Call of Duty: World at War - Highly Detailed, New Info

by x CHEFS x




A recap of 2 more Single Player levels that we were shown on the Community First Look event. Both look 100% unique, and appear to be a great deal of fun.


- Single Player Level: Sniper (unofficial name)

You enter the level as a Russian soldier dizzy and confused, the screen is shaking and everyone around you appears to be dead. Voices of German Infantry can be heard until they eventually appear; the enemy platoon walks past you apparently checking bodies to make sure they are dead. Once they move on, your senses set in and you come back to awareness. Across from you awakens a Russian sniper, who is apparently a higher rank because he guides the mission from here on out. Enter actual Gameplay.

The sniper instructs you to take his rifle since he is unable to wield it, due to a wound. You take the rifle from him and he teaches you how to snipe, waiting for the perfect moment, being the hunter. You hear and see German infantry walking about and he instructs you to wait as a tank rumbles by.

At this point you take aim for your first kill shot and wait until a soldier strafes behind a sitting German, pull the trigger – bang, down the two of them go with a single bullet. You waited and waited, only firing your kill-shot when the roar of planes overhead deafened your shot not to reveal your existence. A dog did take notice however and comes after you and your comrade. In the demo, a skilled hip-shot took down the mutt; perhaps a melee would be even more rewarding.



Your instructor (Russian Sniper) teaches you the art of being a sniper and the thrill of the hunt. How a sniper stalks and takes down his enemy, waiting until the precise moment, hunting your enemy… until… you become the hunted. A German sniper has spotted you while rattling off an ineffective shot. Your leader motions to you and makes a dart for a building; you follow and get in safely through a window.

Not sure of the exact sequence of events here, but you are in the house and spot the building that the German sniper is in. The Russian sniper is playing the role of spotter while you are watching the building intently, there are many windows and the enemy sniper never shows himself for more than an instant in the same window (Also mind you, the window the sniper appears in is totally random, so if you replay the level, it won’t be the same the next time). You have to be quick to the trigger with steady aim, as the enemy sniper is pretty darn difficult to spot and shoot before disappearing – also, because as he appears, he is shooting at you.


You take him down eventually and your shot is heard, bringing enemy infantry to your position. You can hear them outside and then MG fire rains in upon the two of you, among Molotov Cocktails which ignite your inhabitance into an inferno. The only way to go is Up since the enemy has surrounded you. So, you climb the stairs while following your leader, once up top you are on the run when the floor gives way and you fall through catching yourself. The screen starts to flash the trademark Call of Duty red damage pattern when your comrade comes back and pulls you up. You get out and run forward and that was it… To Be Continued scrolled across the screen.


This level which we will dub “Sniper” for the time being, was a real treat since we were the first people on the planet to see it outside of the teams at Treyarch and ATVI. When we arrived, it concluded a span of press weeks where this was not shown to them, it wasn’t ready. We were the first to experience it visually, and it reeked of the essence of the Call of Duty franchise, for those of you whom know what I am speaking.


- SP Level: Flying-Boat (unofficial name)

This level takes place in a sea-plane and for the life of me, I can’t remember the exact model (PDM Mariner, perhaps). Treyarch Studios actually had a company make an exact model of the plane that was assembled at the motion capture studio which was used to replicate the Flying-Boat. They used the mo-cap technology to digitally design the skeleton on the plane, to an inch. With that, they were able to create the plane texturally and graphically, down to a roll of toilet paper in the aft of the plane.

They took it a step further in regards to the animation by hiring a Cirque Du Soleil performer to maneuver from the aft of the plane forward, and vice versa to replicate a soldier rotating from the 2 aft turrets, to the one under the cockpit. At first, the nimble performer did it so quickly that it wasn’t realistic, so they had him do it again to more accurately reflect a soldier lumbering through the plane.

With that, as with the plane, they used that geometry to make a digital model and of course the character you see in game. They showed us a split screen of the performer moving through the wooden skeleton of the plane, next to the video game soldier moving through the COD:WW flying-boat and it was a mirror image. Pretty cool.

Anyways, onto the level itself…

You are in the Pacific and engaging Japanese vessels… well… basically a fleet. Hey, it’s a video game, they have to make it fun, lol. Your Flying-Boat has 3 turrets, two of which are aft on either side, and the other is under the cockpit. Your job is to man the turrets while rotating between each depending on the target. Switching between the turrets is animated (mo-capped) by the Cirque Du Soleil performer and will occur with the press of the Action button.

So, basically you let loose on the turrets and wreak havoc on the opposition, but unlike other games, it isn’t simply getting enough bullets into a boat to sink it. You need to go for the spot lights on the boats first, as that will lessen the flack fire coming your way. Then, shoot at the hull or bridge and cripple it. Damage is specific to the area you target, so if you say… shoot the deck, floorboards will splinter up. It isn’t generic damage where you shoot the boat and different places blow up in sequence regardless of where you are shooting. It’s area specific, which is nice.



While you’re shooting, you’ll realize that you need to lead your target depending on your vector in relation to the boat, it’s easy to see this by watching your bullet path splatter through the surf, which again, is really fun to watch. Targets are a-plenty, and you need to be on your game, the fellas at the Studio make it look easy… but dam, there’s a lot going on in that ocean with seemingly endless targets.

Eventually this level ends like the others with a faded screen and To Be Continued… scrolling across. It looks to be really unique and quite a bit of fun.