Boy, it feels good to be back. I haven’t played a Call of Duty game since I briefly dipped into the first Black Ops seven years ago. I was fatigued as hell by the series and did not care for the setting or the campaign and the multiplayer was getting increasingly ridiculous. I more or less dropped playing shooters for quite some time as well. Then DOOM 2016 came around, and Wolfenstein: The New Order, and I realized how much fun a first-person shooter can be when the campaign is engaging, and you actually like the setting.
If you’ve read any of my stuff before, you know I’m kind of a history buff. The First and Second World Wars in particular are of great interest to me, so I knew I was probably going to play it one way or the other when I heard that the Call of Duty franchise was going back to the 40s. Then CGM got our hands on an Xbox One X, and from that point, it was settled that for the first time in nearly a decade, I was going to sit down and play Call of Duty: WWII.
The campaign itself was a major draw for me, and it follows the fairly well-tread territory of the Allied invasion of Europe from D-Day onward. Set pieces range from the initial landing at Normandy, blown out farmsteads in France, and stealth missions in occupied Paris to the wintery forests of Germany and the Battle of the Bulge. Unfortunately, the game only follows the American side of the conflict. I was hoping that there would be more action on the Eastern Front, or more fun in North Africa. However, our protagonists hit several major battles in 1944-45 and anyone who enjoyed Band of Brothers will recognize most of the settings.
“Call of Duty: WWII is an excellent return to form for the franchise.”
The story and characters are fairly well-tread stereotypes. The main character, named Red, is a good ol’ boy from Texas. His best friend, a Jewish man, is from New York. The latter leads the story in an interesting and surprising direction for a video game, tackling—however briefly—the horrors of the Holocaust. While the German version of the game does not feature Swastikas, at least they did not ignore the issue like other games that have been released recently. The German version of the game does not have Swastikas. I’ve read several complaints that the game is unduly focused on the American side of things, but let’s be real here.
It’s an American game made by American developers for a primarily American audience. If that’s a huge issue for you—and I say this as a Canadian with family members that served in both World Wars—then skip the campaign. It’s your loss. It’s not a long campaign, but for a series whose primary demographic is people who only play multiplayer, I came away really pleased with my experience.
The CGM review copy was played on the Xbox One X, and while I wasn’t playing the game on a non-4K television for comparison purposes, I can still say with confidence that the game looks fantastic on the One X and a 4K screen. Character models look crisp and clean, with little to no aliasing issues or tearing. The lighting was the most impressive, the HDR and Dynamic Contrast certainly add to the immersive experience, and character models looked nearly realistic. However, there is still the issue of lip-syncing. Even though the faces had so much detail and texturing, it did not work for the characters when they started talking.
Those of you with a surround sound system or a decent headset will experience truly booming sound effects, which is a good thing because you will be able to hear soldiers screaming and explosions all through the game. The soundtrack itself is fairly standard. It does the job well but sounds like anything else in this genre, film, or game.
Of course, most of you will be playing Call of Duty: WWII for the multiplayer, and this game has a very complex system of unlocks, upgrades, and customization options, which can be quite overwhelming.It’s been a long road from the original Modern Warfare, and the multiplayer landscape in the franchise has changed considerably since then. Players can choose from five different classes—including the Canadian mountain division, stereotypical accent in the training video and everything—known in-game as divisions. They run the standard heavy weapons guy, sniper, fast-moving submachine gun type, close quarters, and regular infantry.
Each of these classes has different special weapons and unlocks. You can use any gun with any class, but you will lose some XP and points if you use a certain class. The match-types include everything from Capture the Flag, Search and Destroy, and Team Deathmatch to new ones like War and Gridiron. War and Gridiron is a new game type that is surprisingly fun to play. Hitboxes seem a bit off, and there have been some severe server issues during launch, but patches are now rolling out and things should improve.
Matchmaking is another issue I came across, but that could simply be my lack of skill and time away from the franchise rearing its head. I died, a lot. Loot boxes are a staple of any modern game, but at least in Call of Duty: WWII, the fun goodies inside are cosmetic and there are no pay-to-win mechanics involved, at least as far as I can tell.
Nazi Zombies also returns to Call of Duty: WWII, with a bit more…serious or “scary” bent to it than previous iterations. The zombies aren’t as goofy or campy, and the setting is certainly more eerie and evil than that space crap from other editions. It also features some stellar voice acting from the likes of Dr. Who himself, David Tenant, and Etobicoke local Viking Shield maiden Katheryn Winnick. If you like Nazi Zombies, it’s the best version in years.
Call of Duty: WWII is a great return to form for the franchise, but it comes with a lot of problems because it’s a 2017 multiplayer shooter. However, the campaign is a blast, the shooting and combat mechanics feel tight, and it looks gorgeous on a 4K screen.
It feels great to be back in the setting that spawned the franchise, but even if WW2 isn’t your thing it’s still an enjoyable campaign with a deep multiplayer component to keep players engaged as well as a refreshingly spooky Nazi Zombies mode. If you like Call of Duty but have felt fatigued by the last few releases, this game will be a good way to get older players into the action while also feeling nostalgic.
