Call of Duty: WWII is a 2017 first-person shooter game developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision. It was released worldwide on November 3, 2017, for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One. It is the fourteenth main installment in the Call of Duty series and the first title in the series to be set primarily during World War II since Call of Duty: World at War in 2008.
The game's campaign is set in the European theatre and is centered around a squad in the 1st Infantry Division following their battles on the Western Front and set mainly in the historical events of Operation Overlord (D-Day). The player controls Ronald "Red" Daniels, who has squadmates who can supply the player with extra ammunition, health, or grenades as well as a targeted grenade and target spotting; none of these are automatically replenished in the campaign. The multiplayer mode features map locations not seen in the campaign. The mode also features the new Divisions system, replacing the create-a-class system that previous games in the series used. A social hub, named Headquarters, was also implemented into the game, allowing for players to interact with each other.
Sledgehammer Games were interested in bringing the series back to World War II after developing their previous title, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014), which featured advanced movements and futuristic warfare technology. Studio head Michael Condrey stated that he was unsure if a World War II game would feel right after creating a futuristic title like Advanced Warfare, but the developers ultimately decided to create a game in this time period. They also chose to include atrocities and Nazi concentration camps in the campaign mode to deliver an authentic war story.
Upon release, the game received generally positive reviews from critics. Praise was given towards its story, the changes to combat, multiplayer modes, and visuals. However, it was criticized for the single-player's lack of innovation and similarity to past games set in the same era. Retrospective reviews have been mixed. The game was a commercial success, generating $500 million of revenue within just three days of its release. It became the highest-grossing console game of 2017 in North America, and generated over in worldwide revenue by the end of the year.
Gameplay Call of Duty: WWII is a first-person shooter game. Not similar to its recent predecessors, it removes the advanced system of movement present in the two previous Call of Duty titles, which included double jumping and wall running. Instead, it features a return of traditional movement to the series, taking it back to an original "boots on the ground" (which refers to non-aerial ground combat) gameplay style. The game features an unlimited sprint mechanic, seen in the previous two titles. Instead of a "slide" movement mechanic, which allowed players to slide quickly on the ground, WWII features a "hit-the-deck" mechanic that allows the player to leap forward and throw themselves on the ground in order to get to cover quickly, similarly to a previous mechanic known as "dolphin dive" in Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
Campaign WWII is the first title since the original game and Call of Duty 2: Big Red One not to feature health regeneration in the campaign. Instead, players must find health packs scattered throughout levels, or rely on their medic squadmate to provide health packs. Other members of the player's squad can provide ammunition, grenades, call in mortar strikes, or spot enemies and reveal their position in form of silhouettes. In certain sections of the game, enemy soldiers in the campaign can be captured, and wounded allies can be dragged to cover. In some parts of the campaign, players are able to control vehicles.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer mode for Call of Duty: WWII was revealed on E3 2017, which took place from June 13–15. Sledgehammer Games announced features such as the new headquarters social space, divisions, war mode and the return to "boots-on-the-ground" gameplay. Players who pre-ordered the game were invited to a closed beta, which was released initially for the PlayStation 4, and later released on other platforms.
In online multiplayer matches, players are randomly assigned either to Allies or Axis side. With regards to playing as the latter, Glen Schofield, co-founder and co-studio head at Sledgehammer, said "We also make a distinction between the SS and the German regular army", clarifying "The big distinction that Germans still make today is that between the German military and the Nazis. We made sure we made that distinction in the game, that the Germans were doing their duty". Jörg Friedrich, one of the developers of Through the Darkest of Times, criticized this choice for promulgating the "myth of the clean Wehrmacht", a false revisionist claim that regular Wehrmacht forces, unlike the Waffen-SS, were not involved in war crimes or culpable for the Holocaust. Other critics have argued that the distinction between Wehrmacht soldiers and the Nazi party is not meaningful when the former's actions helped advance the latter's genocidal activities. They also argue that play as these factions gradually numbs the audience's reaction to and normalizes an otherwise abhorrent group.
Instead of the usual create-a-class system, WWII features Divisions. Players can choose one of five (later eight) divisions, each with their own different basic combat training, division training, and weapon skills. Players need to progress through ranks in divisions in order to use additional perks, in addition to a global perk system named Basic Training. The divisions featured in the game are: Infantry, Airborne, Armored, Mountain, and Expeditionary. Additional divisions, Resistance, Cavalry, and Commando, were added throughout 2018 as part of post-release updates. The Divisions system received an overhaul in April 2018 to address balancing issues.
