Call of Duty: World at War
Posted by RaVeN on July 11, 2008
Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter video game under development by Treyarch and published by Activision for the PlayStation 3, Wii, Windows, and Xbox 360. It is the fifth installment in the Call of Duty video game series, excluding expansion packs. It is scheduled to ship before the end of Activision’s 2009 fiscal year. The game is set in the Pacific theater and Eastern front of World War II.
Gameplay
Call of Duty: World at War will feature a more mature theme than previous installments in the series. Swimming elements will be introduced to the series for the first time in single player and multiplayer. While in water, the player cannot sprint and will only move at half speed. Flamethrowers, first introduced in Call of Duty: United Offensive, will be reintroduced with new flammable environments. The game will be slightly more open-ended than previous games in the series, as there will be multiple ways to complete missions.
Multiplayer
World at War will feature cooperative gameplay (four players via split-screen (on consoles) or four players online) for the first time in the franchise. Vehicles will return as well as new squad-based elements within multiplayer. It will also use a similar perk system to Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4.
It was also recently revealed by Mark Rivers, a creative director for Treyarch that multiplayer elements from Call Of Duty 4 online were going to be included in the new game, for instance; anti-personnel mines (claymores) will still be made available as a perk but a simple trip-wire will replace modern detection lasers.
Weapon customization will also still be allowed; players will be able to attach a bayonet to certain weapons, fire basic grenade-launchers and apply decals to weaponry with a variety of different colors after completing “head-shot challenges.”
Boats will become available as well for players usage but have limited firepower.
Plot
The story mode features two campaigns on two fronts, the United States Marine Corps battling the Japanese Imperial Army in the Pacific, and the Soviet Red Army on the European Eastern Front towards the end of the war. One part of a level entitled Maken Raid shows an Allied prisoner of war being tortured by the Japanese before having his throat slit by a katana. The player’s character witnesses this scene and is later rescued by U.S. Marines who liberate the camp. Two other levels were revealed by IGN: one involves the player using the machine guns on a PBY Catalina to attack a Japanese naval fleet, and the other shows the beginning of the Russian campaign. In that level, the player and a Russian sniper attack German troops under the cover of a bombing raid.
Development
World at War will have a two-year development cycle, double that of Treyarch’s previous title, Call of Duty 3. The game will be powered by an enhanced version of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare engine – improvements have been made to the physics engine and lighting model. Environments are now more destructible and can be set on fire with the flamethrower (which features propagating fire). Bullets can also cut holes in thin wood, making a gap big enough for the player to climb through.
A full-sized replica PBY Catalina was constructed for motion capture use.
