REVIEW – In the latest episode of the Call of Duty series, we return once again to World War II as it was so much “asked”, or rather: claimed by hordes of fans of the franchise and, now, the moment of truth arrives. Call of Duty: WWII faces its review with the certainty that the saga always does its homework and usually offers products of good quality. Still, is that enough? You have here our review to answer that question.

Today it is hard to remember, but the last Call of Duty set in the Second World War was not greeted by fans that much with warmth. The developers were accused of having told everything that could be told about the conflict that ravaged the entire world, and of starting to repeat themselves with disturbing frequency. Some of those who now protest angrily over the abuse of modern or futurist eras also protested about the World War II period, but now they are committed to the historical conflicts.

The year 2017 has also been one of the reconciliations of fans with the big publishers, on the one hand Ubisoft has bet on Egypt as historical context and has satisfied the desires of thousands of fans who had been asking changes for Assassin’s Creed Origins and, now Activision has done the same, giving many others the chance to return to a stage that offered moments of greatness in the series.

Now that I have squeezed everything Call of Duty: WWII can give, it is still unclear to me that the bet for this particular conflict was because it felt that there was something powerful to propose or if it was because their fans whined so much – it is impossible to be sure, only Activision knows. The only thing that is clear is that Activision gave the ball to Sledgehammer Games: a developing firm who had already made his first steps in other releases of the series as Advanced Warfare in the key of only responsible studio, and collaborating in a Modern Warfare 3 that, while being an extraordinary video game, already began to show the first symptoms of exhaustion of the franchise.

For my part, I was waiting with renewed interest for what could come out of all this in this descriptively called World War II, but no more than with an Infinite Warfare that was insulted with great anticipation and that, in reality, suffered only in the multiplayer but had an of the best and most risky campaigns of recent years. At the end of the day, when I face writing the review of a veteran brand, I look for a certain freshness in the product, and that is precisely what the Infinity Ward game offered. Call of Duty WWII shows that virtually everything that could be said about the Second World War has already been counted, played and squeezed to the fullest, yet manages to keep doing things right.

It is a remarkable video game, because all the COD are compact products, well finished and with many hours of entertainment inside, and on the one hand manages to combine a campaign with a great story while on the other, without giving us anything groundbreaking or surprising, also get the other modes are up to the task.

Taking risks

The Call of Duty campaign has been dividing people for years. On the one hand, veterans of the series see in it a great way to reconcile with some of the best deliveries, those that stood out for their pulse and sense of rhythm. On the other hand, many of the new players see it as a process more than fulfilling by obligation or even raffle without touching to immerse themselves in the multiplayer or the zombies. At Activision, they are fully aware of this, but even so, they have continued to pay much attention to the development in this part.

So we have seen risky episodes such as a CoD: Black Ops 3 that bet on a surprising psychological load and character studies, and the breakthrough and aforementioned story mode of an Infinite Warfare that, with its important dose of freedom, space battles and the playable charisma that the different planets gave off, showed something that supposed a fracture with the seen to date. Why is it important to remember all this? Because although there is not a trace of it all in the conventional single-player Call of Duty: WW2 mode, you also have to admit that they have done things quite well.

The campaign can be completed in about five or six hours depending on our level and the difficulty chosen, with more or less a duration of about 25 minutes for each of these 11 levels. So Sledgehammer Games manages to keep pace throughout the narrative, and although the first two chapters are very discreet and are more spectacular than effective, the truth is that afterward they do take some risks … moderate, but necessary to break with the possible monotony. The plot element is treated with care, and some elements such as flashbacks help to package the hero with his Texan past; however, the best thing is the feeling that really this group of men is not fighting for a transcendental confrontation between good and evil but rather that they are human beings who only try to survive.

The monotony of walking to the checkpoint, cleaning up of enemies, repeating is never completely combated. Still it becomes lighter with some of the levels where different things are found. Not that I was surprised, but I still appreciate that the developers came up with a different section like (avoiding spoilers here) some level focused on different vehicles, some flirting with stealth or even some part in which we assume another identity and we have to participate in a dangerous situation of discharge that generates some of the tensest moments of the entire campaign.

At the end of the day with such a short duration, that was a great idea, which the devs alternated standard areas with parts that are out of the ordinary and that’s one of the best things that can be said in the story mode. The renunciation of regenerative health – something demanded by a wide stratum of the public of the franchise – also helps the game’s rhythm and it was a great idea to create a feeling of team based on our colleagues being the ones who provide us the kits or the ammunition. It is fast and does not force us to go looking for “generators of life” on the levels. The exploration, however, is not lost since there are still collectibles and, also, because there are some things called Heroic Actions such as saving comrades by dragging them away from the clutches of a Nazi who are going to kill them and who offer something different to do on the battlefield.

