After the great success of its predecessor, all eyes are now on this new Call of Duty: World at War. Back to World War II again, ready?
A world at war
Until a few years ago the world of FPS set in World War II seemed to know only one king: Call of Duty. The title born from the skilled hands of Infinity Ward had known a second chapter and then another third, this time entrusted to the Treyarc team, which although maintaining the historical setting of the series, the Second World War, had not managed to maintain, despite some interesting news, the charisma of his predecessor. But last year, with the return of the original team, the title undergoes an incredible change and abandoning the retro settings, is projected into the present in a "hypothetical" global war on terror. Needless to say, the title had an extraordinary success, convincing even those who, fundamentalists of the original FPS, had initially turned up their noses a bit. An all new and incredibly versatile engine and incredibly fun online mode have won the hearts of millions of FPS fans and earned Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare the title of "Best Game of 2008". With that in mind and considering that behind this fifth chapter, as many of you probably know, there are no longer the Infinity Ward studios, but the guys from Treyarch and that there is certainly no good blood between the two teams, we understand why the eyes of the whole videogame world are focused on this World At War 
.
The game evokes the settings of the Second World War and more precisely projects us into the American campaign against the Japanese in the Pacific and into the fight between Russians and Germans according to the typical COD scheme, alternating the missions on the Pacific side with those on the European side, even without interrupt the adrenaline rush of history.
Among the news
As is natural in this type of games, one of the most important aspects is undoubtedly the atmosphere, and obviously the boys of the Treyarch, being World War veterans, they have filled every single map with historical details that will not fail to surprise us. The campaign against the Japanese then represents an absolute novelty in the fighting style: the Japanese soldiers in fact have a way of attacking very different from the one we have been used to for years; the troops are much more daring, they do not hesitate to throw themselves at us with the knife in hand even when they are outnumbered, they are also specialists in ambushes, including jumping from trees to be able to attack us more easily. This will obviously lead us to revise or even change our strategies and make the brain work harder to survive.
Among the various innovations introduced there is also a new weapon: the flamethrower. Many of the missions that we will have to carry out are set in the jungle and this weapon will become your best friend there to open the way; with a good flame we can get rid of the enemies out of the way in a few seconds, if you don't decide to have fun by reducing the huts in which they could take refuge to ashes. But on the other hand, using this weapon we will have to pay even more attention than usual as burning yourself is extremely easy and the fire can quickly become uncontrollable.
If something works, keep it.
This must have been thought by the developers of the game, what was the essence of the previous Call of Duty, remains intact in this new title. Many of the scenes that you will go to see and play have a taste already experienced in the past. It is logical that if an element works and likes it, there is the desire to improve it, but when the novelty factor begins to fail, it immediately catches the eye, such as in the game phases of the sniper or the plane where you will certainly have a deja vù. It must be admitted, however, that many of these game phases that refer to previous chapters, try to give a different approach to the action and that in any case they will be appreciated even by those who have appreciated them in the past. The advice to give to the Treyarch is to insert new innovative ideas perhaps in a next chapter.
Graphics and Sound
As for the graphics sector, the game runs on the same engine as Call of Duty 4, which is undoubtedly very good. For this occasion it has also been pushed further, especially on some effects such as the flames, which have a really high realism. The frames per second are always kept at a stable level, despite the numerous polygonal models present on the screen; a special mention should be made for the animations of the various deaths of the soldiers: some are really crude and so realistic that the most impressionable could turn up their noses a little.
The sound is another important point, for the occasion a soundtrack was composed that accompanies the war actions in an almost perfect way. So, depending on what we encounter, and whatever the situation, the music that will keep us company will help us to better immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of the game. Same goes for the sound effects, tremendously realistic in the reproduction of the shots of the various weapons, the screams of the soldiers and the hostile world that will surround us.
An Online world
Treyarch, aware that the game might seem too similar to its predecessor, has decided to develop the online mode in a more extensive and fun way. The most important addition is undoubtedly the mode Cooperative: in this together with other 3 friends, we will be able to complete the whole mode Countryside online, not only that, in addition to lengthen the fun and avoid the repetitiveness of the Countryside in Single mode, numerous options and various challenges have been introduced. One of the main ones is in the statistics system, which has become very similar to online challenges: for each objective we will receive a score that will vary according to its difficulty (for example, demolishing a tank in a certain area) or that tests our ability ( shoot tot enemies directly in the head), thus multiplying the replayability of each single map.
During the maps in cooperative mode, in addition to accumulating experience points, also valid for the other modes, we will be able to complete the challenges in multiple levels of difficulty: you go from the chain of deaths in succession only with a knife to the killing of a certain number of enemies in the shortest possible time. But the main dish is presented when we finish the mode Countryside: this will unlock the mode Zombie Nazi: a surreal challenge for survival with no limits: with a chest full of power-ups and our skills, we will have to stop a horde of angry zombies ready to kill anything that stands in front of them. Finally, icons to find in each map which, once collected, can have different effects in multiplayer games, such as making the ammunition of fallen enemies disappear to force us to ration them, or other situations at the limits of credibility, which to be honest badly marry with a World War context.
A long career
The structure of the online, however, mirrors the classes, advantages and methods of experience those introduced in Call of Duty 4, in the way that we all know. The arsenal has been classified into various groups, taking into account the characteristics of each weapon from 50 years ago: the rifles are perfect for short and medium ranges, the Thompson machine gun and the German M40 are perfectly reproduced and will soon become yours best friends or your nightmares. There are some small 'licenses' such as the red pointer for the aim and the silencer, with a different name and adapted for the times.
The difficulty levels in the online are well balanced: in order not to risk having experienced players and novices play in the same map and thus making things unbalanced, in the first games the low levels will go into battle with a team called Formation, up to level 8 However, there is no shortage of extreme modes, reserved for high-level players.
One of the best innovations was reserved for in-game maps: significantly larger and with more places to hide. Some are so large that they will have tanks inside that can be driven by two people. Tanks are normally very slow artillery pieces but can be improved in terms of speed, driveability and the type of ammunition loaded on board.
Climbing the top of the online leaderboard will be much more difficult than in the past, with 65 levels for each medal, plus the bonuses that will no longer be just aesthetic, because each medal will unlock a new class to customize.
Both the mode Challenge than that Cooperative therefore are the main options offered by this new one Call of Duty to extend our fun. The game is thus really much longer and deeper, offering us hours and hours of pure fun.
In conclusion
The mode Countryside di Call of Duty: World at War it is perhaps the less convincing aspect, a barely sufficient longevity (six hours only) and the substantial linearity of the game mode, modeled on that of COD4, are the weak points of the title or rather they fail to offer that breath of fresh air that he had brought his predecessor. The news are there and they are still welcome, but by themselves they are not enough to make the game a masterpiece. Online mode Cooperative manages to give several hours of fun, recovering, at least in part, the brevity of the campaign. To answer the question that all of you are asking yourself right now, or whether this fifth chapter has managed to overcome the unforgettable Modern warfare, we must unfortunately admit that the boys of the Treyarch, despite having done an excellent job, in terms of innovation they have not managed to exceed the level reached by Modern Warfware and by the legendary Infinity Ward Team.
In any case, the fact remains that Call of Duty: World at War is a great game, one of the best of its kind and no FPS enthusiast should miss it.
