An interesting fact that is often omitted was the Japanese forces were actually scared of the Americans. Propaganda taking half-truths to spin it. For example, the belief the marines are recruited from prisons and mental asylums. When examining American history with mass imprisonment, lynchings being public spectacles, and U.S. troops in the pacific front taking dead japanese soldiers' body parts as war trophies....
This was Call Of Duty at its peak. By tackling the two most brutal 'take no prisoners' theaters of WW2 without flinching or sugarcoating it, they brought the true horrors of war to our screens. I know the final text describing the war with the music brings about feelings of emptiness. I also believe that Chernov was the conscience of his squad trying to maintain his humanity and that of the others amidst a hell on earth.
It’s call of duty at its peak to you because it’s more “realistic”…if you want arcade shooter “realism” you play battlefield or siege, not cod which has never actually been realistic, it’s always been an arcade shooter, and it still is.
@@Phoenix-Brah what I don’t understand is how things are political and canceled if that’s what really happened in history Crazy how it’s ballsy to show what humans have done
Lmao on Heart of the reich I was convinced that Germany should have won the war with their infinite clone soldiers and infinite stock pile of grenades.
Oh that's a misconception, those are "ubermensch" Hitler was talking about they just breath in air and their lungs turn it into grenades to breath out/s
WaW was the last COD in my opinion that's the last time the really put devotion and heart combined with brutality and horror while telling tales that actually happened throughout WW2
@@ryanduncan6801 same here. I mean modern warfare 2 was definitely COD but the franchise went down hill after that . Honorable mention to modern warfare 3 and black ops 1. Black ops still has some of my favorite zombie maps , but my heart will always be with WAW
As someone living in Japan, I didn't know that WaW had been banned at one point. It's one of the more popular COD entries amongst Japanese players, and has become something of a meme in the Japanese internet due to the awkward Japanese spoken during many of the cutscenes (the interrogation scene at the beginning of the game in particular is heavily meme'd on).
The thing that makes WaW so unique and special is the fact that you can't just kill the enemies and move forward to the checkpoint, you had to reach the checkpoint to stop the spawns of enemies, it really helped add to the sense of never-ending hopelessness that those men must have felt
Fun fact: there was going to be a British campaign but Treyarch simply didn't have the time to complete it. In WaW game files, there's rough models of a British soldier, along with lee-enfield rifles and a couple mission names
@@Mustacheman17 There technically is a British campaign, but only in the PS2 side game WaW: Final Fronts. But that game wasn't very well received, but I find it a guilty pleasure. If felt like it still captured the classic arcade style that the first CoD had
@@michaelhawkins7389 lol wut? Now I know there could’ve been a British campaign that we’ll never get to play, I would’ve been happier with my ignorance not knowing we could’ve had it.
Genuinely terrified playing this as a kid. MW1, MW2, MW3, BO1, BO2 I never had the same issue. I’d still be semi scared playing those being 10 years old, but WAW was horrific. The opening game sound would give me goosebumps, the ambience, the quietness, the Nazi soldiers screams, the Japanese soldiers attack methods (basically charging or jump scaring 24/7) that I’d be in a constant panic. It’s such a unique and scary Call of Duty, so shockingly horrifying, a truly eerie experience. Playing through the campaign missions knowing your basically playing through the POV of real soldiers, makes me still dread playing the story to this day, now as an adult. And especially the introduction to Vendetta. I don’t think there’s a more horrible scene in a mission in all Call of Duty history. That scene was extremely sorrowful, watching it knowing that it’s what so many soviets experienced theirselves.
The game had so many creepy easter eggs too, like that "dead" soldier in Vendetta, or that Ray Gun thing, or the ghost piano, or everything to do with the asylum. So many strange details like an uncollectable double barrel shotgun in the bathtub in eviction or that German guy who got crushed by a horse make it so surreal, too.
I just finished a veteran playthrough of this game. The gernade spam on Heart of the Reich was so bad it took me two days and a level restart to finish it 😅
Back in the day the trench system with the Russians that led to the station is what got me. Heart of the reich wasn’t that bad for me. Took it slow and only got reset from Grenades a couple times
Many games today forget that war is primarily about survival. It's where humans turn into demons that will do unexplainable things to other humans. It's literal hell if it existed.
feel ya my older bro was playin this in his teenage years. Basically how I got into the xbox 360 at like 8 years old playin this on coop with a friend lol
Playing splitscreen co-op deathmatch at an older friend's house who knew how to kick my ass and call in attack dogs every 5 mins 🤣 traumatizing but good memories, yeah
I remember the mission where you plant the flag, sitting at the bottom of the stairs case for 3 hours on veteran. I killed a lot of friendly npcs to farm their ammo. I found out if you knifed with your camera away and hit them, they'd die without triggering the friendly fire restart. Brutal fucking time for a 15 year old lol
If you read the memoir "With the Old Breed" by eugene sledge, he describes peleliu as being "like a great sponge that soaked up the blood of [the 1st Marine] division" and that even after they had just left the island " ... we thought it may still get us yet"
There was a moment for me when I realised that this game was different. The marines were preparing to storm an underground bunker. There was machine gun fire flying through the doorway, peppering the concrete wall facing it. One of the marines ran through the doorway and was immediately decapitated by the bullets. It was so sudden, so shocking and brutal. I just sat there staring at the body for a few seconds, thinking about how that probably happened in real life. At some point, somewhere, probably many times over a moment like that actually played out. 10/10, would vicariously develop PTSD again.
