Call of Duty WWII beta impressions

As someone who has been away from the Call of Duty multiplayer scene for several years, I was both excited and hesitant to go hands on with WWII in the recent beta. I haven’t played a Call of Duty game competitively since Modern Warfare 2, and haven’t really delved into the multiplayer since Ghosts. Super powers, jetpacks, space, and twitch reflex gameplay all pushed this old man out of the game. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare formed what my expectations for online shooters would always be, and that was a bar that would not be reached by almost anything that followed.

At the announcement that Call of Duty was returning to a much more grounded reality and revisiting WWII, I was ecstatic. World at War still remains one of my favorite games, and the last Call of Duty in which I reached 10^th prestige. The Campaign, the Multiplayer and the Zombies mode were all so perfect to me, and this looks to be a return to that era of excellence. I was worried however that their recent iterations would have a lasting effect and mark up the gameplay that I so fondly remembered. I went into the beta with tempered expectations, but came out more excited than ever for this next chapter in the Call of Duty saga.

The beta was limited in scope, but rich in content. I was able to get a solid feel for what this game was going to be at launch and was able to see the vision that the developers clearly have for the multiplayer. Sure, things are still much faster than they were with World at War, but they certainly aren?t as fast as Infinite Warfare. I spent the majority of my time in the beta with the new War game mode. War will inevitably draw comparison to Battlefield?s Rush mode. One team is on offense and one team is on defense. The offending team must take various objectives and advance across the map zone by zone, while the defenders simply have to halt the advance of the other team to win. This is a welcome addition to the game, which before had its share of objective modes but nothing this in-depth. I found that even if you are not the player running out scoring the most kills (Me) You could be the top of the leaderboard?s in points scored. You can die 5 times taking an objective, but if you take and hold it you will get more points than anyone out hunting kills. This encourages teamwork and communication. I played with a friend of mine who has stayed competitive since our COD:4 days and he would provide overwatch, stacking bodies left and right while I communicated from within the objective. This made us an unstoppable pair and usually led the team to victory. I full team of solid players can be taken down by a less skilled team that is talking to one another.

This brings me to my true high point, the social aspect. WWII seems like it will bring that social aspect of the game back to the forefront. Lone Wolf gameplay will still be viable for those that prefer to play that way, but working together and communicating with friends will be key. I dusted off my PS4 mic for the first time in months and got online with guys I haven?t talked to in close to the same amount of time just to delve into this beta, and we all had the same reaction. WWII manages to recapture the feeling of couch co-op and camaraderie that has been missing in many modern games. I can already see standing dates and times that we will all be planning things around to get a few hours a week in together once the full game launches later this year.  I know that I am going into Call of Duty: WWII with high expectations after this beta, and full faith and confidence in the games ability to deliver. Call of Duty: WWII will launch on November 3^rd of this year for PS4, Xbox One and PC.