Set during the closing events of World War II, Call of Duty: World at War once again puts you on the frontlines by swapping back and forth in two different campaigns. One moment you'll be a U.S. soldier in the Pacific Theater, and then a Russian soldier in Western Europe. You'll travel to locations including Makin Island, Stalingrad, and Berlin as you'll face-off against an legions of Japanese and German troops. The Japanese troops will battle you in intense guerilla style warfare as they'll hide in the trees and bushes and ambush you by surprise, while the Germans will have more of an urban style warfare tactics. Either way be prepared for some great battles.

Like it's predecessor, Call of Duty 4, World at War brings back all the concepts that made Modern Warfare's multiplayer a success. For example, the RPG-style ranking system returns as well as the perk system so that you can create your customized soldier any way you wish. As you level up, you'll gain access to new weapons, upgrades, and perks for you to use. Some of the new perks include a flak-jacket to help you absorb some of the shrapnel from incoming grenades, a sawed-off shotgun to clear out nearby enemies, bazookas to clear out enemy strongholds and tanks, and even a flamethrower to burn your enemies into ashes. You'll also find some of the same perks from Call of Duty 4 like a last chance perk called "Second Chance" with a unique catch. If your down and a teammate has second chance, they can revive you.

Call of Duty 4 also rewarded players on killing sprees, with options like the UAV, air strikes, and that devastating chopper. Well World at War also has that same system with a World War II flavor attached to it. Kill three enemies in a row and you'll get a recon plane to scout out locations of enemy troops. Kill five enemies in a row and you'll get an artilliary strike to rain fire down on helpless enemies. Finally, kill seven in a row to "unleash the hounds." That's right, you'll send out a wave of attack dogs to hunt down and kill your enemies even if their hiding from you.

New to Call of Duty: World at War are driveable tanks in the game's War Mode. Now you can devastate your enemies with these mechanical nightmares in multiplayer. Up to two players can be in a tank. One player drives and shoots the main cannon, while the other can control the mounted heavy machine gun on top of the tank. There are also various perks you can earn to make your life in the tank a little easier. Perks include improved speed, a faster moving cannon, faster firing rate of the cannon, and longer firing of the machine gun.

Call of Duty: World at War also introduces co-op play. Now you and your friends can play the campaign together either locally for two players split-screen or up to four players on Xbox Live. The co-op game allows players to play the campaign to see who gets the highest score plus get experience points so that you can level up and attain the better weapons and perks. Even with multiple players, Treyarch has assured the game will not be "dumbed down," but infact "scaled up" in difficulty especially in Veteran Mode with multiple players.

As for the competitive multiplayer, World at War will support up to 16 players either locally or online on Xbox Live. The maps are large and very well designed to keep the game flowingand suit all types of players from the noobies to the sniper elites. Your standard modes are still here including Free For All and Team Deathmatch, War Mode, and a new and improved Capture the Flag mode. The party system has been improved so that your friends can go from one game to the next without getting separated.

So far it looks like Treyarch has greatly moved on from the disaster that was Call of Duty 3. The game looks and feels like a World War II game should be. The improvements made to the online play may even make you forget about Call of Duty 4. Although there is an overflow of World War II games out there, Call of Duty: World at War looks be a worthy pickup.

Call of Duty: World at War releases on November 11.