Dutiful Update: 'Call of Duty: World at War'

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LAST YEAR, ACTIVISION and Infinity Ward reinvented their popular World War II first-person shooter franchise "Call of Duty" by tossing aside the familiar (and overdone) WWII setting and delving into a gritty fictionalized present-day war zone with "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare."

The update was met with resounding applause from critics and players, and raked in awards and sales. This year, Activision handed the developer reins to Treyarch, the team responsible for the less well-regarded "Call of Duty 3," which promptly shifted the timeline back to WWII with "Call of Duty: World at War."

But to call this game a simple retread doesn't quite do it service, as there are plenty of twists and tweaks that elevate it from the dozens of clones on the market and make it a worthy follow-up to last year's smash hit.

The game's single-player campaign focuses on the American storming of the South Pacific and the Soviet push into Nazi Germany, with the U.S. story showing off the biggest updates to the "COD4" engine: flamethrowers. The first time you dive into an enemy-occupied trench during an intense battle — bullets whizzing past and explosions booming all around, flushing out your enemies with fire that burns realistically — it is as exhilarating as it is memorable. The rest of the presentation, from graphics to sound, is similarly top-notch.

The story is told through stylish cut scenes that utilize a mixture of archival footage and slick graphics. Unfortunately, in order to showcase the biggest battles of the end of the war, the narrative suffers a bit from disjointed time-jumps between chapters that prevent any real connection to your comrades-in-arms, even with charismatic performances from Kiefer Sutherland in the American story and Gary Oldman as the grizzled Sergeant Reznov in the Soviet Campaign. However, it's still a meaty and enjoyable experience that is well worth the price of admission.

The game also offers a host of multiplayer options that build upon the formula that made "COD4" the most popular online shooter of last year. All of the standard Deathmatch and Capture the Flag modes are here, with the two biggest additions being the ability to play through the single-player campaign cooperatively with up to four players and a survival-horror-influenced mode called "Nacht der Untoten" ("Night of the Undead") in which players defend a house besieged by Nazi zombies. (The latter is only unlocked upon completion of the single-player campaign.)

All in all, Treyarch managed to deliver a solid follow-up to "COD4" that is both reverential to the franchise roots while still managing to breathe new life into a tired genre of shooters. With fantastic action, tight controls and crisp graphics and sound, this game is a worthy addition to any library this holiday season.

» "Call of Duty: World at War" is rated Mature for blood, strong language and violence.

Written by Express' Micah Pearson
Images courtesy Activision