The campaign’s main strength is the co-op mode. Unfortunately, the entire campaign is not playable in co-op and a few of the missions just feel weird with two people. At one point the game cut to where I and the other player were both occupying the same body, shooting enemies charging at us. It’s moments like these where the game just looks lackluster. (It also doesn’t help that it doesn’t use the full screen.) Still, the game is entirely more fun when you’re competing with someone else and trying to beat their score rather than pushing a story that never gets its own legs beneath it.

The game’s largest strength obviously remains the multiplayer. If you played Modern Warfare and enjoyed it, odds are you going to enjoy this one, too. The experience remains largely the same. In fact, it’s like looking at a picture in a museum display marked “under construction” and waiting for them to eventually bring something new in, only to find out they just planned to change the frame. To be fair it isn’t all bad; the online structure is still wonderfully executed, retaining the accessibility and enjoyability of Modern Warfare.

The core gameplay continues to be excellent, and the title employs most of the successful innovations from the past: perks, create a class system, ranks, weapon upgrades, etc. The majority of the changes involve the implementation of tanks. The vehicular combat adds a new layer to the mix, but that’s about the only major change to the core mechanics. Beyond that the title continues to employ past innovations rather than push forward. Modern weapons are replaced with those contemporary to World War II; Dogs replace helicopters; and bombed out cities and beaches form the new maps. Treyarch also reemploys the War gameplay mode, seen in Call of Duty 3, and the very traditional Capture the Flag.

One really enjoyable innovation is the Nacht der Untoten mode (or Night of the Dead for our non-German speaking readers). It’s fairly simplistic; however, it will add replayability to the title. Much like similar modes in other games (Horde from Gears of War 2, for example) your goal is to survive endless waves of enemies until you eventually succumb to their impressive, ungodly numbers. What makes it more entertaining is that those waves of enemies are zombies. NAZI zombies. It’s not nearly as complex as Left 4 Dead, but when you take into consideration this is something tacked on as a reward and not the main focus, it’s clearly a nice addition.