Setting the scene

In 2007, gaming changed forever after the release of the ground breaking fourth entry into the Call of Duty series - Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare. Gamers were fatigued from the onslaught of WW2 shooters that initially skyrocketed in popularity mainly due to the release of Saving Private Ryan in 1999. So when it was announced in April 2007 that the next installment of CoD would be set in a modern environment, fans and regular customers alike were only too keen to get their hands on it. And that they did. It quickly became the fastest selling game of 2007, selling over 4,000,000 units in its first 24 hours. The players were in love. CoD 4 was a huge step up for the series and it is the entry in the series that brought it to mainstream attention for the first time, and soon many imitators tried to cash in on gamers newfound love for modern combat. CoD 4 changed everything for the series and it was near-universally acclaimed for its cinematic action, mature tone and unique (at the time) setting.

So it came as a great shock to everyone when it was announced that CoD 5 would be taking players back to 1940s in yet another WW2 shooter. The developers of CoD 4 (Infinity Ward) did not want to make a WW2 game due to the oversaturation of the genre, but Activision had other plans, and were banking on CoD 5s WW2 setting to be an instant seller because of its familar, well established setting. But they were wrong, and in fact fans were furious with the decision and many did not go on to buy the fith entry, believing it to be a lazy cash grab. This same sentiment was also lauded by the gaming press at the time too, and it seemed the high hopes and dreams of those wanting another modern entry, were all but shattered. Development on CoD 5 was infamously tricky, due to the developers essentially having to restart the development process halfway through their allocated time. On top of that, the morale of the development team had sunk due to layoffs and reluctance to work on another WW2 game. With that in mind, it's a miracle WaW exists at all, but despite the setbacks angering the fans, development proved fruitful and their hardwork spawned one of the most fondly remembered CoDs of all time.

A new approach

Seconds after opening the game, it becomes apparent that it is not like any CoD that came before it. With epic opening credits featuring historical footage accompanied by Mozarts "Dies Israe", and the now infamous start screen with its harrowing, ghostly music, this was different. When something as trivial as the main menu leaves such an impact on its players, its clear that its not just another CoD, but something far deeper and meaningful than alot of people realise. Previous CODs took themselves seriously too, but none of them really showed the real ugliness of war, and even CoD 4, despite its grace, didn't paticularly dabble in the philosophical side of things; instead opting for a more Hollywood take. Thats not to say CoD 4 didn't take its self seriously, but it certainly did not make me think of the wider implications of what I was doing. CoD 4 was the first in the series to have an actual plot with characters, which whilst rather generic, did provide some context to the carnage. The story is probably one of the biggest reasons it doesn't feel as serious as it could be, because its basically Team America: World Police in video game form, with evil Russians and evil brown people; even in 2007 this setting was getting stale.

CoD WaW does a complete 180 and does away with contrived stories, cliche characters and epic set pieces. The only thing that resembles a story is the relationship between your character and your closest squadmates on any paticular mission. There is no big bad guy you need to take out, no important people to rescue, no bad ass special ops saving the day. Just you, your guys and the enemy. Yes, there are mission objectives, but there is no bigger goal for you individually - just to live to tell the tale. Not only is the games tone different, it also looks different and has a very muted colour pallett, full of grays, browns and overall dark shades of every colour - even in the sunny Pacific the game looks drab. Character models are dirty, guns look worn out and everything around you is in ruins - WaW features some of the best immersive environments I've seen in a game.

On top of all that, WaW introduced a gore system which was a first for the series, and it is still remarkably disgusting and impressive as it was 16 years ago. This plus the gloomy atmosphere makes for a war game like no other which remains revered and beloved to this day.