I wish war games took a more serious, dark, horror tone like this game did. It is by far the greatest COD produce. The music, the missions, the tone, the way the weapons sounded and if you played on Veteran: THE GRENADE SPAM WAS LEGENDARY. Once again, best COD I ever touched.
Interesting hidden horror facts in the US bomber mission is the merchant marine ship the Japanese used to carry supplies also carried POWs. When you think about it, the player been killing their allies. Also throw in being eaten alive by sharks in the pacific campaign was a terrifying thing.
Given that the mission is set in 1945, it's unlikely that those were POW "hell ships". Not to mention that the idea of a PBY Catalina (a seaplane with no armor to speak of) taking on an entire merchant fleet + dozens of Japanese fighters is silly.
Sadly civilisns and POW were on these ship till the end. I'm following the WW2 in real time channel and After 6 years of war, and close to the atomics, pow are still beeing shipped and sunk in large numbers... l@@redaug4212
I started plying the first CoD games, when I played this one and finish it, it left me a horrible feeling, like when you see a movie without the happy ending.
6:37 also if you dont shoot that japanese officer that bursts out of that dome building, youll see a marine walking out and pop him repeatedly with his m1911, and that small hut on the left side of the mg nest, has a captured marine from millers original squad with a japanese officer holding him down on his knees, and a ija pvt. that execute him, the hut has 4-5 Thompsons and some m1's in it too
Still to this day this single greatest cod game on the mount Rushmore if you will up there with black ops 1 and 2 modern warfare 2 and of course world at war but WaW takes the ultimate prize so much to love but if you're a noob think of it this way WaW gave us ZOMBIES which sure sucks now but there's a reason it was HUGE
I seen videos of WW2 vets saying "When theyd call for assignments by giving you your uniform, most people prayed that theyd go to Europe instead of the Pacific
@@seikoshinohara3084the reason why it was more brutal for Americans (I'm American) was because that was the conflict with primarily. We did serve on the European front eventually but it took a lot of time to get there, and yes that was when Normandy took place and had a huge death count in seconds for a small span of time but the overall Pacific front was astronomical. By the end of the Pacific front, it was estimated that 25 million died just from that side alone with a huge portion due to famine, lack of medicine, wounded, disease, supplies being cut short or the ships getting destroyed and the lack of supplies is mentioned in game. There was a portion of time that was particularly stressful because death was so frequent for friendly's that people above the age of bare enlistment were considered "old breeds" keep in mind most of these people just turned into their 20's or early 20's and were being told they need to help new recruits. This is just a sliver how hell the Pacific front was and if you're interested I'll say more.
Fist time seeing this game was the image of the dead soldiers helmets with m1 grands that picture always scared me as a kid, I was born in 2006 so this game holds a place in my heart, because of the gritty, dark,morbid aesthetic that a lot of things around that era were themed, the menu music just always gave me that vibe, & and every feeling & vibe you describe in each campaign prospectives of each front of the war was just real
I played so many hours of this Mulitplayer. It was really really good. The dogs call in was unique and fantastic. Incredible game that was one of a kind imo.
Back when I got my 360 for Christmas and this game 2008-09 was an amazing time that I miss dearly life was great no worries playing this game with all my friends time flys enjoy the time of being young you’ll miss it every single day
I remember buying this game at Hastings when visiting my father during Thanksgiving 2008. The moment I turned on my Xbox 360 and popped in the disc, I was blown away by the menu alone. I had finished the campaign in just two days and was met with surprise at the end with the reveal of Nazi Zombies, making me stay up for another couple of hours. Such simpler times I wish I could return to. Even if it’s just to see my grandparents again and to feel like a teenager.
I remember when I first played this game I was running through it and feeling very triumphant, and then that ending hit like a ton of bricks. Subsequent playthroughs of this game made me see it in a different light. I would slow down a bit and actually look at what was happening around me.
I've never had the chills that WaW gave me repeated by another game. Just knowing that the events being depicted are representations of real world events made even the little things horrific. The inclusion of actual war footage just heightened that.
When it comes to the difference in morality between the Soviet and USMC campaigns, I think of the first time I played the Shuri Castle mission. When the Japanese feign surrender, I was expecting to be given the ability to kill them as was done in the previous Soviet level but Miller puts down his arms and doesn't pick them back up until Polansky and Roebuck are attacked
I played WaW on my X360 back in the days and the sound and the atmosphere of the game haunts me until today. I loved it so much, it's my favourite CoD of all time.
I always get chills from the atmosphere of the german campaign, how everything is on fire and ash is falling from the sky. It really feels like you are in hell, Like reality has become hell. It is an unbelievably violent video game and I still enjoy and respect it to this day. Great video
And somehow they made it just as eerie as the rest of the game. The deep echoing chants of whatever great power that raises the Shiza statues and Ray Gun out of the sand. So good.
When I was eight years old I would play this game in front of my grandfather who was a world war two veteran and he thought this game was awesome. He was in the air force got shot down and his camp was liberated by the soviets
The other thing about world at war is the campaigns they decided to go with period, the eastern front and the pacific were the two most brutal campaigns during the war. In both they were motivated purely by revenge and hatred for each other, in the eastern front soviets getting revenge for atrocities by germans by doing the same thing, and in the pacific revenge for pearl harbor. War crimes were non stop in these conflicts where they didn’t even see each other as human, treyarch did good there.