And then the title gets rid of all the corsets that constrain him in the first missions and is released with a spectacular final third, with some of the most memorable battles at the level of historical recreation that I remember in recent years and which, of course, are treated with the usual liberties of the franchise in terms of truthfulness. Technology is finally at its peak to make it spectacular, and some of us already had serious desire to see a release about World War II with the graphics of the current generation of video game consoles. Not only for the improved appearance, but also for the possibility of introducing a greater sense of chaos thanks to the best effects, the greatest drawn distances and, above all, the growing number of characters on the screen.

Headquarters

With a campaign lasting between 5 and 6 hours, it goes without saying that you have to offer much content outside of it to be up to what has been traditional in the Call of Duty regarding value for money so that the game gives you everything else as well in the other facets. For example, the competitive multiplayer offers a selection of maps and modes that are quite standard but also extremely funny, and within the quality levels, I expect from a production with these characteristics. The map design teams of the three studios have always proved their worth with good tracings and a series of common elements regarding layout and distribution (the classic side tracks and the central arena). Of course, the whole thing is unequivocally rescued from Call of Duty 2 for example, but it works, so why change it?

Not that I was against the incredible movements and impossible stunts of futuristic games, but it did sound good to me that gameplay with the “feet on the floor” that was promised from the studio. This brings us back to the old man-against-man formula, which is a breath fresh air for the competitive, one which gives meaning to playable modes that unfortunately are the same again, but thanks to these alterations, they often feel relatively different on this occasion.

On the other hand, the disappearance of the classic Perks has meant the arrival of the divisions, which are divided into six variants and allow huge levels of customization for the fan. Weapon level, character level, division level … In addition to an endless number of unlockables depending on the ranking, we achieve in the different parts of the game guarantee that there is always something interesting to have on the horizon at the time of release. Otherwise? The maps will continue to have that interesting of the COD to end up becoming the favorites of one or the other depending on our style.

It is clear that you can make a great multiplayer shooter about the Second World War because there are many releases, especially on PC, that has been in charge of demonstrating it; but Call of Duty: WWII has remained somewhere in between and, in a way, it stayed in its own comfort zone. It’s still fun because it was already almost ten years ago when this series cultivated that era, but besides the fact that the look of the maps is fully modern, still, there’s not much evolution since then. Is that good or bad? Obviously, we cannot write about a truly innovative game design, that is clear. However, it is great news for all those who were looking for an experience similar to that of almost a decade ago. The preeminence of the reflexes that were in the last launches is replaced by a slightly more tactical approach and with a very strategic point. It is nice that the super-speed and the ability to react to the power have been changed to accompany a squad colleague and to feel that there really is a capacity for reflection and reaction … however minimal this may remain.

So there will be someone who applauds this decision, and there will be someone who criticizes it, about tastes there is nothing written, but what I think will make everyone agree is the fact that thus it is easier to get tired of the classic locations of the competitive COD and the action with the cut of mobility and arsenal. Still, we have also to add, that the exploration of the locations, despite the effort to give all the maps a minimum of two heights, now feels logically more limited than in the modern age versions.

The Walking Dead

At the end of what is a Call of Duty there is always a series of elements that are common and on which Activision does not want any risk, and then a series of parts in which I get the feeling that it does allow some freedom to companies when it comes to working. One of the common points in which it is noted that there is a free bar for creativity is in the Zombies mode, which this time around, feels like something fresh and unexpected. It is a testing ground where anything goes, and in which light puzzles are mixed with that wave mechanics that Gears of War 2 demonstrated years ago was tremendously valid to keep groups of between four and six users entertained collaborating to clean a map from zombies.

Here there are still four characters, all of them with very recognizable aesthetic identities, and we can also choose classes for the first time and even access a series of improvements that make up an interesting progression system. I am not sure that a system of evolution and unblocks is very useful in this formula, but it certainly does not interfere at all. Still, one has to choose a doctor, the other a Support, Soldier or, finally, someone choose the most destined to control and stop the masses of zombies that will inevitably arrive in the highest rounds. It works on the one hand because it allows a certain specialization that contributes to further encourage teamwork, and on the other because everyone has their special ability that he or she wants to try and discover. The mixture of action tricks to deal with the undead and parts in which you have to think how the hell we put forward a certain situation in the form of a puzzle to be able to keep moving forward seems to continue to work frankly well.