Environmental Storytelling

Instead of spewing a flood of exposition between missions, intermission cutscenes instead play out like History Channel documentaries, with fancy title cards and historical footage. The only exposition we do get is a simple mission brief which also give a window into the thoughts and feelings of your squadmates. For example, in the mission Hard Landing, we are told that we must cut through the swamps of Peleliu to reach the airfield, and during the mission brief, Sgt Roebuck describes the conditions of the battlefield, and the fears of him and his men. It is only brief, but the writing and voice acting is great and it really paints a grim picture. As well as that, you can occasionally find your allies commiting morally dubious acts against prisoners, paticularly in the Eastern Front campaign. Whilst there is very little contemporary story, you can still feel for your allies, regardless of what they have done because at the end of the day, this is war and the only thing that matters is surviving, and WaW knows this. In your time playing WaW, you will see and do many despicable acts against your fellow man, all in the name of survival. But some are not so bloodthirsty, like Chernov, who says to Sgt Reznov, "Sgt Reznov, you seem to relish in the slaughter."

The dynamic between Reznov and Chernov is as close to a contemporary story as you're gonna get in WaW, and it does its job well. Depending on the choices you make in the earlier stages of the game, Chernov will describe your deeds in his diary beyond the grave in the final intermission cutscene. If all of the downed soldiers and prisoners in "Their Land, Their Blood" and "Eviction" are not killed by the player and none of Reznov's merciless orders are followed, then this line is said at the start of "Downfall":

Spare none of the soldiers

If the player kills all the aforementioned Germans in both mentioned levels and follows all of Reznov's merciless orders, then this message will play at the start of "Downfall":

Spare some of the soldiers

If the player kills the mentioned Germans in one level, but spares the ones in the other level, then this message will play at the start of "Downfall":

Chernov: April 30, 1945: When he first spoke of Dimitri, Reznov told tales of a hero, someone we should all aspire to be like. At times, I have seen him show mercy, and at others, complete brutality. I do not understand him. Perhaps heroes need not question their actions.

This can also be seen in the Pacific campaign, though to a lesser extent. In the mission Breaking Point, you must choose to save either Roebuck, a tough and stout marine of "the old breed", or Polonsky, a fresh face in the unit. When either of them dies, the other loses their composure and begins calling the Japanese "animals" during the final firefight. This was unheard of in the Pacific campaign (in-game), as your allies generally kept their cool despite the hardship. Little details like this is what this game so rememembered even after 16 years.

What I really enjoy about WaW is the fact it never tries to moralise or make you feel like a badass super soldier. You're just another grunt, amongst millions of others, doing what has to be done. You're taught to hate your enemy, like in any war, but as the game goes, it opens up alot of questions about right and wrong, who is "good" and who is "bad". The games colour pallette is an excellent reflection of this; there is no defined colours, just shades of gray. You are given choices, but they lead to the same outcome - death. It's just a matter of making it as quick and painless as possible for the poor bastard at your mercy.

To sum up, WaW makes you feel like a complete bastard at times, in the same vain as Spec Ops: The Line. Combine the dark, unrelenting atmosphere with an incredibly unique metal and orchestral soundtrack, and you got yourself an ugly, memorable gameplay experience. But it's not just the campaign that made WaW memorable; a big part of that was a little side mode called Nazi Zombies, which remains a mainstay in the CoD franchise. It had humble beginnings, but later morphed into the classic Nazi Zombies we all know and love.

Nazi Zombies

If the blood and guts of Okinawa and Berlin didn't quite satisfy your bloodlust, Nazi Zombies will. Nazi Zombies debuted in WaW, and if you're only accustomed to the modern zombies experience, WaW zombies will feel as primitive as a campfire. But that right there is part of the charm. It didn't need an elaborate easter egg quest line, it didn't need a complex story, it didn't even need voice actors. Yes, just like the campaign, you are the silent soldier, and just like the campaign, your ultimate goal is to survive. If you didn't have internet around the time of the games release, you would've been immeditedly plunged into Nazi Zombies after completing the campaign, with no warning at all other than an ominous cutscene. This was removed in an update a while after, however the thing most players remember is the confusion, initial shock and of course fun that they had after being dropped into a zombie infested air field.