Great video essay! I enjoyed it thoroughly! I love the way you narrated the game and put your own thoughts into it, without being too overcomplicated. As a fellow "English as second/third language" person, I applaud your commentary! This is my favourite Call of Duty, it's a childhood game for my brothers and I. It's definitely brutal, and the gameplay imo is amazingly fun. To me, more fun than the MW series, which I only tried recently. Every level in WaW has different flavours that keep players going. Great video!
What i like about world at war is that you're not a main protagonist who just survives everything because of plot, but rather you're just a soldier who answered the call of duty, your comrades aren't just npcs but they themselves are in the same shoes as you, you're always on the verge of surviving, but you have choices that will reflect on how other soldiers see you as a person, you got chernov and reznov both of them are your moral compass, chernov hates the Germans but wants to show mercy to those who surrendered while reznov on the other hand just wants to kill them out of revenge, and depending on your choices during the final mission chernov will either see you as a hero, someone he doesn't understand, or someone that's just as evil as his enemies.
I remember when I played this game on 360, and Cod 4. I remember when my mom got rid of those games and I would dream of some missions and scenes from both games. They truly were a part of my childhood lol. Both games just had great ambient settings that really set the tone of war.
Will never forget finishing the heart of the reicht and then seeing that airfield with the zombies SPRINTING at you... almost as if after the war the world ended and these 4 marines were all that were left.
Been Replaying WaW On Veteran And My GOD Is It The Most BRUTAL I have Done Yet Out Of The Ones I Have Played. But Its Such A Blast To Play. Revisiting It For The First Time Since 2010 And Seeing The Campaigns Cinematics Again Is ABSOLUTELY Breathtaking
I feel like the Stalingrad mission, for instance, perfectly encapsulated the grim and horrific nature of the slaughter. It has the perfect opening: a scene of bloodbath and carnage in town square. It feels like a war of annihilation by how casually the German machine guns those around you.
This was my first Xbox game, I was like 9 or 10, my mom got me an used Xbox and the game came with it, she said the parents of the kids that owned it sold it to change it for a Wii, I think the kids were as young or younger than me because there was only 2 Disney games and this so I’m guessing after the parents saw them playing, they did their research and got them the Wii 😭 but this is still one of my favorite games and I still play, when I was a kid I was really shocked by the depiction of war but I feel like it was a good thing because I never glorified war ever since and it got me to sympathize towards all sides, helped me do more research about war unlike some of my other friends, I appreciate it even more now that I’m an adult, this is also why I hate new depictions of historical events, specially serious events like war were the worst of the human kind gets to shine, like Battlefield V or COD vanguard. World at war is a game that tries to depict war as what it truly is, even when it has some mistakes or liberties with the depiction of World War Two they never do it disrespectfully, modern “historical” games are just games depicting war as a game with no respect for the source material. The way some game developers massacre real events involving real people who lost their life in the worst ways imaginable, I just find it sickening and disgraceful.
I loved this game to death. Even though it wasn't 100 percent it was pretty close to historical accuracy. They actually interviewed real WW2 vets and based the missions around their stories.
I remember playing this on my parent’s computer back when it came out. I was still a kid. At the time, it was definitely the realest shit I ever experienced.
Awesome channel! I played this game 4-5 years ago and I absolutely loved it! I had to sell my video game collection and accidentally sold this game. I’m still trying to find a copy for my PS3 lol.
Look up game over video games, it's a retro video game store from Texas (they have multiple store locations) they sell games only from previous console generations ps4/xbox one going all the way back. They have good prices and they can ship games. I've only shipped a game once and had no issue but I also always went into the store to see what new games they had Edit: it looks like they only have it for ps2 right now but they update the website everyday
If they ever re-release this game (which I doubt they will). I would literally just want them to tweak the game to run better on modern hardware and that's IT. The game is honestly perfect the way it is.
I always appreciated the opening theme on this one. It was so haunting. That with the visuals were just perfect for what they were going for. Unfortunately, I couldn’t play multiplayer without getting harassed by someone at some point when I talked.
This and the first black ops were when COD was truly badass. WAW campaign, and black ops for online. I walked away from COD after that and went to battlefield. Battlefield was amazing (especially 1) Walked away from BF after V and now I'm on Hell Let Loose. COD & BF made the same mistake, I don't want lime green, turquoise, or pink skins on my guns or extreme Michael Bday movie like cut scenes. I just f*cking want a realistic war game..... That's it..... That's f*cking it
I encourage everyone that if you want true brutal and new experience of oldschool CoDs you liked, to play them again on Veteran (or at least Hardened). It gives you an entirely different experience, almost like a new game. I played WaW and BO1 on Veteran recently, it was difficult but it was completely different from what I grew up with.
I pray to god this game never gets a remaster or some remake like they did all the other old 7th gen cods. The modern graphics make everything look like plastic and the guns sound like cartoons and all sound the same. W@w every game has an incredibly unique sound. I could still tell you every gun blindfolded just by hearing it, even the nambu. This game needs to just rest . Ideally a port to ps4 and ps5 with nothing changed at all would happen so we can have multiplayer severs . This game was middle school for me.
I genuinely think this game is one of, if not the best call of duty. Definitely the best campaign, it was the start of zombies and it wasn’t some ridiculous fantasy mode like it is now. And the multiplayer was tight with really fun guns. The gewehr 43 was my fun af and very good if you were accurate, and the mg42 wasn’t a nerfed slow firing weapon like modern ww2 games do because “OP” problem. The maps were great (except a few ig). And tanks in multiplayer!!! I could be wrong but only cod 3 and cod 5 have controllable tanks in the multiplayer. It’s a shame it’s a hack fest nowadays (I haven’t tried to play it in a handful of years tho). Also this video is very high quality and you deserve way more subs than you currently have!
