Treyarch has been on the short side of the development cycle for a while. Turnaround times for its release of off-year Call of Duty titles really prevented the company from putting its own stamp on the series. So what happens when it gets a full development cycle, and doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel in terms of a game engine. Call of Duty World at War is what happens.

Built on the CoD4 engine, Treyarch has had the opportunity to focus on the gameplay. CoD 4 was a journey into the modern world. For WaW, Treyarch went back to World War II but instead of focusing on the European Theater, the dev team expanded that to play the game – through scenarios – on two fronts. Players will be immersed in the Pacific Theater in the war against the Japanese Imperial Army, and will be part of the Russian push toward Berlin.

For the most part, you will play the game as a Marine private, or a Russian sniper. Once the game departs from those predominate scenarios to allow you to play the gunner on an aircraft, but as much as hopping from gun to gun and blasting boats is fun, this almost seems like an afterthought rather than a mission that integrates the other elements well.

There are 16 missions in all, starting at Japanese fortifications on Makin Island and ending with the Russian destruction of the Reichstag in Berlin. The unfortunate part of the game lays in that when you move through a scenario, if you fail, you can count on – more or less – the same enemy actions. Too often the character controlled took up a semi-screened position and then sniped away. The enemy, as if they either couldn’t see the bodies stacking up or were just too stupid to think much of it, would often take up positions of their fallen comrades. For example, a Japanese soldier pops his head up between a truck and a broken bit of wall. Waiting for him was easy. One shot, one less enemy soldier. Wait about five-eight seconds, and then another does the same thing.

While the action was fast paced, at times the AI made some poor choices.

One of the center points of the game, though, was the inclusion of the Japanese way of fighting. This does not often give you the opportunity to thoughtfully progress through an environment. They were not adverse to banzai charges, or even hiding in the brush, camouflaged, and then jump up at you when you were near enough for bayonet work. That element alone highlighted a small flaw in the default key mapping. To counter a melee attack, you were to hit V, which is not all that intuitive a key stroke if you have your fingers on the W,A,S,D keys for movement. And with the reaction time being so short, it can be an awkward movement.

Generally, though, the control set-up is intuitive.

The game plays out on the PC in a very visceral way, with incredible texturing, dynamic lighting and animation that is exceptional. Crank up the graphics settings, and enjoy the ride. The sound is also solid, with very good voice work. Some of the game’s story scripting is a bit obvious, and feels forced at times.

When it comes to multiplayer, though, CoD:WaW is a thrill ride. There is a couple of ways to play it – either in the deathmatch scenarios that many fans of the game have come to know and enjoy or in a cooperative setting. The latter will take up to four players, plop them into one of the scenarios and let them take on a ramped-up enemy. The game is very nicely realized, with players able to revive fallen comrades. This is sort of a competitive setting, with players vying for not only completing the scenario but also for scoring points in a variety of ways – from revives to headshots.

Multiplayer also has a cooperative element in which a team defends a house against Nazi zombies. There are several entry points and all sorts of weapons involved, including a ray-guy thing. The zombies come in waves and the idea is to see how many waves, or levels, you can survive. It ramps up fast and the pacing can be rather insane at times.

In many ways CoD:WaW is a guided experience that feels relatively short. Players should complete the main mission modes in about 8 hours. The replay value stems from the cooperative and multiplayer action.

World at War offers some nice elements, from the Japanese combat elements to the new weapon (flamethrower), but the game is more of the same in terms of the way it all plays out. That is not a bad thing, but for players coming off CoD 4, this is not a big step forward for the franchise. CoD fans will enjoy it, though, as the game will not only challenge but entertain.

Gameplay: 8.5
Some load times and the default controls can be a little awkward at times. The game is also a structured experience and feels a little short.  

Graphics: 9.0
The game’s animation, the dynamic lighting, shading and textures are truly impressive.

Sound: 8.8
The voice acting, battle sounds and musical score do a solid job of supporting the graphical elements.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.4
The AI is a little suspect in places, but the inclusion of the Pacific Theater of war is a solid addition to the franchise.

Multiplayer: 8.8
The competitive cooperative element is a very nice addition to the multiplayer settings.

Overall: 8.5
Not a huge departure in terms of how the game plays out. There is a rhythm to the levels, each with a hump that must be crested to begin the downhill run to the next level in the story arc. Overall the game feels a bit short but is not only a very tasty bit of eye candy, and a treat for the ears as well, but a briskly paced action-adventure that should please fans of WWII first-person shooters.