The atmosphere of WaW zombies simply hasn't been matched by any CoD since, and it never will. The apperance and sounds of the zombies, the crude graphics and lack of light make a completely unique atmosphere that is still actually scary. The debut map, Nacht Der Untoten, (night of the undead) is incredibly basic - there are no traps, no perks, no pack a punch and only three doors. It is an incredibly claustrophobic map made all the more terrifying by undead Nazis emerging from every orafice imaginable.

CoD 4 began the CoD tradition of releasing 4 DLCs for every game, and WaW was no different. WaW offered 4 dlcs which included the usual multiplayer maps, but also new zombie maps. Players were in love with Nazi Zombies, and what was originally a reward for completing the campaign became a whole new addition to the CoD family. In total, three zombie maps were released, those being:

• Verruckt Set in an Asylum in the immediate aftermath of postwar Germany, this is by far the spookiest map in Nazi Zombies history. In it, you will hear screams, crying and carnival music. Sounds pretty cliche, but playing it for yourself you will feel incredibly uncomfortable. Verruckt also added a new zombie type which became known as the Verruckt Sprinter, which can run faster than other zombies and is difficult to outrun. They never made a return in any subsequent zombies map. Verruckt was arguably more groundbreaking than Nacht, as it also introduced mainstays like perks, traps and multiple mystery box locations.

• Shi No Numa This was the second DLC map and it took the player in a whole new direction. Instead of the tight and damp bunkers and asylums of Germany, players are dropped into a steamy Japanese jungle, facing new undead Japanese troops in a research facility. For the first time in Zombies, there were actual characters with voicelines. The now iconic zombie killing team of Dempsey, Richtofen, Nikolai and Takeo all made their first appearance in Shi No Numa, initially as parodies of their repsective nationalities. Whilst Verruckt did have characters with voicelines, they did not have the bombastic personalities of our Allies x Axis zombie killing team. Shi No Numa was very different because it was alot more open and most of all, alot more green. It is a very different vibe from the previous two, but it is still incredibly spooky nonetheless Instead of rushing around musty coridoors, you are instead wading through swamps, mud and maggots.

• Der Riese Der Riese is by far the most beloved zombies map in WaW, and even today it is widely popular thanks to the remasters in Black Ops and Black Ops 3. Der Riese is, in my opinion, the definitive CoD zombies experience. The map design is near perfect, with plenty of chokepoints and the iconic catwalk. And just like the other maps, it has an amazing atmosphere and it even has a proper easter egg, which was once again a first for the series. On top of all that, pack a punch made its debut and turned those rusty schmeisers into shiny beam guns. Der Riese was a huge hit amongst the community and it became obvious that Nazi Zombies was here to stay.

Couch co-op

You don't have to face the enemy alone. You and three other players can play most of the campaign missions in co-op mode, and all of the zombie maps. Until 2015, WaW was the only CoD game that offered co-op campaign. Co-op campaign has two different modes. You can either work together and play like you would in single player, or play the competitive mode which adds a score system, and you gain points for every kill and revive. On top of all that, you can play splitscreen on the campaigns too, and I've never had as much fun in a game as I did playing through the campaign with a friend over a decade ago. It is a fantastic feature and its shameful that subsequent CoDs didn't bother with co-op campaign until Black Ops 3.

Other CoDs like the Modern Warfare sequels did feature co-op missions, and they were brilliant, but it is just not the same as WaW. Co-op campaign in Waw felt like a real journey, especially on the harder difficulties. Slowly pushing the Germans further into their home territory, mission by mission, and seeing the increasing brutality as the Russians get closer and closer to Berlin, was just unforgettable. There was also a surpirsing amount of tactics involved for a game as casual as CoD. One paticular example I recall was in the mission Blow Torch and Corkscrew, where you must clear 3 Japanese bunkers. One player is equiped with a flamethrower and the other is equiped with a machine gun - so the tactic was the flamethrower guy flushes them out and the MG guy puts them down. It's basic but it feels extremely good when you work together with another person and get the job done.