I remember hosting a Chinese kid who I played World at War in front of to show him and he had a helluva time watching and laughing like a maniac at the game play and violence, classic middle schoolers not getting undertones and themes of a game. Just "hahaha gore against people I don't like"
I remember when I first played this as a kid on the Wii and I had a nightmare about it when I slept that night, constantly dying from banzai charges and Japanese soldiers looking me in the eyes every time😭😭
i like your views on art but you also are good at concisely explaining not only your thoughts but also those of others / opposing views to give further context. Youre good at this!
Those Banzai charges scared the shit out of me when I was a kid. Just imagine being a Marine in the pacific and having to face that out of nowhere.
An interesting fact that is often omitted was the Japanese forces were actually scared of the Americans.
Propaganda taking half-truths to spin it.
For example, the belief the marines are recruited from prisons and mental asylums. When examining American history with mass imprisonment, lynchings being public spectacles, and U.S. troops in the pacific front taking dead japanese soldiers' body parts as war trophies....
"how do you beat people who arent afraid of the other side of the gun" i forgot who said it but it has merrit and is very very scary.
@@skillsphere9245 With a Nuke Apparently. We should keep that in mind dealin with similiar adversaries.
@@billy2162 your IQ is definitely in the double digits.
@@billy2162so they can retaliate with nukes?
Back when call of duty had guts to show what war is really like
If you think that real war looks ANYTHING close to any video game ....oooh man you havent seen war then in person
I loved this game,especially the tanks!
It's a video game. Calm down.
Do think a real war is just like COD?? Naahh you will never want to feel what a real war looks like
@@elelz6409 call of duty world at war came close tbh
This was Call Of Duty at its peak. By tackling the two most brutal 'take no prisoners' theaters of WW2 without flinching or sugarcoating it, they brought the true horrors of war to our screens. I know the final text describing the war with the music brings about feelings of emptiness. I also believe that Chernov was the conscience of his squad trying to maintain his humanity and that of the others amidst a hell on earth.
They did a well enough job, but they most definitely sugar coated quite a bit, particularly in the Soviet theatre.
Yeah they left out raping civilians even in countries they weren’t fighting (Poland)
It’s call of duty at its peak to you because it’s more “realistic”…if you want arcade shooter “realism” you play battlefield or siege, not cod which has never actually been realistic, it’s always been an arcade shooter, and it still is.
@@SnuupSantana Ayo this u???
⢀⡴⠑⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣀⣤⣤⣤⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠸⡇⠀⠿⡀⠀⠀⠀⣀⡴⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠑⢄⣠⠾⠁⣀⣄⡈⠙⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡀⠁⠀⠀⠈⠙⠛⠂⠈⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⡿⢿⣆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⢀⡾⣁⣀⠀⠴⠂⠙⣗⡀⠀⢻⣿⣿⠭⢤⣴⣦⣤⣹⠀⠀⠀⢀⢴⣶⣆
⠀⠀⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣷⣮⣽⣾⣿⣥⣴⣿⣿⡿⢂⠔⢚⡿⢿⣿⣦⣴⣾⠁⠸⣼⡿
⠀⢀⡞⠁⠙⠻⠿⠟⠉⠀⠛⢹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣌⢤⣼⣿⣾⣿⡟⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⣾⣷⣶⠇⠀⠀⣤⣄⣀⡀⠈⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠉⠈⠉⠀⠀⢦⡈⢻⣿⣿⣿⣶⣶⣶⣶⣤⣽⡹⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠲⣽⡻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣜⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⣷⣶⣮⣭⣽⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣀⣈⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠟⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠛⠻⠿⠿⠿⠿⠛⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Really want this game remastered with today’s graphics just like what they did with Cod4 and MW2
Yeah exactly....
That would be 🔥
How can we start asking them for this?
I surely hope executives have the stomach for such political risk
@@Phoenix-Brah what I don’t understand is how things are political and canceled if that’s what really happened in history
Crazy how it’s ballsy to show what humans have done
If I learned anything from this game, its that the Germans apparently had an infinite budget for grenades.
On veteran its a complete joke haha
Lmao on Heart of the reich I was convinced that Germany should have won the war with their infinite clone soldiers and infinite stock pile of grenades.
German ingenuity for you baby!! 😂
🤣 yes!
Oh that's a misconception, those are "ubermensch" Hitler was talking about they just breath in air and their lungs turn it into grenades to breath out/s
War is horror. That's why waw is my all time favorite.
I played it with gaming headphones. While high. Omg it's like being there
WaW was the last COD in my opinion that's the last time the really put devotion and heart combined with brutality and horror while telling tales that actually happened throughout WW2
@@ryanduncan6801 same here. I mean modern warfare 2 was definitely COD but the franchise went down hill after that . Honorable mention to modern warfare 3 and black ops 1. Black ops still has some of my favorite zombie maps , but my heart will always be with WAW
Best COD ever
Only thing tht ruined it was the hackers on multiplayer.
But tht shii wis still so much fun as long as you didnt have a lag hacker
As someone living in Japan, I didn't know that WaW had been banned at one point. It's one of the more popular COD entries amongst Japanese players, and has become something of a meme in the Japanese internet due to the awkward Japanese spoken during many of the cutscenes (the interrogation scene at the beginning of the game in particular is heavily meme'd on).
