Game Review: Call of Duty: WWII
Updated: May 27, 2019
So another year has passed and another Call of Duty game is released. However, instead of extending the Modern/Advanced Warfare or even the Black ops stories, they decide to go back to their gaming routes. Back to WWII.
“On June 6, 1944, U.S. Army Private First Class Ronald "Red" Daniels (Main Character) of the 1st Infantry Division takes part in the Normandy landings with his platoon, consisting of Private First Class Robert Zussman, Private Drew Stiles, Technician Fifth Grade Frank Aiello Technical Sergeant William Pierson, and First Lieutenant Joseph Turner. Zussman is stabbed by a German soldier, resulting in his hospitalization for several weeks.
Zussman returns to duty in time for Operation Cobra, where American forces successfully push to reclaim the town of Marigny. The platoon is ordered by Colonel Davis to conduct an operation with British Special Operations Executive officers Major Arthur Crowley and Vivian to intercept a German armored train carrying V2-rockets. Daniels and Zussman successfully derail the train before being escorted back to their squad by French Resistance leader Rousseau. This begins the path to end of the war and the end of German reign”
This game got a lot of overhauling since it’s last installment. The Campaign mode adds a gritty and realistic portrayal on how the war truly went. This is the first time that COD really got realistic with its body damage on NPC’s. Typically it would be a blood spray or the face would just turn blood red to give the illusion it’s blown off. Not this year, we got to see people get torn apart from 50 cals, explosions and much more. The opening scene is the ever famous Saving Private Ryan scene on the beach of Normandy. Which is humorous to me because Medal of Honor re0plicated this scene on one of their installments for the PS2.
The campaign was very heavily inspired by the same style of storytelling that was completed in Band Of Brothers. Mind you, this was the first story since the first Black Ops that keep me interested and constantly investing more time into. This was probably one of the most fulfilling wartime storylines I have played in years.
I didn’t spend much time with the Multiplayer section of the game because they just irritate me. However they did eliminate perks and force the players to progress through ranks to get additional skills. Gives a sense of purpose rather they good ole days of camping and teabagging. Also adding 5 different classes to keep things fresh, they added the first ever narrative game mode called, War. n War, two teams of 6 players perform objectives as either the Allied or Axis faction, inspired by some of the iconic World War II battles, such as storming Normandy on D-Day as the Allied, or defending the Normandy bunker as the Axis in the map Operation Neptune.
My Biggest Pro and “TSN Turning Point” was the re imaging of the Zombie mode. Let’s be honest, that’s what everyone is here for. You can tell everyone that’s a lie, but we know it is. They gave it more of a “horror factor” than ever. It felt like the zombie aspect was finally taken serious and made it more of a scary narrative rather than a typical shooter. Of course as always, there a cast of actors tasked with voicing the Zombie story. They enlist Kathryn Winnick from Vikings, David Tennant from Doctor Who, Ving Rhames, well you know who he is, and Elodie Yung who was Elektra from Daredevil. The play a group of relic hunters brought together to help find an artifact to stop the Nazi’s. However the train they were on derails and left on their own to finish the task.
Ultimately, this would be the first Call of Duty game since COD 4:Modern Warfare that I would be willing to pay full price for. Good to see COD is being taken seriously again.