World at War beta impressions: How does it compare to Call of Duty 4?

With Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare holding its own against the likes of multiplayer juggernaut Halo 3 since it was released almost a year ago, the question on everyone’s mind is, undoubtedly, “How does Call of Duty: World at War stack up in comparison?”

Like many of you, I had my doubts about World at War from the start, but for good reason. Infinity Ward has proven itself time and time again; no one’s arguing that. Treyarch, on the other hand, has developed a reputation, and let’s just say it’s not a very good one.

[Editor’s note: For whatever reason, Grim’s preview disappeared from the site at some point in the day. Anyway, here it is again for all to enjoy. Sorry for the inconvenience.]

Let me start by saying I’ve invested literally hundreds of hours in Call of Duty 4‘s multiplayer and participated in the beta for that title as well. To this day, I have a vivid memory of the first time I booted it up, and can still remember how fresh and inspired the gameplay felt initially.

Perhaps, though, I have logged a few too many hours into CoD4, as my first two hours with the World at War beta left me feeling incredibly jaded. For the most part, the game feels almost exactly like CoD4 in terms of just about everything, from the perks to the HUD and even to the way your character handles.

While that may sound negative to some, it’s really not. Why would Treyarch want to risk screwing up Infinity Ward’s tried-and-true formula? I’m not sure, but then again I haven’t the slightest idea why the company decided to travel back to World War II in the first place.

If someone like me, whose first Call of Duty title was Modern Warfare and who has a general hate towards WWI and WWII videogames, can actually find enjoyment in World at War, then I guess Treyarch’s done some good for the franchise after all.

One such example of this is the revamped Domination, which is now appropriately titled “War.” Other modes from the beta include your standard Team Deathmatch, Free-for-All, and Capture the Flag, but War is by far my favorite of the bunch.

Rather than having multiple points for your team to capture from the start like in Call of Duty 4‘s Domination, War has you all going after one initial control point. Once that point is captured, it vanishes from the map and another point pops up in a different location. This goes on until one team has all of the capture points or the timer runs out; in my experience, the latter happens much more frequently.

That might not sound like much in writing, but believe me when I say that it’s quite tense and will surely get your adrenaline going, provided the two teams are comparable in skill level. This is especially true of the map Roundhouse, which is easily the best level from a design perspective.

Roundhouse is a large circular map covered with debris from a war-torn European train depot. Unlike the two other beta maps, Castle and Makin, it has drivable tanks, which is something CoD4 is missing entirely. My main issue with those other maps is that they don’t flow as nicely and appear to be somewhat thrown together.

The only other major change between World at War and Modern Warfare that you should know about (besides the weapons, which are from WWII. There. That’s it) is the new set of kill streak bonuses.

Kill 3 enemy soldiers in a row, and you’ll receive radar support; 5 in a row will net you an artillery strike, which causes your enemies to become incredibly disoriented and lasts considerably longer than it ought to; annihilate 7 soldiers in a row, and you get to unleash a pack of rabid attack dogs.

Sure, you can take down one or two dogs by yourself, but can you fend them off while simultaneously being shot at by your enemy? I know I can’t. Personally, the sound the dogs emit right before dying is unbelievably satisfying, but that’s just me.

Seeing as how me being excited by dogs dying is just as good of a note to leave on as any, I will summarize my answer to the question in the title by saying that Treyarch has exceeded my expectations, but another Call of Duty from Infinity Ward instead of World at War would’ve been greatly appreciated.

It’ll be interesting to see how those guys handled the campaign mode, as it’s got online co-op — a feature that would’ve added much-needed replayability to CoD4‘s single-player experience. Similarly, I’m eager to see what else World at War offers in terms of multiplayer maps beyond the three from the beta.