Is their dialouge just very off? I'm kinda intrigued to know actually
Dude I need to see some of these memes. Lmao
Japanese cod memes before gta 6
@@243agent same here
What about BFV? I hear the Japanese love playing only the Pacific maps on BFV
The thing that makes WaW so unique and special is the fact that you can't just kill the enemies and move forward to the checkpoint, you had to reach the checkpoint to stop the spawns of enemies, it really helped add to the sense of never-ending hopelessness that those men must have felt
Fun fact: there was going to be a British campaign but Treyarch simply didn't have the time to complete it. In WaW game files, there's rough models of a British soldier, along with lee-enfield rifles and a couple mission names
I would’ve been happier without knowing this..😂
@@Mustacheman17 There technically is a British campaign, but only in the PS2 side game WaW: Final Fronts. But that game wasn't very well received, but I find it a guilty pleasure. If felt like it still captured the classic arcade style that the first CoD had
@@Mustacheman17 why? are you anti British?
@@michaelhawkins7389 lol wut? Now I know there could’ve been a British campaign that we’ll never get to play, I would’ve been happier with my ignorance not knowing we could’ve had it.
@@Mustacheman17 oh okay
Genuinely terrified playing this as a kid. MW1, MW2, MW3, BO1, BO2 I never had the same issue. I’d still be semi scared playing those being 10 years old, but WAW was horrific. The opening game sound would give me goosebumps, the ambience, the quietness, the Nazi soldiers screams, the Japanese soldiers attack methods (basically charging or jump scaring 24/7) that I’d be in a constant panic. It’s such a unique and scary Call of Duty, so shockingly horrifying, a truly eerie experience. Playing through the campaign missions knowing your basically playing through the POV of real soldiers, makes me still dread playing the story to this day, now as an adult. And especially the introduction to Vendetta. I don’t think there’s a more horrible scene in a mission in all Call of Duty history. That scene was extremely sorrowful, watching it knowing that it’s what so many soviets experienced theirselves.
So true. That intro to vendetta is just burned into my brain. That thought that this happened for real, to real people, is truly heartbreaking.
We have to bear in mind that reality was much worse than this game portrays.
The game had so many creepy easter eggs too, like that "dead" soldier in Vendetta, or that Ray Gun thing, or the ghost piano, or everything to do with the asylum. So many strange details like an uncollectable double barrel shotgun in the bathtub in eviction or that German guy who got crushed by a horse make it so surreal, too.
Best COD ever. Period
That's why the game is rated 18 years and older.
this game is complete,campaign ,multiplayer and zombies are amazing
I just finished a veteran playthrough of this game. The gernade spam on Heart of the Reich was so bad it took me two days and a level restart to finish it 😅
When i did a veteran playthrough i think i rage quitted during the end of hard landing lmao
I haven't played the game in 15 years, but I'm sure I know exactly what level you are talking about.
the grenade spam in this game was just ridiculous on harder difficulty
More grenades were thrown in this game's Veteran difficulty than in the whole of WW2.
Back in the day the trench system with the Russians that led to the station is what got me. Heart of the reich wasn’t that bad for me. Took it slow and only got reset from Grenades a couple times
Many games today forget that war is primarily about survival. It's where humans turn into demons that will do unexplainable things to other humans. It's literal hell if it existed.
That's why COD WW2 sucked as the Act Man said
This game was traumatizing to play as a kid back in 08
@@jubjubs1000 loser
That’s good though ! They have age limit for a reason! Hopefully we all raise our kids better.
@jr28778lol
feel ya my older bro was playin this in his teenage years. Basically how I got into the xbox 360 at like 8 years old playin this on coop with a friend lol
Playing splitscreen co-op deathmatch at an older friend's house who knew how to kick my ass and call in attack dogs every 5 mins 🤣 traumatizing but good memories, yeah
I remember the mission where you plant the flag, sitting at the bottom of the stairs case for 3 hours on veteran. I killed a lot of friendly npcs to farm their ammo. I found out if you knifed with your camera away and hit them, they'd die without triggering the friendly fire restart. Brutal fucking time for a 15 year old lol
"Victory cannot be achieved without sacrifice Mason, we Russians know this better than anyone"
- Viktor Reznov
Gotta get that ppsh ammo sorry comrade
If you read the memoir "With the Old Breed" by eugene sledge, he describes peleliu as being "like a great sponge that soaked up the blood of [the 1st Marine] division" and that even after they had just left the island " ... we thought it may still get us yet"
There was a moment for me when I realised that this game was different. The marines were preparing to storm an underground bunker. There was machine gun fire flying through the doorway, peppering the concrete wall facing it. One of the marines ran through the doorway and was immediately decapitated by the bullets. It was so sudden, so shocking and brutal. I just sat there staring at the body for a few seconds, thinking about how that probably happened in real life. At some point, somewhere, probably many times over a moment like that actually played out.
10/10, would vicariously develop PTSD again.
I wish war games took a more serious, dark, horror tone like this game did. It is by far the greatest COD produce. The music, the missions, the tone, the way the weapons sounded and if you played on Veteran: THE GRENADE SPAM WAS LEGENDARY. Once again, best COD I ever touched.
Wait was Gary Oldman Reznov? Man, I feel kinda ashamed I didnt know that. No wonder hes such a badass character.
