I’ll admit it. I’m a fan of Call of Duty. I’ve played the game since I was a kid in high school and I have even recently played competitive tournaments where I was definitely the oldest person in the room. There’s something about the Call of Duty franchise that gets me excited. Although, I have to also admit that my love and excitement for Call of Duty has been declining in recent years. Black Ops 3 was pretty good but not great and Infinite Warfare was just okay. I have found myself enjoying games like Titanfall 2 and Overwatch more when looking for my first person shooter fix. I thought maybe my days of playing Call of Duty were behind me. Then Call of Duty: WWII was announced and I was sucked back in.
We got to see some great Call of Duty: WWII footage at E3 back in June but there hasn’t been much since. That is, until now. Activision and Sledgehammer Games announced that the private multiplayer beta will be kicking off on August 25th and released an action packed trailer to get us all excited once again. Check out the trailer below:
If that doesn’t get you hyped to shoot some virtual Nazis then you should probably check yourself to make sure you still have a pulse. The trailer showed off a lot of actual game footage rather than rendered cutscenes which never give us a great idea of how the game actually looks. We see once clip where the player is operating a plane as it battles over Europe. In another clip we see some footage of the new “War Mode” where players have to defend a tank and build a bridge to advance the game mode. This will be new to Call of Duty and should be a nice change from the usual game modes we have come to know from the franchise. If you’re an Overwatch fan like myself then this new payload-style mode should be a breath of fresh air.
Most importantly… We’re back to boots on the ground Call of Duty. Exosuits and double jumps were fun for about 30 seconds. Sorry, but Titanfall and Titanfall 2 do futuristic war shooters the best and it’s nice to see Call of Duty going back to what made the game great originally. Now, on modern consoles, the gritty reality of WWII should be on full display. Here’s hoping the game can tell the story of WWII in a way that doesn’t trivialize the conflict.
There was a quick look at the factions aspect of the game. Hopefully we will get a lot more time to check this out during the private multiplayer beta at the end of the month. Call of Duty has tinkered with the idea of factions in various forms. Black Ops 3 had specialists while Infinite Warfare had rigs. Both had mixed reviews. Call of Duty: WWII has the opportunity to steer in a new direction with their factions.
As mentioned, the Call of Duty: WWII private multiplayer beta is coming on August 25th. This will be for PS4 players only so you Xbox One and PC gamers will be out of luck this time around. Call of Duty has been very closely tied with PS4 since the release of Ghosts and that doesn’t appear to be changing with the newest installment.
What do you think about the private multiplayer beta? Will you check it out and see what the game has to offer? Have you pre-ordered the game or are you still sitting on the fence about picking up Call of Duty: WWII? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
