Xbox One X Coverage: Call of Duty: World War II

The Call of Duty franchise has had its many ups and downs over the past decade, but overall, most would agree that the various development companies responsible for the franchise have moved in a positive direction over those years. They tackled the two World Wars, and than began moving into modern combat operations. Things were going well, although people began getting tired of the high tech, gadget loaded options in the newer titles, and began requesting a return to a simpler, military time: World War II. And the developers delivered masterfully, bringing a beautiful and emotional experience to the Xbox One X earlier this month.

This title was reviewed in 4K on the Samsung Series 7 55inch Q7 UHD QLED TV! Our Review Here.

Graphically Stunning

Call of Duty: World War II is graphically stunning, whether the bright lights of an early morning on the horizon, or a mud caked trench walks that will become a staple of your time, both in multiplayer and during the campaign. From top to bottom, no matter how bright or dreary the situation, the development team went the extra mile to make sure the environments in France, Belgium, Germany and more were not only realistic, but historically accurate as well.

The best moments for me, in fact, was running through defensive trenches during heavy downpours. The views are stunning, and while none of us will every understand the horrors of war, the developers I believe managed to make us as ghosts, along for the ride, able to take in the sights and sounds, but not the emotions. My personal educational background is history, and my specialty during my Masters Degree was World War 2; So many of the minute details you wouldn’t expect to be present throughout, are. Your average Joe might not understand the love, care, and dedication that went into creating this beautiful world, but I’m here to tell you that it is blatantly obvious someone did their homework.

Running Smooth

When compared to the original Xbox One, Call of Duty runs significantly better on the Xbox One X. On the original Xbox One, I played through the first 3 or 4 single player campaign missions, and was surprised by the amount of frame rate drops and other graphical irregularities when comparing to the Xbox One X. What I’m noticing across the board with Xbox One X enhanced titles are those minute differences that actually do end up making a bigger change than you expect when playing through without them. The frame rate in Call of Duty: World War II is a great example of this.

While not significantly shorter, the load times on the Xbox One X are a bit better than on the original Xbox One.

Game Content

There is a lot of great stuff packed into Call of Duty: World War II, and it all begins with one of the better Call of Duty campaigns in the last 3-4 years. The biggest reason for this is I cared about all the characters in my platoon, so early one when one of your comrades falls, and it’s your job to drag him to safety, there was something driving me forward that wasn’t just, “I need to X, Y, and Z to finish this level.” I wanted to save him, because even after 30 minutes, I counted him as a valuable member of my platoon, and a member and character I didn’t want to lose.

The variety of characteristics sprinkled throughout the platoon is what keeps the dialogue light, but serious. Everyone has a different opinion, but they all are also fighting for the same purpose: to rid the world of Nazi reign. You care about the people, and you care about the cause, and that ultimately will propel you through the game. This is how video games SHOULD work, that you are playing because of story reasons, not necessarily just to complete it. So often, games either nail story or game play, but rarely both. Call of Duty nails both.

Multiplayer Call of Duty is well, multiplayer Call of Duty, but returning back to World War II has really made for a different online experience than what we’ve been getting over the past few years. We will be diving into this one more and publishing a separate article, but as of right now, we are really enjoying our time with the game.

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