Call of Duty: WW2 Review

While my personal custom is to skip a Call of Duty campaign and jump straight into the multiplayer, this year I was happy to start Call of Duty: WW2 with this very personal-feeling war story. The campaign, which follows Private “Red” Daniels through pivotal moments like D-Day (of course) and the liberation of Paris, is a great primer that shows how well Call of Duty’s combat adjusts back into a historical setting for the first time since 2008’s World at War, and, more importantly, tells a good story with some fun action movie-style spectacle.

Over the short (or average, for this series) five- to six-hour campaign, I slowly but surely found empathy for Daniels and his squad. The story is built mostly through excellently animated cutscenes or in narration after missions – the standard Call of Duty fare. I appreciate that while Daniels and his squad fought the obvious Nazi enemy, the tension between characters also developed as they found themselves deeper and deeper in the war, and that drove much of the drama. The squad isn’t trying to take down the biggest, baddest enemy they can find; they’re just trying to survive and do their best to make a difference as things get progressively worse. It’s a more human perspective than we’ve seen in recent years.

Check out the review round-up below for a look at what the critics are saying about Call of Duty WW2.

Game Informer 8.75/10 - "While the campaign fails to provide a compelling tale and is often bogged down in uninteresting large-scale slaughter, Call of Duty:WWII nails its multiplayer, new social hub, and zombie modes to provide the back to boot-on-the-ground experience fans have clamoured for since the first foray into space."

The Telegraph 4/5 - "It’s a Neapolitan ice cream of shooters, essentially, with three very different flavours squashed together in a single serving. They’re not always complementary: it’s hard to reconcile the fact that you’ve got a former Doctor Who shouting “twat!” at Nazi zombies in the same game as a haunting glimpse of history’s worst genocide.

"Still, between its moments of good taste and a mode that’s more Bad Taste, it hits a consistently high standard – and though it’s mostly riffing on ideas we’ve seen before, it manages to make several of them its own.

"The series’ dwindling popularity has proved a tough nut to crack for its publisher in recent years; COD: WWII proves that maybe a Sledgehammer really is the right tool for the job."

Attack of the Fanboy 4.5/5 - "Call of Duty WW2 is a return to form for the series.  Sledgehammer Games and the other Call of Duty developers that contributed to this massive release have put together something really special here.

"The developers hammer home what made Call of Duty so great in previous years, while also adding a bunch of modern content and gameplay twists of their own.  As far as Call of Duty games go, WW2 is an instant classic."

Gamesradar+ 4/5 - "From moment to moment, though, the campaign is solid, unwavering fun with some great set pieces and moments. Taking a step back really exposes the single player as a collection of good levels and ideas strung together, rather than a narrative.

"The experience overall though is good and, with such an enjoyable and varied multiplayer offering, everything ultimately balances out."

God is a Geek 9/10 - "Call of Duty: World War II is everything I wanted it to be. It’s Call of Duty pre-Modern Warfare 2, but with the contemporary gameplay mechanics we’ve become accustomed to. There’s character progression, customisation and unlocks, while also maintaining boots-on-the-ground, robust combat and limited weaponry.

"A spectacular release that has a strong chance of becoming a fan favourite as one of the best Call of Duty releases in years

Call of Duty: WW2 releases today for PC, PS4 and Xbox One