Village Gamer

Format: Wii (also available for Nintendo DS, Mobile, PS2, PS3, PC, X360)
Release Date: November 11, 2008
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Treyarch
Official Website: http://www.callofduty.com
ESRB Rating: M – Mature 17+

Introduction

Call of Duty (COD): World at War (WAW) is a very intense, brutal and addicting game that can be played with two players or with friends and strangers via Wi-Fi connection. Although the game is rated M for Mature, WAW does a very good job of not exaggerating the blood, violence, and language; however, I would recommend waiting for the kids to go to bed before playing this one.

Beginning

Picking up the campaign section of the game (if you haven’t played the other COD games) was very simple. The game gives you hints as you go along on how to master the skills needed for the mission you are playing. I used the Wii zapper for this game, which did make it much easier to aim and shoot. The down side of the zapper was it made it harder to quickly throw back grenades and to drop mounted weapons in order to run away from grenades. I took off the zapper for a period of time, and found myself doing much worse – I decided to stick with the zapper for this one.

For The Light Gamer

If you are just a light gamer (like myself) and feel like your gaming skills lack, don’t be too worried. Yes this game will pose a challenge for you, but don’t get discouraged. The game works on checkpoints and objectives completed, so just because you die, doesn’t mean you have to start all over again. Some checkpoints are harder to reach than others, but there is a strategy for everything, and usually more than one that works.

For The Heavy Gamer

If you game more than average, pick up on maps easy, have a steady hand, and really know what you are doing, World At War will give you a challenge as well. I played the game on recruit mode, which numbed a lot of it down for myself, but the equivalent of the expert mode will pose a large challenge to you. Surviving a mission in expert mode without being killed once is like storming the beaches of Normandy with 6 people and surviving.

Story Line And Graphics

The storyline of the game was not coherent in my opinion, bringing you from the War in the Pacific to the War in the Europe. The plus side of this is that the clips are short which gives you more time to play, and less time watching video clips. If you aren’t one for story lines, then this game is probably for you. It tells you quickly (15-30 second clips) where you are, and what is going on in your mission. The graphics and video clips related with the story really take you back into the time period, and show you real clips from the war.

WI-FI Gaming

The Wi-Fi multiplayer section of this game is just as fun, if not more fun than the campaign itself! There are promotions to be earned, XP to gain, guns to unlock, challenges to conquer, and special perks to posses. This section of the game is very thrilling! If you’re playing against a friend or just a random stranger, it doesn’t matter it is just as fun. The main objectives are obviously to kill and not be killed, but just because you got shot doesn’t mean it’s over. You keep spawning until the game time of ten minutes expires. There are several different maps that you and your team can vote to fight in, and they are the appropriate size for the type of battling you are doing. This section of the game can stick you to the edge of your seat hours.

Overall

Overall, the game could improve its story line coherency, but its clips make up for that. This is one game that can really get addicting and hard to pull away from if you like a lot of action. Once it goes on, hours could pass before you realize how long you have been playing in both the campaign and multiplayer tiers. The multiplayer wi-fi gaming section is really thrilling and extremely intense. This game would be good for those who want a good war game, like to shoot and blow things up, and like a good challenge.