Treyarch comes out of the trenches at last...
COD 5 uses the COD 4 engine, which for single player is no bad thing, since the game looks just as good as Call of Duty 4, if not better in a few places. The environments in the Pacific theatre look quite stunning at times, and is a nice break away from the Europe/Africa settings from the previous COD games. Characters models are done to a high standard, but its the gore scenes for me that brings something that has always been needed to really capture the true look and feel of war.
The sound is equally up to the normal Call of Duty standards, from music to general sounds of the battle but I will point out I do think a few music scores seem a little out of place. The characters once again sound very real, with Kiefer Sutherland in particular doing a fine job and suits the part of an American solider. Gun sounds are excellent as normal and most likely the best from any COD game and the same for explosions though my favourite sound is the Banzai charge from the Japs.
Gameplay is the typical run & shoot from all the previous COD games and I do wish they would make it a little harder with some better ballistic physics but at the end of the day the game is still fun to play. The guns feel a lot like COD 1 & 2 but there are a few teaks and some new weapons like the flamethrower, which is great to burn people out of trees and trenches but is overpowered for online play. Another great feature is the knife attack from COD 4, which is even better this time and also has been extended to certain guns, making it a great way to take down your enemy. The gameplay is not perfect though and struggles from an issue that COD 4 had and that is the "Invisible line", meaning the enemy AI will keep spawning until you move forward a certain distance, so the whole shoot and move up real life tactic is ruined at times and you just have to sprint, take damage and hope you don't die instead.
The AI is pretty much the same as COD 4 with your team giving more help than in COD 1 & 2 and will even save your bacon a few times but there are still some issues. One annoying issue is you will still have to do all the pushing up for the most part, which does take away some of the realism and gets rather annoying because of the invisible line that I mentioned earlier. The enemy AI can be challenging and some battles are memorable though my favourites are the Banzai charges from the Japs. However I do feel a few of the shots the AI pull off are questionable and they still focus on you a little bit more then your team.
The game comes with the pretty standard online play though we have a new game mode in war, which is pretty much like Battlefield's conquest with a few tweaks and is utterly stupid because COD maps are far too small for such a gametype. However the perk system despite tweaks, still feels out of place and only put in to please a much younger audience with some of the perk just plain awful, especially the dogs because they can take more damage than humans. Despite enjoying COD 5 more than COD 4 online, there are major issues still because the COD 4 engine being used is easily hacked for cheaters to abuse. While some maps are bigger they are poorly planned out and there are still the odd tiny maps, which seems they have been made by a 10 year old. Hardcore mode, which is my favourite gametype mode has been changed for the worse because servers can lower the amount of damage done by a bullet. Deep Impact continues to be abused because of no proper physic engine being implemented meaning bullets can go through surfaces they would never get through in real life. The worst aspect of COD 5's online play is the spawn system, which often puts you in the firing line or spawns enemies right behind you. CO-OP mode adds more life to the game though on the PC its only good to play with people you know if you want to play as a proper team and even then the game never really forces you play as a team. The Nazi zombie mode will give some people thrills and I have enjoyed playing it but again you need people you know to get the best out of it and the gametype is ruined slightly by needing custom maps to support it.
Overall the game offers a solid single player but it doesn't drag you in like COD 2 & 4 did and despite being longer than the single player in COD 4, it's nowhere near as long as COD 2, which has the best World War 2 campaign. The game adds some new ideas to the franchise but its pretty much like the former COD games and fails to fix some issues from the past. While I did enjoy the game, it can't keep getting the same high scores that I gave to COD 1, 2 & 4 because its nothing really new but I would still say any COD player should give it a go.