As the fifth installment in the Call of Duty series on recent consoles, Call of Duty: World at War capitalizes on the renowned military portrayal and multiplayer experience praised in past games, but unveils a feature new to the franchise: cooperative gameplay. Although co-op mode adds to the game’s replay value, this first-person shooter — developed by Treyarch — lacks the innovations to boost its ratings ahead of its predecessor.

The story line of World at War focuses on the events of World War II primarily through the eyes of two player-controlled characters: Private Miller in the Pacific — an American fighting the Japanese — and Private Petrenko in Europe — a Soviet fighting the Germans. The missions in the game alternate between time periods to maintain a modicum of historical authenticity, but this often complicates the experience for players.

The single-player story begins on Makin Island as Pvt. Miller witnesses the Japanese execute a fellow soldier, narrowly escaping death when Sgt. Roebuck comes to his rescue. The two then storm the beach of Peleliu and push through the island’s jungled landscape, two years later. The campaign continues as the duo clashes with the Japanese, advancing to the mainland, until the final battle at Shuri Castle in Okinawa.

The player then gains command of Pvt. Petrenko in Europe. He wakes up among dead bodies during the Battle of Stalingrad on September 17, 1942. Petrenko meets Sgt. Reznov, and the two embark on a mission to kill General Amsel, the German leader responsible for the Soviet casualties. They scurry through buildings and streets, picking off soldiers with sniper rifles and machine guns, until Petrenko kills Amsel.

The next mission begins three years later near Berlin for the Battle of the Seelow Heights, where Petrenko dodges execution much in the same way as Miller did over in the Pacific. Reznov fires bullets into the German squad, freeing Petrenko from torture. The two push forward through several locations until they reach the Reichstag, the German parliament. A wounded soldier shoots Petrenko as he readies to plant the flag to signal victory, but Revnoz terminates this last obstacle to end the brutal war.

In addition to a single-player story, World at War offers two-player and four-player story modes. The two-player co-op mode operates via split screen on the local console while the four-player mode exists online.

The best part of this game, however, is the online multiplayer experience. Players can fight in 12 different matches, including the standard capture-the-flag and team deathmatch modes. Online multiplayer also features a mini-game called Nacht der Untoten (German for “Night of the Undead”) in which 1-4 players compete to survive the longest against unlimited hordes of Nazi zombies.

On the downside, the story modes lack an interactive environment and higher graphics capabilities for common game aesthetics like walls, grass, dirt and fire. In addition, the offline multiplayer mode — played on the local console — doesn’t allow players to set custom weapon sets, as is possible in the online counterpart.

I recommend this game for players who enjoy first-person shooters set in actual battles from history and a great online multiplayer experience.

World at War is available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Windows PC. It is rated M for Mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board for blood and gore, intense violence and strong language. The game costs around $59.99 and is available at most local electronics stores.

For more video game reviews, visit the Feb. 12 article, Spore evolves player creativity.