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Competetive Co-op
As we mentioned on the previous page, there's an interesting optional spin to COD: WaW's co-op, whereby although fighting for the same side, all four players can compete for scores along the way. There's no obvious benefit to 'winning' a level, apart from bragging rights, but it adds a rewarding new dimension to team play. We can see it being a great replay extender in the long run.
The first thing we noticed about four-player co-op though, is how it changes the dynamic of play. Whereas COD campaign play is traditionally about use of cover and taking territory progressively, with four players fighting together it becomes a much more run-and-gun affair. With a restrained team, tactical play is of course very possible, but partly because we were playing with strangers and partly because of the kill-frenzy incentive of the combo-based scoring system, we found that things became much more of a rampage. Not that that's in any way a bad thing; it just didn't feel terribly COD. Though of course, how you play is all down to you and your team at the end of the day.
Working through a level in the Japanese campaign, we were struck by just how well the COD4 engine does lush jungle settings. There wasn't a part of the previous game that didn't look fantastic, but the new settings afforded by WaW show it off in a whole new way. We were also struck once again by the quality of Treyarch's level design.
After working through a rural objective which involved finding and destroying a number of enemy bunkers, we actually had to ask Activision whether the level had really subscribed to COD's traditional linearity. The ways in which it disguised being on a set path were genuinely that good. The twisting, turning route wound around buildings, terrain and enemy encampments in a way which always hid the path ahead or back, fooling us into thinking it was free-roaming more than a couple of times. It was path design which would put a theme park queue to shame.
This being a grassy level, we also got to really see the flamethrower in action. Taking it out on point while our team-mates brought up the rear with suppressing fire, we found it to be a devastating weapon at close range. Its one-hit kills did our combo multiplier no end of favours. It's also a great get-out-of-jail-free card when things get hectic - as they did thanks to the teeming, chaotic warzone we were working through - due to its ability to ignite whole areas of foliage around the enemy. It's not on the level of Far Cry 2, but it's a hell of a lot of fun nonetheless. Chaotic, brutal, and a great big giggle; it's a weapon that sums up COD: WaW's co-op pretty well.