What has lost some weight is the charisma of the decisions that have been made this time regarding setting, characters or starting point. The prologue serves as a tutorial to make us see that the whole thing is less sympathetic than in previous installments, but from there reduces the weight of some protagonists who do not exhibit the personality of those of previous episodes. The modeling of Ving Rhames is impeccable and that of Katheryn Winnick or David Tennant are also very estimable, but if I am completely honest I have to make some effort to remember something of them regarding attitude or design, and that is something that had not happened to me in previous deliveries. The same goes for the sets, very gothic and dismal but not very special. I think that all this rounds the intention to bet more on fear and suspense than on the humor or winks more pulp of previous deliveries, which I think makes the zombie mode this time take itself more seriously. Of course, that is a very personal appreciation that does not make the game seem better or worse.

War… War changes…

However, I think that the introduction of War mode riskier. By that, I mean mainly what it means to change so radically something like the traditional Call of Duty competitive scheme for a community that is large and that, therefore, tends to be more conservative. After all, it is about offering a map of a considerable size, more than twice the normal multiplayer one, and dividing it into several parts so that the fans feel that they face each other, but in a succession of objectives that they make sense within an attack and defensive scheme. We are gaining positions, we advance area by area to the end of the map doing interesting and different things. One army of the two sides attacks the other repels the attack in the set time.

The whole thing makes sense and shines especially at times like the Normandy Landing, which has some very interesting playable decisions such as surrounding the protagonists of the offensive of AI-controlled companions. What does that work for? To distract the attention of those who try to repel the landing from the bunkers with their machine gun turrets. The thing is that, although the different locations include a wide range of possibilities and some different activities (accompany a tank, take a position, destroy some facilities …), still, there’s the fact that there are only three maps which seems to be a very small number.

Mind you, it is fun, and it is frenetic, and some of the most intense and exciting moments of my time with Call of Duty: WWII have occurred right here. Of course, there will be problems for some, for example for those who are frustrated with those who adopt tactics such as hiding and waiting for their chance, those contemptuously known as “campers” in the players’ slang. Moreover, it is easy for the defenders to take advantage of the desperation of the attackers when they take time to meet their objectives.

Still, in general terms the start is positive.

A Family Conflict

The battle of the Call of Duty fans for the visual section of the saga has traditionally been fierce. The fact of betting on the same graphic engine for years weighs on certain things, but you also have to be fair and recognize that this has been so many times modified that in most elements and aesthetic features there is little resemblance between one delivery and another. In fact, Call of Duty: WWII is the largest visual jump from one year to another that I have observed since the departure of this generation. It is a video game that is far from truly impacting the player, and that is at a distance from the greats of the genre, but that does the homework with robust effectiveness and has some highlights.

It’s something you can clearly see during gameplay: the necessary fluidity to guarantee those 60 frames per second (which are essential in your multiplayer, but which we also appreciate in the campaign) and the effectiveness it shows when it comes to portraying models and effects contrasts with the certain sobriety that the franchise has shown in other episodes. It is the COD which is best seen with a clear difference concerning its most direct pursuer, Infinite Warfare, and it shows. Also, it has some wave crests as cinematics of impressive appearance, as well as those already mentioned massive battles that give us some of the best and most spectacular moments of the campaign.

Artistically there is nothing particularly surprising, and the game does the homework with the efficiency that characterizes the Call of Duty. The fact of turning around such a “limited” backdrop as that of World War II contrasts with the freedom enjoyed by his artists in futuristic environments, but even so, it is a video game with moments of luster. For example, the campaign manages to walk through different environments, ranging from the urban to natural landscapes that have never looked so good in the series and that are particularly beautiful in a final stretch that, by season and location, it takes us to snowy environments. What I have maybe missed is something to see great recognizable places in Europe. Still, uniforms, weapons, and vehicles also enjoy a good design altogether.

The design of maps for the multiplayer moves in the same lines, although I have to admit that I have seemed more differentiated from each other than those of previous deliveries, with some quite iconic. For someone like me who was already a little tired of fighting in warehouses or futuristic facilities it has been a pleasure to return to the origins, and more when I have found locations with a generous dose of personality.

Concluding, as I usually do, with the audio; the news is positive. Something that is usually a standard since it is a section that in Activision they always take good care of it. Good music that does not commit the sin of falling into the classic military-style scores and that also has an epic, inspired and catchy main theme

What the fans wanted

Call of Duty: WWII gives fans what they wanted, and while it is indeed missing some creative freedom, regarding game design, but the whole game is tremendously effective. Agreeing dreams and aspirations are always complicated for a settled saga, and Sledgehammer Games does not risk its bid for World War II. The campaign is excellent, only a bit brief and somewhat conventional, but in everything else, it does offer a very good level. That is, it is an episode very rich in content and with a conservative online but still perfectly calculated to be simple, frenetic and very addictive.

-BadSector-

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Sledgehammer Games

Genre: FPS

Release date: November 3, 2017