Call of Duty: WW2 arrives on PC and consoles today promising "boots on the ground" action that's set in World War 2. The new game is being seen as a return to the series' roots.
Last year's release, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, received huge backlash from series fans due to its departure from the franchise's core and the decision to take the gameplay to space. Undoubtedly, that was a stumbling block for the franchise and Sledgehammer Games hopes to get things back on track with Call of Duty: WW2.
But does the new game manage to right the course and do its campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies modes live up to fans' lofty expectations? Call of Duty: WW2 reviews are rolling in now and seem to confirm that Sledgehammer has been successful.
IGN (Miranda Sanchez)
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.
Score: Review in progress
GameSpot (Miguel Concepcion)
Combat itself is not about rushing forward to the next objective. It's about hunkering down at nearly every fallen table, picking off just enough Nazis to give you an opening to the next cover point. Whether you're toughing out every yard of forward progress with your best available machine gun, or quietly knifing Nazis in the tough-but-fair stealth sections, the campaign delivers a wealth of harrowing battles where checkpoints feel well-earned.
Score: Review in progress
Polygon (Russ Fruhstick)
Don’t count on ducking behind cover whenever you’ve taken a bunch of shots to the torso. You need to be more cautious and forward-thinking, collecting health items and putting yourself in safe spaces to survive. Feeling semi-powerless when you’re low on health with no healing items stored adds a nice level of tension to otherwise typical scenarios.
Score: Review in progress
Game Informer (Daniel Tack)
Traditional multiplayer is the shining star of the three modes. The new objective-oriented War mode includes all kinds of various activities such as moving a tank, building a bridge, and capturing point after point, so traditional gunning for a big kill-death-assist ratio is a thing of the past. If you’re looking for something that has established front lines and rewards for working as a team (and where you won’t get gunned down in the back less than a second after you spawn) War is worth a look.
Score: 8.75/10
Xbox Achievements (Richard Walker)
Bursting with all of the usual secrets, Easter eggs and other mechanics that by now you'll take for granted in Zombies, The Final Reich is as good a version of the mode as we've seen, with passageways to power on and unlock, contraptions to reassemble and bring to life, and Blitz augmentations to purchase using the 'Jolts' you accumulate for shooting the undead and making them even deader.
Score: 80/100
PlayStation Lifestyle (Chandler Wood)
The result is a twisted and horrifying game, one that is filled with jump scares and grotesque creatures, bound together by nuts and bolts and bands of metal. These undead soldiers truly feel like a grotesque Nazi experiment come to life and the mystery that surrounds this tiny town is brilliantly depraved.
Score: 9.0/10
GamesBeat (Dean Takahashi)
The single-player campaign makes you feel like you are on one of the greatest endeavors of mankind. With multiplayer, you show up at the Headquarters location on Omaha Beach, and the officer who greets you talks about — your multiplayer career. You can request supply drops of loot that coming falling from the sky. It breaks the idea that you are part of history, and you are just trying to survive or help bring your buddies back home.
Score: 94/100
For the most part, it seems that Sledgehammer Games has managed to deliver on the promise of a blockbuster WW2 shooter. Its story campaign seems to be action-packed and educational, the new War mode in its multiplayer is a welcome addition, and the Zombies mode is also terrifying.
But critics aren't so sure that all of the game modes gel well together. The campaign teaches players about the horrors of war, but public loot box openings and the ridiculous (but terrifying) Zombies schtick don't seem to fit in with that.
While it's understandable if some are put off by that quick change of tone, many longstanding Call of Duty fans appreciate the break from the seriousness of the campaign (and other games). Sledgehammer has tweaked the three modes in the right places, though, and fans should see this as the franchise's return to form.
Call of Duty: WW2 is out now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.