Review - Call of Duty: WW2

History has forever been a fascinating subject for me: even to this day, it still boggles my mind to think of just how many tales have been passed down through time, people both heroic and horrifying who we still recall hundreds to thousands of years later, and even the stories we know next to nothing about. World War 2 is still a very recent thing, in the grand lifespan of humanity, and its affects are still very well present in our lives today and will most likely stand the test of time beyond our years.

From die-hard fan to nervous parent, "Call of Duty" are three simple words that afflict many different emotions and responses. For me in particular, it's one of fondness. I have had highs and lows with the series, but I have always remained neutral on the new games before I can try them out myself. 

WW2 isn't the best the series has offered, but it certainly did very well at lest.

As a change of pace, I want to expose the similarities the game shares with its predecessors, as almost every gamer has played at least one game in this long-running series. Gameplay is incredibly similar to previous titles and can be picked up within a few minutes, if you're common to gaming. Controls feel weighty, especially with the difference of weaponry, but work very well with different play types. Campaign through zombies works well and I have yet to find any game-breaking glitches.

Speaking of, the campaign is well structured for its story and gameplay, but does bend the reality of the war here and there, which I was honestly a bit disappointed with. There are sections (even specific missions) that directly conflicted with historical moments of the war and seemed directly inspired by other pieces of war media (Considering D-Day, take one guess what movie they parody), but in the grand scheme of the story itself only helped it along, so I was quite conflicted with it. The campaign does very well to try and mix up how they present the story aside from your standard Run-And-Gun strategy of the past. Stealth missions are frequent in the main storyline, as well as an excellently crafted infiltration mission that has you correctly answering questions to bypass security. The plot overall was fairly predictable for the protagonist and the characters around him, but was held up by good and effective acting by the cast, especially in the final mission.

Sound effects are excellent when it comes to the weaponry in game. I wish there were more, with at least half a dozen in each class, but what is there is serviceable and feels excellent to use. Musical score is well done and brings back the good nostalgia from the old World War games of the past.
Although I prefer to not make them too high of a point, the graphics in the game are phenomenal, especially on the Xbox One X. Water effects look downright stunning and the level of detail put into character faces looks realistic. Characters based off their real life actors are uncanny alike. Visuals and backgrounds are also just as beautiful and should be commended.

I try to focus a lot of my time on the Campaign as I believe nothing beats a good story compared to the multiplayer of that game. But considering Call of Duty has built an empire of a series around it, I have to at least mention its highs and lows.

First off, the multiplayer maps present are somewhat disappointing, but at least work well. All favour the one extreme of gameplay types (Long range, short range, corridor). There are key spots where the other factors come into play, but the one trope tends to dominate their own map. Weapons in MP are also underwhelming as Rifles take center stage, especially with the help of the correct class. The game offers five different Divisions from the War with their own unlockable skills, but unless you choose to play Infantry or Mountain, chances are you will not exceed fairly well in the Multiplayer, as those two Divisions have unlocks much more useful in the current maps released.

Standard modes for Multiplayer make a return, with the exception of one new mode in the multiplayer that has the community buzzing: War.

War sees two teams of six fight against each other Ala Verdun style in trench warfare: players must defend or attack specific targets. If the targets are destroyed, the advancing team moves onto the next target while the enemy team retreats. If they fail, it's game over. Specific maps do seem to favour the Defense, especially with the Bridge mission, but otherwise the mode is fairly balanced and a great distraction from your standard KOTH or Team Deathmatch.

Finally, Nazi Zombies makes a return, and this time with a proper story. To spare you the details to let you discover this on your own, the story follows four people on a task to retrieve a specific object from the Nazis that they believe will be used against the allies when their train is attacked and derailed from beast they have never seen. The voice acting from the cast (featuring David Tennant, Udo Kier, Ving Rhames, etc) are incredibly well done and helps progress the story more-so than the zombies and plot at times! I have been quite zombie-d out for some time, but I can appreciate the amount of care that went into this mode.

To finish with the elephant in the room, microtransations have of course made an appearance in this game and have caused a small amount of controversy, but I'm happy to report that at least they aren't Pay-To-Win. Some of the choices behind it (Like 5 mins of Double XP) seem a little off but I have always kept a "To Each Their Own" mentality stance on the subject.
Overall, I at least enjoyed this return to form for the series. Perhaps its my love of history that holds this game up, maybe its how impressed I am at the campaign, but otherwise it has been quite some time since I've enjoyed a Call of Duty game two years in a row. While I hope more multiplayer maps are made free to the public at a later stage (Although I highly doubt it), what is here is well worth a trip or two in all the modes, and I hope this is a theme the people behind COD stick with. 

WW1, the Russian Revolution, Vietnam, maybe even take a page from Battlefield's book and follow the battles of the Allies. I look forward to the next battle.

Call of Duty: WW2 - 7/10