Available now on PS4, coming soon on Xbox One and PC
There's something strangely comforting about going back to Call Of Duty WW2. Not only did the multiplayer shots go beyond the shooting cycle, reload and reappear in favor of the parachute drop sequence, but the millions of PUBL and Fortnite players know this very well, but WW2 is a challenging version of a series every time more old fashioned by itself. It's like teleporting a decade ago.
Of course, CoD WW2 is as polished and modern as anything outdated could ever be. Crunchy in 4K 60 fps in PS4 Pro and still has the kind of triple hit that CoD always has at its best. This new War Machine DLC package, the second in the game, does not change that formula at all, it simply adds a trio of new maps, an Operation and a new Nazi Zombie scenario.
The maps themselves are quite standard Call Of Duty but they are all immaculate, with excellent graphics and the classic blocking points and multiple entry points that you would expect from the 14th CoD game.
Buy Call of Duty: WW2 from Amazon UK | Amazon.com
First is V2, the least visually interesting map of the group, but, perhaps, the best one geometrically. It is located in and around a train yard, and has a high central structure where smart players can gain ground. The rest of the map has a typical circular flow, and is very suitable for Team Deathmatch games.
Domination suffers slightly from the lines of vision available from that higher ground, so whitening is very common. In TDM, however, this is a quick and sharp map that will test your skill with the weapon at all times.
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Next, we have the imaginatively titled Egypt, a map that unfolds in such an Egyptian cliché as one might expect to see. However, it can not be denied that those golden sands and sun-bleached stone pyramids look good in 4K: we saw them enough in Assassin's Creed Origins last year to know that.
Egypt is a pretty standard CoD map. There are no large deviations or highlighted sections. This makes it a solid map for the gameplay of Domination, since there are no clear advantages that can be obtained from any base.
The final arena of the new trio is easily the most iconic. Dunkirk is a family environment for moviegoers over the past 12 months, and Sledgehammer has done a great job capturing some of that faded glamor by the sea in the French seaside town, and marrying the grim reality of stranded ships, sacks of sand and the restlessness of an abandoned amusement pier.
The map itself extends across the beach, which makes it ideal for extended Hardpoint games, but less for TDM. It lacks the circular flow of large CoD maps and means it can be trapped in generation traps and overly aggressive choke points. An observer, then, but not necessarily one who will vote during the intermediate rounds.
Outside of the traditional Multiplayer CoD is the new Operation, entitled Husky. It is set in Sicily, and accuses the attacking team of stealing some information (essentially capturing three points) while the defending team sneaks out of the windows. The operations are located somewhere between the normal CoD game mode, an Overwatch map and a Rush on Battlefield game. While they do not capture the magic of Blizzard's effort or DICE's mainstay, they at least offer a much needed variety in a formula that has been successful for more than a decade, but is beginning to lose some strength.
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Operation Husky does not add anything new on the equivalent operation maps in the base game, but it presents a nice scenario to traverse. It is also best played with a team in voice communications, as fighting to enter the main house is a nightmare of fire wear and a lack of coverage, but can be achieved by flanking from both sides. Good fun.
Finally, a map of Nazi Zombies set in Berlin rounds off the package. Zombies mode is a matter of love or hate, some say it's Left For Dead by a poor man (right people); others love the way you unlock parts of the map on the fly. This is a slightly more serious version of Zombies than we have seen in some DLC packages in the past, but in truth, if you do not like this game mode, this is not going to change your mind.
Zombies in themselves are more unpleasant, more frightening than those we've seen before. They hunt at great speed, but it is still easy to see them as fodder. There is no real tension in this new map, since there is never any in Zombies. Well done, good looking, but ultimately, quite empty.
Buy Call of Duty: WW2 from Amazon UK | Amazon.com
Verdict
So, like many others over the years, War Machine is a useful DLC map pack and nothing else. There is nothing here that alters the dynamics of the gameplay, or new modes or ideas, only good and solid environments in which to do the same kind of struggle that you have been doing for years.
The possibilities are, if you're such a fan, you already have it.