I just realized that now. But thinking back on Reznov it makes sense now.
Interesting hidden horror facts in the US bomber mission is the merchant marine ship the Japanese used to carry supplies also carried POWs. When you think about it, the player been killing their allies. Also throw in being eaten alive by sharks in the pacific campaign was a terrifying thing.
Given that the mission is set in 1945, it's unlikely that those were POW "hell ships". Not to mention that the idea of a PBY Catalina (a seaplane with no armor to speak of) taking on an entire merchant fleet + dozens of Japanese fighters is silly.
Sadly civilisns and POW were on these ship till the end. I'm following the WW2 in real time channel and After 6 years of war, and close to the atomics, pow are still beeing shipped and sunk in large numbers... l@@redaug4212
I started plying the first CoD games, when I played this one and finish it, it left me a horrible feeling, like when you see a movie without the happy ending.
“White man has been here.”
“How can you tell?”
“Another 30-60 minute video essay about World at War”
"my bike is still here"
This was back when Call of Duty had balls and was willing to take risks. They would never make this today.
@jr28778Fam I thought that was what Vanguard was suppozdd to be. I never played it but I’m guessing its not since nobody talks about it.
@@kevinarevalo4747not even close it’s just different missions with different characters shit was mid
6:37 also if you dont shoot that japanese officer that bursts out of that dome building, youll see a marine walking out and pop him repeatedly with his m1911, and that small hut on the left side of the mg nest, has a captured marine from millers original squad with a japanese officer holding him down on his knees, and a ija pvt. that execute him, the hut has 4-5 Thompsons and some m1's in it too
Blowtorch and corkscrew had me questioning ny entire existence lol
Still to this day this single greatest cod game on the mount Rushmore if you will up there with black ops 1 and 2 modern warfare 2 and of course world at war but WaW takes the ultimate prize so much to love but if you're a noob think of it this way WaW gave us ZOMBIES which sure sucks now but there's a reason it was HUGE
The original cod and expansion that was PC only is extremely good too
how you don’t include cod 4 is beyond me. The first truly insane multiplayer experience
Yeah cod 4 changed everything. It was more packed than waw ever was at least for Multi. I had more fun in waw for offline play though.
I seen videos of WW2 vets saying "When theyd call for assignments by giving you your uniform, most people prayed that theyd go to Europe instead of the Pacific
Why is that?
@@seikoshinohara3084 because the pacific was fucking hell compared to europe
@SamboGGX if you don't wanna bother typing it out I understand but how was the pacific worse than Europe?
@@seikoshinohara3084the reason why it was more brutal for Americans (I'm American) was because that was the conflict with primarily. We did serve on the European front eventually but it took a lot of time to get there, and yes that was when Normandy took place and had a huge death count in seconds for a small span of time but the overall Pacific front was astronomical. By the end of the Pacific front, it was estimated that 25 million died just from that side alone with a huge portion due to famine, lack of medicine, wounded, disease, supplies being cut short or the ships getting destroyed and the lack of supplies is mentioned in game. There was a portion of time that was particularly stressful because death was so frequent for friendly's that people above the age of bare enlistment were considered "old breeds" keep in mind most of these people just turned into their 20's or early 20's and were being told they need to help new recruits. This is just a sliver how hell the Pacific front was and if you're interested I'll say more.
Listen to the book 'the Pacific crucible' by Ian toll @@seikoshinohara3084
Fist time seeing this game was the image of the dead soldiers helmets with m1 grands that picture always scared me as a kid, I was born in 2006 so this game holds a place in my heart, because of the gritty, dark,morbid aesthetic that a lot of things around that era were themed, the menu music just always gave me that vibe, & and every feeling & vibe you describe in each campaign prospectives of each front of the war was just real
It's such a shame this masterpiece would be too controversial for a remaster
criminally underrated channel. I hope you get put on the way you deserve asap
Neuromancer pfp? Nice lol
I played so many hours of this Mulitplayer. It was really really good. The dogs call in was unique and fantastic. Incredible game that was one of a kind imo.
Back when I got my 360 for Christmas and this game 2008-09 was an amazing time that I miss dearly life was great no worries playing this game with all my friends time flys enjoy the time of being young you’ll miss it every single day
I remember buying this game at Hastings when visiting my father during Thanksgiving 2008.
The moment I turned on my Xbox 360 and popped in the disc, I was blown away by the menu alone. I had finished the campaign in just two days and was met with surprise at the end with the reveal of Nazi Zombies, making me stay up for another couple of hours.
Such simpler times I wish I could return to. Even if it’s just to see my grandparents again and to feel like a teenager.
I remember when I first played this game I was running through it and feeling very triumphant, and then that ending hit like a ton of bricks. Subsequent playthroughs of this game made me see it in a different light. I would slow down a bit and actually look at what was happening around me.
I've never had the chills that WaW gave me repeated by another game. Just knowing that the events being depicted are representations of real world events made even the little things horrific. The inclusion of actual war footage just heightened that.
When it comes to the difference in morality between the Soviet and USMC campaigns, I think of the first time I played the Shuri Castle mission. When the Japanese feign surrender, I was expecting to be given the ability to kill them as was done in the previous Soviet level but Miller puts down his arms and doesn't pick them back up until Polansky and Roebuck are attacked
I played WaW on my X360 back in the days and the sound and the atmosphere of the game haunts me until today. I loved it so much, it's my favourite CoD of all time.
