Call of Duty: World at War

Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter game produced by Treyarch, and is the first game in the "Black Ops" timeline. It was released on November 11, 2008 in North America and on November 14, 2008 in Europe. It was announced on December 2, 2007, and on June 6, 2008; the 64th anniversary of D-Day, Treyarch announced it would be named as "World at War" and it would take place in the Pacific theater of war as well as the Eastern Front.

It was released for all seventh-generation consoles as well as home computers. It is the first Treyarch game to be released on the PC and it has a double development cycle of Treyarch's previous game, Call of Duty 3 and was in development from late 2006.

The game's first trailer was released on June 21, 2008, and can be viewed here. The gameplay for Call of Duty: World at War remains the same as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The game was re-released in the Call of Duty: The War Collection as part of a bundle. It was also made available on the Xbox One via backwards compatibility on September 27, 2016.

There is one campaign in the game divided into two: the American campaign and the Soviet campaign. The Soviet campaign is returning after having last been present in Call of Duty 2. There is no British campaign in the game, making World at War one of the only two major Call of Duty games set in the Second World War not to feature a British Campaign or a British playable character. It features both a solo and co-op campaign, however, both are the same except that co-op is played with multiple people and certain missions are unplayable.

Summary

The American campaign is set in the Pacific theater on the islands of Makin, Peleliu, and Okinawa. The Soviet campaign is set in the Eastern Front, mainly in Nazi Germany. In the American campaign, players take the role of Pvt. C. Miller as he fights alongside Sgt. Tom Sullivan, Cpl. Roebuck (later Sergeant), and Pvt. Polonsky. In the Soviet campaign, players take the role of Pvt. Dimitri Petrenko as he fights alongside the merciless Sgt. Viktor Reznov and the merciful Pvt. Chernov. In the American campaign, players, for the first time in a Call of Duty game, fight against the Japanese Imperial Army. Most combat takes place in jungles, where ambushes are likely. Combat also takes place in small mortar pits, ridges, beachheads, Japanese trenches, and small villages. Bunkers are a common sight in the American campaign, usually causing heavy casualties. In the Soviet Campaign, players fight against the German Wehrmacht during the push towards Berlin. Combat takes place, at first, in the ruins of Stalingrad where the player is mainly a sniper. After that, combat occurs in farmland and forests of the German town of Seelow, and finally, Berlin is assaulted and close quarter fighting becomes a common feature. The last mission of the Soviet campaign sees the Red Army capture the Reichstag and the player planting the Soviet Flag on top of the building.

Plot

The story begins on Makin Island on August 17, 1942. American Marine Private C. Miller watches the torture and execution of his team, and is about to be executed himself before being rescued by another squad of Marines, led by Corporal Roebuck and Sergeant Tom Sullivan. They assault the Japanese on the island, replicating the Makin Island raid. The Battle of Peleliu is then replicated. After breaking through the Japanese lines on the Peleliu beach, Miller destroys two Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks with rocket strikes, allowing the American tanks to advance. At the end of the mission, Sullivan is killed by a Japanese officer with a katana. Roebuck is promoted to Sergeant and he and his squad make their way through the Peleliu swamps to launch an assault on a Japanese-held airfield to disable anti-aircraft guns. During the assault, Miller acquires a flamethrower to destroy a bunker and a bazooka to destroy the Chi-Has positioned at the airfield.

Meanwhile, the Battle of Stalingrad is held on the Eastern Front on September 17, 1942. Russian Private Dimitri Petrenko regains consciousness in a blood-stained and body-filled fountain, just as German troops execute his comrades. When they leave, Dimitri meets injured Sergeant Viktor Reznov, another survivor, who tells him of his mission to kill German general Heinrich Amsel, who is responsible for the massacres. After killing German soldiers in their way and dueling an enemy sniper, Dimitri follows Reznov through buildings and streets and they meet up with the remainder of Dimitri's unit, who are about to assault the General's communication post. During the assault, Dimitri provides overwatch with Reznov and aids the remaining Red Army soldiers as they recapture the post, managing to kill Amsel as he flees. Dimitri and Reznov jump into the Volga River and escape the pursuing Germans after killing Amsel. The next mission takes place three years later, during the Battle of the Seelow Heights near Berlin. Dimitri has been captured by German soldiers in an abandoned house, but is saved when the Red Army attacks the house; he is reunited with Reznov and introduced to his right-hand-man Pvt. Chernov. The Soviet troops advance through German lines and Dimitri aids them with a Panzerschreck until they reach and wipe out a German camp

Then the campaign jumps back to the Pacific Theater. After pushing further inland on Peleliu, Miller and his unit take out enemy mortar crews so their tanks can go inland. They then proceed through the Japanese underground tunnels to attack the artillery-filled Point, one of the major Japanese strongholds that had destroyed many landing boats when they first landed. This allows American ships to advance, and Peleliu finally falls into American hands.

Back in Eastern Europe, Dimitri and Reznov pilot a T-34 tank, pushing through German lines along with the rest of the unit, so the Soviet troops can board a train to Berlin. Upon arrival, they engage German soldiers on the outskirts of Berlin, eventually pushing them out of the outskirts, commencing the Battle of Berlin. They then advance and fight through the city over the next few days, getting ever closer to the Reichstag. Dimitri's unit fights in apartment buildings and through the streets. After eliminating a German position in the streets, they reach the entrance to the Berlin U-Bahn, where three German soldiers are attempting to surrender. Reznov is unwilling to deny his men their revenge and gives Dimitri the choice of shooting them or burning them alive with Molotov Cocktail. Once an artillery barrage begins, they head into the U-Bahn to avoid being shelled and start fighting German soldiers around the platforms, until a surge of water fills the tunnel and Dimitri, unable to avoid the oncoming tidal wave, almost drowns.

Meanwhile, Reznov drags Dimitri out of the U-Bahn to regroup with Soviet infantry. The Red Army then advances towards the Reichstag. During the assault at the Reichstag's entrance, Chernov is severely burned by a flamethrower, and is implied he dies of his wounds later. Reznov, Dimitri and the remaining Soviet soldiers enter the Reichstag, clear it of its German defenders, and reach the rooftop. After a final showdown on the top floor to reach the Nazi flag, Dimitri is shot by a dying German soldier in an attempt to stop him from planting the Soviet flag, but Reznov kills the German with a machete. Although wounded, Dimitri manages to plant the Soviet flag, signaling Soviet victory and ending the war in Europe.