Call of Duty: WWII is almost upon us – Here’s what I hope to see from the latest instalment

It’s that time of year again, the time that sees the biggest and most anticipated blockbuster titles arrive on consoles and in just a few short days we’ll see the arrival of this year’s entry to the best-selling Call of Duty franchise, Call of Duty: WWII.

In the 14th main entry to the hit FPS series – yes, 14! – players will be turning back the clock to revisit the highly requested era of World War II once more, but what will it take to make this year’s title a more favourable entry than last year’s highly criticised Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare? I can’t claim to know how to please the millions of players that jump into the series each year, but here are the things that I hope to see in this year’s instalment, Call of Duty: WWII.

An Exciting Campaign

Online multiplayer has become quite the dominant force within the gaming community in recent years, but things haven’t always been this way and it’s only in recent years that we’ve seen the possibility of players choosing to completely skip the solo experience for the thrill of online multiplayer. It’s pretty much guaranteed that players will once more be spending the majority – if not all of their time – in the multiplayer of Call of Duty: WWII, but I for one would love to see something worthwhile come out of the new campaign.

As someone who always buys into each yearly iteration of Call of Duty purely for the solo experience, it’s fair to say recent years have been somewhat disappointing. Sure, the campaign has still been present in each and every title, but with such a heavy focus on futuristic combat, recent additions have done nothing to help players feel any sense of connection with the characters involved, mainly due to the exceptionally futuristic guns, technology and timelines, something which has resulted in rather forgettable experiences.

With a return to World War II this time round, players will be flung straight back into one of history’s most popular eras, and as we get set to join the ranks of the close-knit 1st Infantry Division, the battle across the western front could prove to be the perfect opportunity to make the campaign a more prominent and exciting option once more. Several game changing features have been confirmed for Call of Duty: WWII’s campaign, such as the removal of health regeneration to promote team work, as well as the return of the classic boots on the ground formula. We could therefore see one of the best campaign experiences yet – let’s just hope Sledgehammer Games can provide just that.

A New and Improved Multiplayer

Whilst my previous ‘wish’ talked about how popular the online multiplayer has become for the Call of Duty series, I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels nothing much has really changed in the online side of things for quite some time now. Each iteration may bring in a bunch of new maps, new killstreaks and a selection of similar yet slightly different weapons, but saying each title has felt like the same experience with a different skin over the top isn’t all that far fetched.

After a separate multiplayer reveal at E3 2017, Sledgehammer Games brought us the interesting news that Call of Duty: WWII will indeed bring several new features to the multiplayer section of the game. These include such things as the headquarters a dynamic social space, that will provide an opportunity for players to meet up and sharpen their skills with killstreak testing, 1v1 matches and firing range competitions. Divisions meanwhile will see the usual class creation system for loadouts replaced by specific roles such as Infantry, Airborne, Armoured, Mountain and Expeditionary, each of which bring unique weapons and abilities in a bid to create a more teamwork based environment. The new War Mode – an objective based game mode that sees the map shift as teams complete the attack and defensive based objectives – is something which sounds rather similar to that of the Operations in Battlefield 1.

Many will no doubt be keen to see just how much of a change these amendments make to the multiplayer, but it’s likely going to take a lot more to change the overall feeling of ‘same old, same old’ that has been emanating from the series in recent years. With plenty of praise coming out of the closed beta for the game, there certainly seems to be many that think this year could be different,

I’m not entirely convinced we’ll see much in the way of change though, but i am hopeful, and this would sure be a great chance for Sledgehammer to make themselves a household name with a spectacular multiplayer showing.

A Better Zombies Experience

After first arriving all the way back in Call of Duty: World at War – the last time Call of Duty took us to World War II – the Zombies game mode has taken on a somewhat major role within the series. Instead of simply being an extra mode for players to enjoy and try to survive, it has become another which is enjoyed more than the campaign experiences on offer, and has even gained its own mini-stories, countless ‘easter-egg’ challenges, and a separate ranking system. One thing that hasn’t really changed much since the first round-based survival experience however is the way in which the zombies behave.

The technology behind it all has vastly improved since the Xbox 360 and PS3 era, so it would be nice to see this mode become something even better. The first step would be to remove the ability to create a ‘zombie train’ – grouping up your undead enemies and getting them to chase you around like a pack of choreographed dogs. This is something that’s usually done by players either looking to stock up on perks, or activate the revered pack-a-punch machine as it enables their co-op partners a harmless run whilst the entire zombie count shambles after one character. Many games have utilised incredibly believable A.I. systems in recent years and seeing the undead with less of the drone-like behaviour would certainly make the zombies experience a harder, better and more realistic experience.

Another great change would be for zombies to be given its own separate fully-fledged campaign. Whilst the mini-stories provided have proved popular, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 allowed players one of the greatest zombie experiences of all when it brought in the option to play through the entire campaign with zombie enemies. By changing little features here and there with some of the popular zombie mechanics, the extra option felt a lot like an entirely separate game mode, and with co-op runs thrown in for good measure, a separate zombie campaign could be the great change to reignite the interest in story campaigns once more.

So, there it is, a small list of things I hope to see in this year’s Call of Duty. Do you agree? Are there any changes you’d prefer to see in Call of Duty this year? Let us know in the comments below or via our usual social channels.