WWII also features Headquarters mode, which acts as a social space in the game. The hub is set on the Omaha Beach in Normandy, three days after the invasion when Allies retake the beach and turn it into a base. 48 players can be in the Headquarters at a time, and take part in various activities. For example, players can watch other players open loot boxes while in the Headquarters. There is a firing range in the hub, where all players can practice their shooting skills with all weapons, as well as a field where they can test scorestreaks. There are also areas where players can engage in "1v1" fights, as other players watch the duels.
The end-game "killcam" highlight shown at the end of multiplayer matches has been changed to "Bronze Star", which show kills "deemed most impressive" (counted by most points gained in a row). The exception to this is the Search & Destroy game mode, which does not use Bronze Star killcam. Search & Destroy uses a final killcam, showing the last kill in the round.
A new game mode, War, is introduced as a "narrative-driven" multiplayer game mode, developed in partnership with Raven Software. In War, two teams of 6 players perform objectives as either the Allied or Axis faction, inspired by some of the iconic World War II battles, such as storming Normandy on D-Day as the Allied, or defending the Normandy bunker as the Axis in the map Operation Neptune. In addition to War, popular game modes such as Team Deathmatch, Domination and Hardpoint return, as well as Gridiron, a "boots on the ground" variation of Uplink, which was originally introduced by Sledgehammer Games in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Several fan-favorite modes, as well as new modes, are introduced in time-limited events throughout the season, such as Demolition or Infected.
Nazi Zombies
WWII includes a zombies cooperative game mode, similar to previous entries by Treyarch and Infinity Ward, with its own original storyline set in alternate history and separate from the campaign. The game mode, dubbed Nazi Zombies in reference to its first iteration in Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War, is also set in the events of World War II, as the Third Reich makes a desperate attempt to turn the tide of the war by creating an undead army in the final stages of the war. While the mode is based on science-fiction and is a fictional take on the war, Sledgehammer Games co-founder Michael Condrey said that the story of the mode is based on some "real events". He also revealed that the experience is similar to Dead Space, a third person shooter horror video game directed by both Condrey and Schofield during their work time at EA Redwood Shores.
In regards to gameplay, Nazi Zombies retains the wave-based survival formula that have been used in all previous Zombies entries, with new additions. A class system is introduced, where players can opt for one of four combat roles: Offense, Control, Medic and Support, which provide different in-game abilities. Class loadouts are also included, with equippable Raven Mods, which are perks similar to the multiplayer mode. Sledgehammer Games also attempted to rationalize some of the popular mechanics, such as weapon wallbuys and currencies, with realistic explanation that fit within the lore of the game mode. Nazi Zombies includes a hint system, where portions of the main story quest are given directional hints for players to find and progress. In regards to the story quest, Sledgehammer's creative director Cameron Dayton reveals that there is a "casual path" for new and casual players where they can progress with the story, while a "hardcore" path, which is considered the official canon, exists with hidden objectives, and expands more on the story beyond what the casual path contains.
Plot Campaign On June 6, 1944, United States Army Private First Class Ronald "Red" Daniels (Brett Zimmerman), of the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, assaults Omaha Beach with his platoon as part of the Normandy landings, accompanied by PFC Robert Zussman (Jonathan Tucker), Technician Fifth Grade Frank Aiello (Jeff Schine), and Private Drew Stiles (Kevin Coubal); as well as the abrasive and alcoholic Technical Sergeant William Pierson (Josh Duhamel) and First Lieutenant Joseph Turner (Jeffrey Pierce). Zussman is stabbed by a German soldier during the battle, but recovers after being dragged to safety by Daniels. On July 25 and 26, the platoon accompanies the 745th Tank Battalion as part of Operation Cobra, liberating the town of Marigny; Daniels learns that Pierson was demoted after recklessly leading his men to their deaths during the Battle of Kasserine Pass.
On August 20, the platoon is ordered by Colonel Davis (Matt Riedy) to conduct an operation with British Special Operations Executive officers Arthur Crowley (David Alpay) and Vivian Harris (Helen Sadler) to intercept and destroy a German armored train carrying V-2 rockets, rendezvousing with French resistance member Camille "Rousseau" Denis (Bella Dayne). On August 25, Rousseau and Crowley infiltrate a German garrison in Paris to retrieve explosives in preparation for the platoon's assault upon it. Rousseau places explosives on the entrance and assassinates Gestapo officer Heinrich (J. Paul Boehmer) when he discerns her true identity, allowing the platoon to liberate the city.