Sam Thorne with some first impressions of the Call of Duty: WWII beta…
Call of Duty as a franchise has always performed and sold better when attached to military conflicts and situations relating to the world we inhabit, as opposed to the franchise’s more futuristic and improvised entries such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. In that regard, it really isn’t a surprise to see Activision steer the series back towards World War 2 once again, for the first time since Call of Duty: World at War released in 2009. COD: WWII releases November 3rd for Xbox One, PS4 and PC, in anticipation, I jumped into the closed beta this weekend to give you some thoughts and impressions of the game’s multiplayer. It seems Sledgehammer’s design philosophy was ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
This time around there’s no creating classes, instead you pick a division of the military to be in, and gradually unlock combat and weapon skills via XP earned by kills. These can be swapped in and out as you rank up. The five divisions are Infantry (all-rounder), Airborne (more stealth-based with the use of silencers), Armored (Heavy-weapons), Mountain (sniper), and expeditionary (Shotgun/close-range). There we just a small range of things to unlock, but presumably they’ll be more in the full retail version. Obviously due to the WWII setting, Sledgehammer have ditched the movement gimmicks such as Jet packs in recent games in favour of traditional ‘boots on the ground’ gameplay.
My first initial feeling was that the maps feel very familiar. From the three sampled, Gibraltar, Pointe Du Hoc and Ardennes Forest, all three feel centred around tight lane-based shooting. Due to the various exposed points and tight spaces, the maps seems to reinforce that this is still a fast-paced run ‘n’ gun Call of Duty, with little differentiation from recent entries. I was hoping for a bit more relation to the game’s WWII themes, perhaps more complex maps on a larger scale inviting more combat at a distance, but it just isn’t there. Many seemed to be hoping the map layouts would hark back to COD: Modern Warfare 2-esque design, but unfortunately it isn’t the case, based on the three included in this closed beta. However, it’s possible these maps are just there to appeal to those who pre-ordered and are already fans, and more experimental or different maps will be in the retail release. It’s also possible we see some map tweaks as this is still a work-in-progress.
As for the gunplay itself, it seems we’re back to the golden days of sniping being top-dog. Again, just from my brief experiences this weekend, quick-scoping seemed to be the modus operandi of many, to a huge degree of success. To my disappointment, light machine guns still don’t feel viable to the extent that I could pepper an opponent with multiple shots, but they’d still be able to react and kill me in the downtime, on a consistent basis. I don’t think this was necessarily due to lag correction or bad netcoding, as it didn’t seem to be the case with other load outs. That being said, all of this is likely to change as I’m sure things will be re-balanced post beta for the retail released in November.
The main new mode is War Mode, which tries to create a more battle-like scenario experience as opposed to just a straight forward match. The two sides must fight over objectives, like defending points, planting bombs or building bridges, with your success based on your domination of that area. I didn’t spend a lot of time on War Mode, but what I played of it was enjoyable, but I can imagine it’s something that will catch on compared to other game types.
In a nutshell, performance was generally good mechanically and the division system seems to be a welcome change. However, my overall gripe with the beta, is that it simply isn’t different enough from recent entries. The maps are far too small, familiar and played out. These tight, small-scale skirmishes didn’t really capture the idea of WWII for me. It seems the first Battlefield is still the place to go for all-out, large-scale multiplayer warfare. This is even more of a shame when considering how badly the franchise needs a shake-up and a change of pace, but based on what I played, Sledgehammer seem to just be offering more of the same. Similarly, If you were looking for a return to form from the older Call of Duty titles of last decade, again, you’re in the wrong place, this very much plays and feels like a modern Call of Duty game. As is, this will keep the loyal fanbase happy and maybe pull in a few players from the past, but I personally don’t think this will be the game to reignite Call of Duty’s mainstream popularity and competitive scene.
Please bear in mind, this is all based on the Closed Beta from August 25-28th, and all facts and opinions do not address the finished product as everything is still subject to change.
Sam Thorne
Originally published August 28, 2017. Updated April 17, 2018.
