was more interesting due to your plane starting in the air, and then landing in the water, all while you're firing away.


DISLIKED:
- Lack of Creativity. I've played as the bold, Russian sniper hero already in previous Call of Duty games, Enemy at the Gates style. And yet, that's exactly how the Russian campaign starts. On the rails shooting mission? Did that in Call of Duty: United Offensive. Driving a tank? The first Call of Duty had that. The parts are still fun, but something new would have been welcome.