Insert tank pun here.
It can't be stated enough just how much better this game is when played in co-op mode. Instead of watching a boring b-grade war flick on your own, you're suddenly thrust into Saving Private Ryan with three of your best mates. Helping to keep you immersed in your Hollywood adventure is the fact that the network performance is stunningly lag free, a technological marvel considering the large scale of many of the battles. And this was with one of our players using wireless broadband. Astonishing.
We only wish the developer had gone even further with the co-op support. More branching missions, where players could split up and support each other from different areas of the map. More mechanics relying on closer teamwork %26ndash; perhaps one person aiming a mortar while the others take up positions on MG nests defending it. Little things like the Gears of War spotlight level would have gone a long way. And we're still not sure why the awesome videos that introduce each mission in single player are totally absent from the co-op game. Yet, even with these minor flaws, four player CoD: WaW co-op elevates this game to a must-have experience for shooter fans... on the proviso you can convince your mates to pick up a copy as well. If they're not keen, be prepared for a slightly evolved version of CoD 3.
Now that we've got the singleplayer/co-op section of the review done, here's where we'd spend another page writing about the game's excellent multiplayer mode. But there's no need %26ndash; you've already played it. It's called Call of Duty 4. CoD: WaW's online mode is absolutely identical to CoD 4, right down to the perks and ranks. The weapons might look different, but they handle identically. And instead of attack choppers, you've now got attack dogs. But for all intents and purposes, this is identical to CoD 4.
Oh, there is one major exception. Matchmaking actually works for Australian players. Yes, it's now possible to search for servers that reside on our side of the galaxy. This blindingly simple feature, whose absence has destroyed CoD 4 for many 360 players, is alive and well in CoD: WaW. The result is an in-game scoreboard that has a beautiful collection of green bars next to each player's name. It's for this reason alone that CoD: WaW might result in CoD 4 being shelved for shooter fans.
No sign of the Chymera yet, thankfully.
Closing Comments
CoD: WaW is a very hard game to rate. Play it on your own, and it's a bit of a dog. A pretty, well-trained dog, but a rather boring and lazy dog nonetheless, that needs to be introduced to the vet's special sleepy needle. Play it with your mates though, and it becomes a great example of why co-op is undoubtedly the Way of the Future?. Its repetitive and lazy single player sins vanish beneath the screams of your mates' laughter across your Xbox Live headset. The multiplayer might be a totally unoriginal rip-off of everything that CoD 4's online game did so well, but why wouldn't it when the original is so brilliant? Is it better than CoD 4? Whether you play it with friends or not will determine the answer to that question. Now, if only it had the amazing singleplayer of CoD 4 combined with the strong co-op of CoD: WaW. Who wants to place a wager that this is exactly what we'll see with the next officially numbered Call of Duty?