Definitely worth a play
I took my first steps into the chaos of this WWII shooter very timidly and quick to judge. Retarded glitches and faulty physics seemed to plague my first level. Still I pushed on. Then I came to what seemed to be great potential. As I progressed the level design became more open and I began to notice slight alterations to the classic COD feel that made this game stand out from its predecessors.
Suffice it to say that by the third level I was blown away. The raw brutality and energy of this game has recreated the first time I dove headfirst into COD2. I have constantly found myself yelling at my screen in pure glee at this game's mechanics. First of all, the graphics are gorgeous, assuming you can run them at high settings. This entrance in the franchise takes us out of the urban settings and into the open warfare of WWII. The level design, while fairly linear, is absolutely gorgeous and replicates the combat tactics of the time. The fact that the graphics are so well done only amplifies the fact that this game has massively amped up the violence factor. I never quite got used to the shatter of a soldiers helmet as his skull exploded or the gore of a Japanese soldier burning while his arm is blown off by a shotgun blast. While extremely beautifully rendered, these displays of violence are very real and very grotesque.
Overall the intensity of the game is what sells it. Nothing beats the satisfaction of grabbing the rifle of a Japanese soldier as he tries to bayonet you and then stabbing him in the neck with your knife. We've never seen a truly realistic representation of the brutality of this war until this game, and I must say it is humbling to experience it. While I do miss the comfort of my M4's dot site and popping off precise headshots from distance with my m14, it has been an extreme pleasure to see yet another side of WWII. If you can make it past the first few awkward moments, this game will grab a hold of you and not let go until the conflict has come to a bloody halt.