Rumble in the Jungle

Call of Duty returns to World War II the only way it
can — without fear

For Treyarch, the battle for street cred has been continual — and uphill. The Santa Monica–based studio is constantly being compared to their fellow Activision developers across town at Infinity Ward, having been commissioned to produce follow-ups to both the original Call of Duty (the United Offensive expansion pack) and Call of Duty 2 (2006’s Call of Duty 3).

Each time they’ve been penalized by the online community simply for not being Infinity Ward, despite the laudable critical and commercial success achieved by both of their aforementioned titles. Now they’re being put behind the proverbial 8-ball again: Call of Duty: World at War not only has to live up to the 10-scoring, platinum-selling, Game of the Year–nominated, more-popular-online-than–Halo 3 success of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but it also has to do so back in World War II, a setting many thought the series left behind for good after Call of Duty 3.

For the unfairly dubbed “B team” of the franchise, however, this situation serves only as “a strong motivator,” claims Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia with complete conviction. So they’re taking off the gloves and fighting fire with fire…literally.

“T” FOR “TORTURE”

Any concerns about World at War being a paint-bynumbers, blood-free, soldiers-who-say–“Golly gee!” Call of Duty cash-in were put to rest in the opening moments of our demo, set near the beginning of the game. Captured by the Japanese following a nighttime raid, you and a fellow soldier are bound and bruised inside a hut looking out at a rainy village. Pressed for information by your ruthless Japanese captors, your compatriot refuses to break. So, as you watch, the interrogator takes his cigarette and extinguishes it in your ally’s eye. Following a bloodcurdling scream, the Axis foe asks again and receives the same silence. Mercilessly, the American’s throat is cut, sending an arterial spray jetting from his neck as his lifeless body falls limply to the dirt floor.

Just as you’re about to suffer the same fate, the cavalry rides in and saves you, lets loose a profanity or two at your newly dead hosts, hands you a rifle, and the action begins.

So while, yes, this is World War II yet again, it’s a setting — the Pacific theater of operations — that’s never been done well. Medal of Honor: Rising Sun was mediocre, and in a related comparison, the Xbox attempts at the jungles of Vietnam (Men of Valor, Conflict: Vietnam) were underwhelming. And obviously, this effort — like Call of Duty 4 before it — won’t be rated Teen by the ESRB.

“We’re not censoring ourselves,” Lamia acknowledges. “Our marching orders are simply, ‘Make the best game we can make.’”

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