Title: Call Of Duty: World At War
Platform: DS
Genre: FPS
Release Date: 14 November 2008
Developer: n-Space
Publisher: Activision
Rating: PEGI 16+
WHAT IS… Call Of Duty: World At War?
Call Of Duty: World At War is a sequel to the line of Call Of Duty first person shooters. These games have been released on most platforms such as x-box 360, PS2, PS3, Wii and DS. Call Of Duty 5 sticks to the classic war scene and doesn’t deviate from this concept.
GRAPHICS 8/10
For a DS game, COD 5’s graphics are extremely good. It has made improvements since COD 4 which is what sequels should be doing. Due to the high graphic levels the game can get a bit choppy though. Also, the characters’ mouths don’t move which I found to be really creepy (see Tomb Raider 3 for more examples on lack of mouth movement!). At the end of the day though, this is just down to the limitations of the DS and for a DS game I thought COD 5 looked really good.
+ Definite improvements on the last version
- However could do with some further improvements
STORY 4/10
COD 5’s story is generic and isn’t really well presented. Most of the storyline is text based in between missions and it’s not very deep and engaging. Some cut scenes would have been nice and I’m sure they could fit it into the game, even if it is on DS. They do let you skip the story sections though; which for this game I thought was a good thing!
- Very generic
- Needs heavy improvements such as cut scenes
LONGEVITY 6/10
The campaign is about an average length for a fps on DS and it will keep players amused for about 6 hours. The game does offer achievements which lengthens the campaign mode. However these achievements are loosely jammed into the game and since there’s no way to show them off (i.e. online on your profile) they’re pretty much pointless. I’d like to see achievements in all DS games and the ability to create an online profile that tracks your achievements sometime in the future. The game does promise a lot of multi-player action and I tried out the local connection with Braindead Hero and Shaun. We were surprised about the amount of maps on offer and that we didn’t have to unlock maps in the campaign. The maps were varied and were small enough to not lose players and big enough to explore. There was some problems with respawning in the same area as other players but I think the maps were just right. There was also a few different multi-player modes which were fun and kept us amused for a good hour or so. Overall the local multi-player is fantastic. There is also the option to go online – I’ve tried this a few times and my DS can never find any games to join. So online play is pretty much dead at the moment (probably due to the poor sales figures) but it still has time to liven up.
- Campaign mode is about average but can get quite tedious after a while
- The achievements are pointless. It’s like “I can but why would I want to”.
+ However the local multi-player is fantastic and it’s worth getting the game just to play with your mates
- Online mode is dead at the moment
GAMEPLAY 7/10
The controls are simple – touchscreen to aim, L button to shoot. Most DS shooters use this control system and COD 5 doesn’t try anything new – which in my books is a good thing. It’s a basic shoot the baddies win the game kind of thing which isn’t anything special but isn’t bad either. The training section at the start is quite short so you can get into the actual game pretty quickly which I think is good. There are also mini-games in COD 5. Now the idea is good because it’s making good use of the touch screen and disarming a mine is quite fun. However there’s one mini-game where you have to tap on the screen in time to the DS (it’s basically Guitar Hero in Morse code). I thought the addition of this was pointless and it wasn’t fun at all. Some of the levels are down to luck, especially the one where you shoot planes down from a boat. I found this frustrating and boring since I just held down the fire button and hoped for the best. To me the guns sound like toys and the artillery strikes sound like an old man calling his dog – which I found to be more amusing than crap. The explosions sound really cool though.
+ Simple controls
+ Good idea about using the touchscreen for mini-games
- Mini-games are a mixed bag at best
- Some levels are down to luck
(The level down to luck!)
FUN 5/10
COD 5 is ok – I wouldn’t say it’s great fun but it’s an alright game. Shooting the hell out of enemies has always been a good stress relief so it’s quite therapeutic. The multi-player is definitely the most fun and it’s worth picking it up just for that.
+ Multi-player is great fun
- Campaign mode is average
OVERALL 6/10 
It’s generic but trying new things isn’t always good. The graphics are good, gameplay is fairly good and multi-player is fantastic but story and fun are a bit lacking. Obviously the DS version of COD can never compare to the console versions but for a game that costs around £25 I’d either wait for the price to drop/ pick it up second hand/ give this one a miss.
BETTER THAN: COD 4 (DS)
WORSE THAN: Metroid Prime Hunters (DS)
