Well, I do. Seriously, I love the game. I love the game so much, I want to marry it and live with it for the rest of my life.

Find out why after the jump.

A year or so ago, there were way to many World War 2 shooters. Brothers in Arms, Medal of Honor, Hour of Victory and Call of Duty dominated the shooter genre, but Call of Duty has always been the best of the bunch.

Call of Duty was great, Call of Duty 2 likewise, Call of Duty 3 not so much, Call of Duty 4 left World War 2 and broke a lot of ground in the process, and now we have Call of Duty: World at War , which goes back to World War 2 and alerts skepticism sirens around the globe.

I’ll be the first to admit that, when I heard that CoD:WaW was going back to the Second World War, I basically decided not to get the game, but, after playing the beta, I can say that my opinions have drastically changed.

Righty ho then, let’s get started.

When you first boot up the good ol’ CoD:WaW beta, you’ll be confronted with a very familiar looking screen. Yes, Treyarch have basically gone into the Call of Duty 4 folder, double clicked ‘Menu System’, pressed Ctrl-A then Ctrl-C, opened up the CoD:WaW Menu System folder, and pressed Ctrl-V. In other words, its basically the same. And it doesn’t stop there. They’re using the Call of Duty 4 engine, the ‘Defend’ and ‘Attack’ markers look identical to Call of Duty 4 and the objective markers are the same as Call of Duty 2! Of course, the perk, barracks, challenges, leveling, kill streak and prestige system are still intact, but this is exactly what Treyarch needed to do.

To avoid screwing the multiplayer up, Treyarch needed to build on a tried and tested method: Call of Duty 4. This basically allows them to guarantee a good multiplayer experience whatever happens, but also leaves them room to change things about, and that’s exactly why I luuuurrrrrrv World at War.

Ok, first things first. There is a new mode, called War which basically sees two team trying to capture objectives, with new objectives unlocking with the capture of the previous one. There are 5 objectives in total and you start at the third, giving both teams an equal opportunity. However this is all well and good, but Treyarch also went in and added the ‘Momentum’ system. I’m not 100% sure what causes the momentum meter to increase, but when it does you receive a bonus such as being able to run faster, or capture objectives at three times the normal rate. This adds another layer of depth to the mode, and that’s always a good thing.

There are also vehicles in the game, though so far I’ve only seen tanks. Initially I thought these would be very overpowered, but surprise surprise, they’re not. In fact, Treyarch have balanced them almost perfectly: they can easily be destroyed with satchel charges, but in order to do so you have to get in close, which exposes you to the tanks large turret. Yet the tank is slow, and so can be hit with a bazooka. Yet, there is a machine gun turret on the tank which another player can use to fire at the bazooka solider. The list goes on.

Another cool thing about the tanks is that they take damage from all sides. So, for example, your left tracks could be damaged preventing fast turning. The possibilities are endless!

There are quite a few new perks, including perks for vehicles, but my favorite one if Second Chance. This is basically Last Stand from Call of Duty 4, except that, when your down on the floor holding your pistol, you can be revived by another player!

Finally, you’ve got the weapons. While going back to old weapons may sound like a bad thing, this actually is the complete opposite. Why? Well, because they basically prevent people spamming and camping behind a penetrable surface due to their small clip size. They’ve also got more character. Y’know what I mean: my good ol’ rusty Tommy gun, is better than my P-10282E.

It feels like Treyarch have breathed new life into World War 2 shooters. The game feels so fresh and new, despite the Call of Duty 4 similarities. In fact, it was so good, that I pre-ordered it after my first round of playing.

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