I always get chills from the atmosphere of the german campaign, how everything is on fire and ash is falling from the sky. It really feels like you are in hell, Like reality has become hell. It is an unbelievably violent video game and I still enjoy and respect it to this day. Great video
11:40 who else remembers the ray gun Easter egg during this mission lol
And somehow they made it just as eerie as the rest of the game. The deep echoing chants of whatever great power that raises the Shiza statues and Ray Gun out of the sand. So good.
Booting this game up as 11 year old for the first time and watching the intro video and main menu music was haunting
Great video king, just watched this sitting ontop of a commercial freezer while working took a 51:51 minute break
When I was eight years old I would play this game in front of my grandfather who was a world war two veteran and he thought this game was awesome. He was in the air force got shot down and his camp was liberated by the soviets
You could turn a human body into a tree stump with a well placed shotgun shot.
An interesting note: One of the primary influences for the Cod zombies came from a flash game called "The Last Stand".
Combat Arms on PC had a mode called Cabin Fever that was pretty popular as well
this game was so good. the zombies would give me chills as a child especially the running ones
The other thing about world at war is the campaigns they decided to go with period, the eastern front and the pacific were the two most brutal campaigns during the war. In both they were motivated purely by revenge and hatred for each other, in the eastern front soviets getting revenge for atrocities by germans by doing the same thing, and in the pacific revenge for pearl harbor. War crimes were non stop in these conflicts where they didn’t even see each other as human, treyarch did good there.
Their land .. their people .. their blood.
Clutching zombies and being praised as a hero the next day in school.
Great video essay! I enjoyed it thoroughly! I love the way you narrated the game and put your own thoughts into it, without being too overcomplicated. As a fellow "English as second/third language" person, I applaud your commentary!
This is my favourite Call of Duty, it's a childhood game for my brothers and I. It's definitely brutal, and the gameplay imo is amazingly fun. To me, more fun than the MW series, which I only tried recently. Every level in WaW has different flavours that keep players going. Great video!
Thank you so much. Your comment has made my day:)
When i first played world at wars pacific levels, the jumpscares you got from the banzai charges literally made me jump out of my seat.
What i like about world at war is that you're not a main protagonist who just survives everything because of plot, but rather you're just a soldier who answered the call of duty, your comrades aren't just npcs but they themselves are in the same shoes as you, you're always on the verge of surviving, but you have choices that will reflect on how other soldiers see you as a person, you got chernov and reznov both of them are your moral compass, chernov hates the Germans but wants to show mercy to those who surrendered while reznov on the other hand just wants to kill them out of revenge, and depending on your choices during the final mission chernov will either see you as a hero, someone he doesn't understand, or someone that's just as evil as his enemies.
I remember when I played this game on 360, and Cod 4. I remember when my mom got rid of those games and I would dream of some missions and scenes from both games. They truly were a part of my childhood lol. Both games just had great ambient settings that really set the tone of war.
Back when cod was good. Rip cod 2007-2012
Will never forget finishing the heart of the reicht and then seeing that airfield with the zombies SPRINTING at you... almost as if after the war the world ended and these 4 marines were all that were left.
I'm so glad I grew up being terrified of this game than what kids have today. They would never think twice about making a game like this today.
Ill always appreciate this game letting me know just how brutal war was. It didnt glorify anything too much and reminds you that war is hell.
Been Replaying WaW On Veteran And My GOD Is It The Most BRUTAL I have Done Yet Out Of The Ones I Have Played. But Its Such A Blast To Play. Revisiting It For The First Time Since 2010 And Seeing The Campaigns Cinematics Again Is ABSOLUTELY Breathtaking
This was one of the Cods that I actually never played - I wish I had and I probably will now. Awesome video, man!
I highly recommend it. The campaign is a master piece.
World at War made you realize that war is a horror movie marketed as a sporting event.
That's a great way to put it
This is still my favorite COD campaign by far, ahead of COD4. Multiplayer still goes to Black Ops 3 though.
I've just played this for the first time last week , absolutely phenomenal from start to finish easily my favourite COD campaign full stop
incredible commentary man
What an Awesome video man! Keep this work up and I'm sure you'll grow really fast!
I feel like the Stalingrad mission, for instance, perfectly encapsulated the grim and horrific nature of the slaughter. It has the perfect opening: a scene of bloodbath and carnage in town square. It feels like a war of annihilation by how casually the German machine guns those around you.
Fun fact- In Nac der Untotent you play as the mad lad Peter who is referenced in Verruckt and was speculated to be the hanging marine in Shin oh Numa.
This is a smart, well-written and worthwhile video essay. Earned my sub.
This was my first Xbox game, I was like 9 or 10, my mom got me an used Xbox and the game came with it, she said the parents of the kids that owned it sold it to change it for a Wii, I think the kids were as young or younger than me because there was only 2 Disney games and this so I’m guessing after the parents saw them playing, they did their research and got them the Wii 😭 but this is still one of my favorite games and I still play, when I was a kid I was really shocked by the depiction of war but I feel like it was a good thing because I never glorified war ever since and it got me to sympathize towards all sides, helped me do more research about war unlike some of my other friends, I appreciate it even more now that I’m an adult, this is also why I hate new depictions of historical events, specially serious events like war were the worst of the human kind gets to shine, like Battlefield V or COD vanguard.
World at war is a game that tries to depict war as what it truly is, even when it has some mistakes or liberties with the depiction of World War Two they never do it disrespectfully, modern “historical” games are just games depicting war as a game with no respect for the source material.
