Posted by There’s something strange about Call of Duty, something I’ve never quite been able to put my finger on. It’s arguably one of the most successful game franchises of all time, it’s objectively one of the best selling, and yet every year scores of detractors come out in force to decry its very existence. The furor that inevitably tags along with each new Call of Duty game reached something of a peak with 2016’s Infinite Warfare, which was torn apart by fans on social media for continuing to push the franchise closer to science fiction, as well as selling Modern Warfare Remastered only to those who paid for Infinite Warfare’s limited edition. One year later, after a dip in the series’ profits and the undeniable success of Battlefield 1’s WWI aesthetic, Raven Software and Sledgehammer Games released Call of Duty: WWII, touted as a return to form for the long running franchise. Now here we are, a little over two months past release, and I’ve finally found my time to play it through, and see if it really is all that was hoped for.
I’ll begin by saying that I’m not what you’d call an avid fan of the series. When I was younger I used to rent Call of Duty 3 over and over hoping they didn’t give me a scratched disk, (which they always did, no wonder Hollywood Video went bankrupt) and I’ve played the first two installments of both the Modern Warfare and Black Ops trilogies, as well as World at War and Advanced Warfare. I’m one of those weirdos who actually prefers the single player aspects of the games, and while I enjoy the multiplayer, I tend to abandon it after a few weeks, though I’ve always had a fondness for the Nazi Zombie mode. So while I’ve not been rushing out to pick up each installment on release date, Call of Duty has always been a series I regard with fondness, and though the relentless annual releases have grown tiring, I believe some of the franchise’s bad reputation is exaggerated and perhaps a tad unfair.
Having said that: In no way are the complaints surrounding Call of Duty unfounded. If there’s one thing that popularity brings, its a lot of critics with the ability to pinpoint even the most minute flaws, and Call of Duty has a lot of flaws. I’ll start with the big one: “Every Call of Duty is the same.” It’s a bit reductionist but it holds a kernel of truth, and if you were to stop reading right now, the one thing I’d impress upon you is that Call of Duty: WWII is built on the same foundation as every other modern Call of Duty. If you enjoyed the previous games and want more, you’ll like it, if you didn’t and you don’t, then you won’t. If you liked the old school Call of Duty, you aren’t going to find it here. The campaign and multiplayer are modern CoD down to the bone, and a new coat of paint (or an old one, I suppose) isn’t enough to change that. There are some gameplay tweaks worth noting as one looks closer, but the core formula remains untouched, leaving the game distinctly familiar.
(Zombie designs are still pretty awesome)
As soon as the game boots up you’ll be presented with three modes to choose from: Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies. Zombies is the quickest to explain, as currently it’s a rather straightforward affair. There is a prologue cutscene and tutorial, and one main map that contains a small story arc in traditional zombies fashion. As per every other CoD zombies mode, players earn points by fighting off waves of zombies that grow larger and stronger as the game goes on. Points can be used to buy new weapons, unlock new areas, activate traps, and buy perks that upgrade your character to better tackle the undead. Unlike previous entries however, there is a much greater focus on story, with several secondary characters, an antagonist who taunts you from a zeppelin, and an actual ending if you complete all the objectives laid out. The journal menu will walk you through various requirements that instruct the player on how to open new sections, power up occult technology, and activate the final boss, thus defeating the villain and allowing the players to continue fighting until they die just like any other zombies mode. It’s still a lot of fun to run around collecting power ups and killing zombies, especially with three other people sharing points and reviving each other, but exploring a map is really only exciting the first time, and the lack of other options means that once you’ve unlocked most of the level, the only thing left to do is complete the missions, which also became tedious through repetition.
I confess that I never did manage to confront the final boss, as I’ve never been the best at zombies mode, but I have managed to see most of the content, and much of it revolves around charging up battery cells, shooting at the zeppelin, and then lugging things around to awaken the final enemy. It’s a good way to teach the map to new players, but the second half of the objectives can be pretty vague on details, and I found myself following around more veteran players to see what needed to done most of the time. There’s also the problem of having to learn all the different perk and weapon positions, and if you don’t have them memorized your only hope is to run around looking to find the ones you want, thus wasting time you could be spending on finishing objectives. Speaking of which, the map also has the by-now expected secret easter egg ending, which is as obtuse and difficult as ever. The whole process is well-documented by now, but while I considered attempting it I lost interest halfway through reading about the three secret, hard-to-see tops that need to be found and can spawn in ten different positions around the map. The whole process is so convoluted and involved that I can only applaud those who had the patience and determination to figure it out, piece by piece. My reading did however, highlight the unfortunate paradox of the mode, as I find the discovery and exploration to be the most enjoyable aspect, yet playing the mode to its fullest involves a ton of memorization and preparation that sucks the joy out of my experience. If you put tons of hours into the previous CoD zombies modes, then I’m sure you’ll love this, considering how similar it is, but if you’re like me, you may be frustrated by the amount of investment expected for an experience that, while carefully crafted and fairly engaging, just doesn’t offer enough variety.
