World War II File

Okay.

So it took me a while to get to this, mostly because I didn’t want to play the game on a PS 2 or wii. While those systems are just fine (come on! Tiger Woods 09 with the wii motion plus is AWESOME), I wanted to experience the game in HD with a next generation system.

Enter PS3 (and my nephew who had a copy of the game sitting on the shelf).

So this version of COD felt like the others I’ve played in the series in terms of the gameplay. As you advance, so do your colleagues. Of course, the longer you wait to do things, the more they die in waves, equal to your position. This is a given in COD and I can live with it. What really shocked me about this game was the “next level” gore. Maybe “shocked” isn’t the right word. I mean it’s an FPS, right? Gore is the thing. Having just arrived to the next gen party (and coming from the wii world where even Medal of Honor Vanguard was tame looking), I guess I wasn’t ready for it. Okay, I’m good now.

PROS–
The soundtrack. OMgoodness! Instead of playing on a crappy old TV, I ran a basic set of computer speakers through the 20 inch external monitor I’m using as a display. It made all the difference. The music tracked up and down, depending on the moment, and it was all especially dramatic when playing as the Russian private. It just sounded _decent_ which is something I haven’t really thought much about as a gamer. With this game, I noticed.

The weapons. Playing as a Marine, there was no better weapon than the flamethrower, which in this game is the great equalizer. I’m no hard-core gamer, but using this made sections play pretty effortlessly, even with the difficulty level up. There was a pretty wide variety of other weapons, too, and I wasn’t stuck playing with a machine pistol all the time. Hate that.

The Stories. You play as a Marine fighting on Peleliu and Okinawa and as a Russian moving toward Berlin. As a Marine, you are PVT Miller and you have get to have Kiefer Sutherland yell at you for the balance of the game (it’s true). The landing on Peleliu is stunning, and there are other visual moments that are “knock your socks off” great, including the misplaced level as a ariel gunner. You’re not Miller. Just some gunner and it’s your job to move between guns in the ship and shoot, shoot, shoot. That was WILD. Plus, in the final level as a Russian, YOU are the one who plants the flag on the Reichstag (moments before this comes the most violent moment of the game…your buddy slashes the shit out of the last German on roof with a machete to clear your path…)

The Bad

The AI. Of course, opponents spawn and return to the same spots (usually) if you don’t advance. But hell, those banzai charges flipped me out of chair the first time I saw one. Are you kidding me? At other moments, the AI acted just as you learned it will. Stand up. Fire. Duck. Repeat. Flank a little to get the job done.

All told, the designers took this game to another level. Sure, the AI acts a certain way in COD and that’s cool. But this one was the most immersive of the series yet (I’ve yet to play Modern Warfare…I’m getting there).

3.5/5 stars