Call of Duty: World at War [X360]

"Man down!"

I risk a glance over the uprooted tree that I'm using as cover while a hail of bullets peels off splinters and bark. One of our guys is down on the other side of the channel, calling out for help in the mud. He desperately fires a pistol at the Imperial Japanese forces rushing down the ravine, their bayonets gleaming in the hot Pacific sun. I swear under my breath. "What part of 'We're all going to the right' didn't you understand?" I cry. Head down, I sprint across the mud to rescue my comrade...

Call of Duty: World at War is the anticipated follow-up to GameSpy's 2007 Game of the Year, so we're holding this title up to a high standard. And after a couple hours of multiplayer hands-on time, we're excited to report that World at War just might live up to its potential. The rock-solid graphics and smooth multiplayer gameplay of Call of Duty 4 are intact, and Treyarch has added a few new twists to advance the state of the art.

Producer Dan Bunting described the title as "six games in one," with modes to cater to every taste. You've got your single-player campaign, your co-op campaign (co-op play is new to the franchise), an interesting spin called "competitive co-op" (where you're racing to contribute more than your allies), and a handful of competitive online multiplayer modes. In addition, there's something called "Death Cards," collectable items that allow players to customize their co-op play. And finally there's a sixth mode Bunting told us was "super top-secret," which no amount of prying could reveal. We're expecting an announcement on that front soon.

Banding With Your Brothers

We were greeted with a short demo video showing off the co-op play in action. Experience points you earn in co-op play carry over through all the multiplayer modes, so it represents another way to unlock the impressive arsenal of perks and equipment that are available. Achievements like "Bartender" (kill 25 enemies with molotov cocktails) or "Hat Trick" (score 3 headshots in a row three times during a single mission) will definitely encourage a lot of repeat play. We're also dying to know what you do to obtain the "Cluster Chuck" achievement.

But the highlight of the recent Activision press event was a chance to play through the co-op mode. We'd tinkered around with this earlier (see our August preview for details), but extensive hands-on time reveals just how differently you play the game with friends. For one thing, the mission ends if anyone dies, so you never leave a man behind. Fortunately when players are shot they'll stay in "last stand" mode for a few moments giving you a chance to rescue them. The only way to succeed against the extra enemies the game throws at you is to stick together as a group -- but not too close, because we discovered that the enemy loves to chuck grenades.

Downed players can be revived if you can stay next to them for a few seconds without getting shot. It's worth a lot of experience to resurrect a comrade, and once players realized this, everyone started rushing in to play battlefield medic. Of course you're no good to your friend if a grenade or machine gun takes you out while you're trying to heal him, so it pays to clear the area first or have a friend provide cover.