The way some game developers massacre real events involving real people who lost their life in the worst ways imaginable, I just find it sickening and disgraceful.
Precisely. That's why it's important to show all aspects of war when covering it in media, no matter how disturbing.
Everyone dogs on Call of Duty 3s soundtrack, but then this banger kicks on 2:13
Great video man! Can’t wait for more!
I loved this game to death. Even though it wasn't 100 percent it was pretty close to historical accuracy. They actually interviewed real WW2 vets and based the missions around their stories.
I grew up grinding out the WAW demo. I did, still do, and always will love this game. Best COD ever. 🙌🏼
I remember playing this on my parent’s computer back when it came out. I was still a kid. At the time, it was definitely the realest shit I ever experienced.
Awesome channel! I played this game 4-5 years ago and I absolutely loved it! I had to sell my video game collection and accidentally sold this game. I’m still trying to find a copy for my PS3 lol.
Look up game over video games, it's a retro video game store from Texas (they have multiple store locations) they sell games only from previous console generations ps4/xbox one going all the way back. They have good prices and they can ship games. I've only shipped a game once and had no issue but I also always went into the store to see what new games they had
Edit: it looks like they only have it for ps2 right now but they update the website everyday
Even the main title music was chilling
If they ever re-release this game (which I doubt they will). I would literally just want them to tweak the game to run better on modern hardware and that's IT. The game is honestly perfect the way it is.
One hell of a history lesson.
Those men who actually fought in this war would be disappointed if they saw what the world has become.
I always appreciated the opening theme on this one. It was so haunting. That with the visuals were just perfect for what they were going for.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t play multiplayer without getting harassed by someone at some point when I talked.
This and the first black ops were when COD was truly badass. WAW campaign, and black ops for online. I walked away from COD after that and went to battlefield. Battlefield was amazing (especially 1) Walked away from BF after V and now I'm on Hell Let Loose. COD & BF made the same mistake, I don't want lime green, turquoise, or pink skins on my guns or extreme Michael Bday movie like cut scenes. I just f*cking want a realistic war game..... That's it..... That's f*cking it
I encourage everyone that if you want true brutal and new experience of oldschool CoDs you liked, to play them again on Veteran (or at least Hardened). It gives you an entirely different experience, almost like a new game. I played WaW and BO1 on Veteran recently, it was difficult but it was completely different from what I grew up with.
This was PEAK Call of Duty! Black Ops 1 and 2 were great but lacked the gore, and then the franchise just went dooooown hill
I would wish that they made an entire Marines vs IJA campaign and Soviet vs Wehrmacht campaign instead of these small snippets of each campaign
the main screen from the story, to the multiplayer and back to the zombies the whole entire game was just golden.
Fine I’ll replay the world at war campaign. It’s become a yearly tradition.
I loved how the game was more about the actual war itself.
This was my first call of duty game, I was genuinely terrified when I booted it up but I loved it lol
We just want another of this. A game with no BS no nothing and shows the real horrors of war.
7:36 T-pose and floating sword :D
I pray to god this game never gets a remaster or some remake like they did all the other old 7th gen cods.
The modern graphics make everything look like plastic and the guns sound like cartoons and all sound the same.
W@w every game has an incredibly unique sound. I could still tell you every gun blindfolded just by hearing it, even the nambu.
This game needs to just rest . Ideally a port to ps4 and ps5 with nothing changed at all would happen so we can have multiplayer severs .
This game was middle school for me.
I was in 7th grade when this dropped….. honestly my favorite cod
I genuinely think this game is one of, if not the best call of duty. Definitely the best campaign, it was the start of zombies and it wasn’t some ridiculous fantasy mode like it is now. And the multiplayer was tight with really fun guns. The gewehr 43 was my fun af and very good if you were accurate, and the mg42 wasn’t a nerfed slow firing weapon like modern ww2 games do because “OP” problem. The maps were great (except a few ig). And tanks in multiplayer!!! I could be wrong but only cod 3 and cod 5 have controllable tanks in the multiplayer. It’s a shame it’s a hack fest nowadays (I haven’t tried to play it in a handful of years tho).
Also this video is very high quality and you deserve way more subs than you currently have!
You deserve more subscribers man, great work on this review of COD WAW. You're quite entertaining.
I remember hosting a Chinese kid who I played World at War in front of to show him and he had a helluva time watching and laughing like a maniac at the game play and violence, classic middle schoolers not getting undertones and themes of a game. Just "hahaha gore against people I don't like"
Eh, the Japanese did horrible things to the Chinese in and before WW2.
I remember when I first played this as a kid on the Wii and I had a nightmare about it when I slept that night, constantly dying from banzai charges and Japanese soldiers looking me in the eyes every time😭😭
Veteran on this game is something else. You camp and are cornered 5 grenades are coming your way! It’s relentless!
Just finished it today on my series x, great game
i like your views on art but you also are good at concisely explaining not only your thoughts but also those of others / opposing views to give further context. Youre good at this!
Thank you very much for the kind words
I will never get tired of video essays on this game
38:57 Actually, the one who dies depends on which one you save. Roebuck dies if you shoot the Japanese soldier attacking Polonsky and vice versa.
I was actually not aware of that. Thank you for commenting
@@DjentyDjohn-tj2eh And thank you for making the video; It was amazing! You earned a sub :)
This game as a kid introduced me to zombies and that scared the fuck outta me! lol
World at war was and still is my favorite cod game..