Adrian Ruhi

Call of Duty: World at War was developed by Treyarch, which is the bastard step-brother of Call of Duty series creator Infinity Ward. So when the masses found out that Treyarch developed the sequel to Infinity’s highly succesful COD4: Modern Warfare, they felt daddy Activision had pushed them into a claymore.

But no need to fear, World at War is every bit as satisfying as its precursor, despite the change in creator.

Set during World War II, World At War focuses on the American campaign against Japan and Russia’s battle versus the Nazis. The single player story mode is about 9 hours long and, although mostly consisting of first-person ground warfare, also includes wildly fun tank and airplane missions.

The only real knock on the solo campaign (which can also be played co-op with a buddy online), is the way that the story and cinematics will not progress unless you push forward on enemy lines. If you’re a duck-and-shoot kind of player, there will be a seemingly infinite amount of enemies and the story will stand-still. In order to avoid this, you must make it a point to push forward as hard as you can all the time, despite how many Nazi’s are shooting you in the head.

The graphics are top-notch, with the war scenes depicted much more grotesquely(dismemberments, burns, explosion) than in COD4. The sounds of explosions and gunshots are what you’d expect, and the voice acting by Gary Oldman and Kiefer Sutherland are wildly entertaining.

The real draw, though, is the deep multiplayer. Building on COD4‘s highly popular online modes, the game features a variety of modes including Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Search and Destroy. The experience point system from COD4 remains intact, guaranteeing almost limitless replayability as you try to rank up and improve your arsenal.

Although World War II has been played to death, World at War is easily the best of these games. And if you somehow find a way to tire yourself of the game, you can always dig into Nazi Zombies, which is unlocked upon completion of the solo campaign. The hilarious and extremely-challenging B-movie mode has you defending a fortress from blood-thirsty Hitler zombies.