(This is the multiplayer Hub area, it’s fairly unremarkable)
On the subject of variety, the online multiplayer is as robust as ever. All the most popular modes from previous games return, as well as the expected character progression. Weapons have levels, which allow you to upgrade guns with new attachments as you level you them up, scorestreaks return, granting players special bonuses for earning points, and of course there’s lootboxes, because apparently King Lootbox himself has written into law that every game released must contain lootboxes, lest they be forced to open a box containing a small assortment of randomized punishments. In seriousness, however, I have very little to say about the typical multiplayer modes, you mostly run around and shoot things until you either get a scorestreak or you die and repeat the process. It’s fun enough, but it feels extremely familiar, almost confusingly so, considering how the shift from science fiction to WWII has done almost nothing to change what is, by now, a rather tired formula.
(Enjoy my low-effort Photoshop of King Lootbox)
In stark contrast to your typical team deathmatch variants, however, is the brand new “War” mode, which sets two teams of Allied and Axis forces against each other in small, objective-focused battles. For example: one map involves Axis forces attempting to escort a tank across a bridge before the Allies can destroy it. Axis forces are required to escort a tank, then steal fuel from the Allies outpost, and finally escort their tank across the bridge, all while the Allied team attempts to slow their progress and stall them out until the timer ticks down and the bridge is destroyed. It’s an interesting idea and I found it quite engaging. There’s something impressive in how a little bit of context makes everything feel more exciting and intense. Moving from objective to objective gives each map its own sense of progression that other modes simply lack, and the various intro and outro cutscenes, along with radio chatter and the ability to build and destroy defenses, serve as nice touches that make the experience feel a lot more rich and detailed. In many ways the mode reminds me of the cooperative missions from Modern Warfare 2, simply extrapolated into a full on 6v6 multiplayer battle. At the moment there are only three maps available, but even so I’ve found myself greatly enjoying the gameplay loop despite repeating the same missions. My personal favorite is the Omaha Beach level, which even includes some bots storming the beach, making the landings a bit more intense for both sides. Of course, War Mode isn’t perfect; all the maps have their own “meta” that players gravitate towards every match, and there’s always the chance of getting stuck with a team who don’t seem to understand the purpose of the mode and will completely ignore the objectives, which happened to me a few times. Overall however, War mode is a brilliant addition to a series which has needed new ideas for some time. Even now, it’s the only reason I still have this game installed at all, which I think says more than any further praise I could give.
When it comes to the campaign I’m honestly somewhat loath to write about it, because what is there to say, really? Not only is it just like every other modern Call of Duty, with its scripted setpieces and linear maps, it’s also just like every other WWII story you’ve ever seen, and I’m not kidding when I mean every WWII story. It’s a band of brothers type situation with four young men, one of them is racist, one of them is Jewish, one of them has a name that I forgot, and one of them is you. You are from Texas, you have a Texas accent, you long to go home to you pregnant wife, and are good at shooting things. Zussman is your friend, he’s the Jewish guy, he is good at being Jewish and also getting beaten up by Nazis. You have two superior officers, one of them wants to strictly follow orders and the other one wants to ‘do the right thing,’ but which one of them wants to do which changes depending on the scene. As you progress you get to see some planes and tanks, British spies and a French resistance lady, there’s a car chase and a big train, there are some civilians to rescue, and there’s even a black guy for your racist friend to be racist at but later he apologizes so it’s cool, and basically everything else that springs to mind when you think “WWII story.” It’s unfortunate because, facetiousness aside, I actually did grow to like some of the characters, especially Zussman, the aforementioned Jewish fellow. He’s got some very genuine moments and honestly suffers more hardship than even the protagonist. Besides a few stand out setpieces however, most of the important scenes fall flat; both cliche and over too quickly for any emotional pull.
(Private Zussman is the most likable character by far, and he carries a good few scenes)
Without a particularly compelling narrative, all that’s left is the gameplay, which is decent enough. At risk of repeating myself however, it’s just like every other CoD, you shoot some folks, run to the objective, perform a scripted action, and then hold out for a bit. There’s a sniping bit, and a tank driving part, and a part where you plant explosives, and a sneaking part, etc. etc. I had fun with it. Whatever one can say about the series, it’s hard to deny that the gameplay has been refined down to a science. There’s new features as well, the removal of regenerating health in favor of health packs is a big one. It certainly makes firefights more tense when you only have a limited option for healing, but the change isn’t as significant as one might think. Perhaps the biggest new addition is squadmate “powers.” After a certain number of kills you can claim an item from one of your fellow soldiers, like a mortar strike or extra ammo. It’s useful as a way to get some supplies with less risk to yourself, but outside of the health packs I rarely found myself needing them, and they aren’t game changing enough to be much more than a gimmick. I know I’ve just gone on a huge diatribe about the story’s failings, (and I could’ve gone on longer if I wanted to) I still enjoyed the experience for what it was, and only in hindsight has my opinion slightly soured on it. It’s by no means the worst CoD campaign, and if you just want to shoot stuff, CoD has always been a pretty good option.
At its core, Call of Duty WWII is a return to form in setting only. It compensates for its familiarity with a few fresh ideas, but it’s a song and dance we’ve seen before. If you still love every new Call of Duty game, you’ll like this too. The campaign isn’t revolutionary, nor is the story particularly impressive, but the core gameplay loop is rock solid. As for Zombies and Multiplayer, both modes are refined, but not particularly noteworthy, with the exception of the quite excellent War mode. If there was anything revolutionary or insightful to say about this series, I’d wager the time to say it has long since past. I’d love to see Call of Duty reinvent itself someday, but there’s no denying the quality baseline inherent in the status quo. So for now, Call of Duty: WWII is just Call of Duty: Another One, and that’s alright.
Call of Duty: WWII
7/10
Good