Co-op zombies was the more popular choice and there is still a decent playerbase on the Xbox as well as the PC via the Plutonium Launcher, which provides a safe way for PC players to play WaW online. Co-op zombies was a blast in every way; the simple yet challenging premise of Nazi Zombies appealed to all players, and years later, lots of people bought CoD exclusively for the zombies. Nazi Zombies whole aesthetic was likely a big part of its success, as it was incredibly unique. I really wished they stuck to the Nazi Zombie aesthetic in the later games, but instead they opted for a weird Lovecraftian story which I just couldn't get into. Treyarch captured lightning in a bottle with the Nazi Zombie aesthetic, but later they opened the bottle and essentially poured it down a drain - but thats a story for another day.

Downfall

As you all probably know, CoD has taken a huge turn for the worse - gone are the days of immersive warfare. Hell, the newer CoDs don't even bother giving us a campaign. It's all multiplayer orientated, monetised, live service poison that has completely ruined the franchise and gaming as a whole. The competition see how much money Activision rakes in from releasing the same crap every year with minimal effort, zero respect for history or the players intelligence, and they end up copying that, further polluting the gaming industry. In fact, they're so lazy, the newest CoDs are all on the same launcher and they all play, look and feel identical. On top of that, there is no immersion, at all. Prime example of this can be seen in CoD Vanguard, which was going to be the next WW2 entry into the series, however to me it was just one giant middle finger to history, my intelligence, and gaming as a whole. It might be hard to believe now, but CoD used to take its self seriously. WaW never glorifed killing, or had stupid characters making crap wisecracks, or had soldiers doing the floss over a corpse. Oh no. CoD back in the day was something else.

In the early CoDs, every time you died, a quote about war will appear, giving the player something to ponder on. As far as I know, this isn't a feature anymore, because why would it be when they can't even be bothered to give players a decent campaign? Suffice to say, CoD isn't what it used to be, and the franchise is just another souless AAA cashgrab with no heart, soul or passion. But thankfully, we always have the older games to fall back on, and they never dissapoint. WaW, in my opinion, should be revered as the most revolutionary CoD due to its introduction of Nazi Zombies and the co-op features. Alot of people would disagree with that because of CoD 4s much bigger success, however, WaW in the long run was the bigger sucess due to Nazi Zombies. WaW was not recieved well at launch due to its WW2 setting. Gamers were rightfully expecting it to be another CoD 2, but they were way off the mark. Instead they got a gritty, depressing and most of all, fun shooter that painted a horrific picture of war and death.

Conclusion

Despite the abymsal state of CoD today, we must remember that it used to be good and it used to mean something. CoD WaW is real. You can see the heart and soul in this game in every aspect, from the soundtrack to the environments, the scene is set just perfectly. Furthermore, the abundance of mods and maps and the surprisingly large active community goes to show that photo-realistic graphics and fancy cutscenes don't make a game good. WaW is old, but it lives on in the hearts and minds of those who got to play it way back in 2008, and it forever remains in my heart for all the good times I had at my friends house - camping next to the grenades in Nacht, storming Peleliu beach or a simple quickscope match. This is certainly nostalgia talking here, but I can't help feel for the new gamers, who were never introduced to games like this and only play what social media tells them to. The thrill of couch co-op and the human aspect to it is what makes it so great, and frankly this applies to all games.

So in conclusion, CoD WaW is defintely the most unique in the CoD series, and the games have never took a darker tone since. It is a shame really, because so few games try to show the ugly side of war, so when a developer as big as Treyarch does it, and does it this well, it's only natural that is more fondly remembered than the other CoDs. 2008 will be remembered as one of the best years for gaming, and CoD WaW is certainly up there with the giants of 2008 like GTA IV. It just goes to show, good games never die, they just get old.