After gradually time hopping into the space-faring future, Call of Duty is catapulting itself back to the 1940s for COD: WW2. Returning to the conflict that started it all, you can be sure to expect the familiar chatter of MG42s and ka-ching of M1 Garands this winter. But what makes up the multi-layered package that is this year’s COD: WWII? Find out what’s being shipped out to the PC frontlines in this handy guide to everything we know about Call of Duty: WW2.
Liberate the globe from tyranny in the best WWII games on PC.
COD: WW2 release date
Unsurprisingly, the Call of Duty: WW2 release date is November 3. The 11th month is the spot for Call of Duty and that’s certainly not changing for 2017. Which means – if you are handy with a calendar – that COD: WW2 is out now.
COD: WW2 campaign
The Call of Duty: WW2 campaign will focus on the latter end of the war and the Western Front, with events like the Normandy landings and the Battle of the Bulge being featured. While you will occasionally play as characters from other nations (including a female French resistance member named Rousseau, a British officer, and an African-American soldier), the bulk of the game will be seen through the eyes of Ronald “Red” Daniels and Robert Zussman of the US Army’s 1st Infantry. The idea of the COD: WW2 campaign is to look at the bonds that are forged between the members of Daniels’ squad, lending a more Band of Brothers-like tone to the game.
Several members of the 11-man squad will be able to offer you help. For example, when the ammo man can throw you fresh magazines when you are running low on bullets, provided you are close by. Regenerating health is being scrapped, and so field medics will be able to help you out with health packs.
It has also been revealed that the COD: WW2 campaign will not feature a German perspective on the conflict – you won’t be taking control of any Wehrmacht soldiers in this year’s Call of Duty.
COD: WW2 multiplayer
Stripping Call of Duty of its sci-fi setting also means robbing it of wall-running, jetpack dodging, and fancy killstreak gadgets. Of course, developers Sledgehammer Games have a few ideas sure to refresh and shake-up the COD: WW2 multiplayer experience.
For starters, COD: WW2 is giving the Create-a-Class character customisation system the boot, replacing it with Divisions. The new system will see you choose a group to fight for with each one providing a specific training bonus for your COD: WW2 multiplayer character. Airborne focuses on speed and stealth, Mountain deals with sharpshooters, Infantry are good all-rounders, Armoured are outfitted with the heaviest gear, and Expeditionary bring incendiaries to battle. Each division dictates your weapons, attachments, and perks. While it sounds different, it does effectively work almost exactly like classic Call of Duty multiplayer class systems. COD Multiplayer avatars will represent not only different Divisions, but also a broad and diverse ensemble of the nations involved in the Second World War.
The big new addition to COD: WW2 multiplayer, aside from Divisions, is War Mode. Akin to Battlefield 1’s Operations, this is a narrative-led 6v6 multiplayer mode based on attack and defend objectives, developed in partnership with Raven Software. Objective examples include capturing bridges to escort armour divisions across them, or seizing enemy artillery and using it to destroy them. It sounds a grander, more involved mode in comparison to the arcade-like deathmatch staples COD traditionally falls back on, and could well be the most exciting thing about this entry.
If that’s too much of a departure for you, then rest assured that Team Deathmatch and Domination will be returning. A new version of Uplink has also been confirmed, a sort of basketball with guns mashup first popularised in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – how Sledgehammer Games will address the lack of exo-suits and jetpacks present in the Second World War is yet to be seen.
The most unusual change comes in the form of Headquarters; a shared social space for up to 48 players that seems akin to Destiny’s Tower. Here you can compete at a shooting range, practice your score streaks, battle it out in a 1v1 arena, open loot boxes, or simply hang out with other players while queuing for matches. You can check in with officers to obtain quests, with objectives based on either multiplayer performance or social interactions. You’ll also prestige at the Headquarters, in a ceremony overlooking the Normandy beach. Very pomp.
There will also be Headquarters events; during specific seasons, the HQ may be bombed from above. In these situations you’ll need to run for a gun emplacement and shoot down enemy planes.
As for progression, the highest rank shown so far is 55, so it would seem that this is the target you need to hit before Prestige kicks in and you start over again.
COD: WW2 multiplayer will feature both the Allies and Axis powers, but don’t expect them to be historically accurate. While the campaign is looking to adhere to the history books, Sledgehammer think of the multiplayer as a WW2-themed PvP arena. As such, there won’t be any swastikas on show in Call of Duty: WW2 multiplayer, and you’ll be able to use female and non-white character avatars in armies that would not have recruited them in significant numbers. For Sledgehammer, the reality of 1940s racial and gender tensions are not something they want to factor into multiplayer. Instead, it’s about letting players be themselves in a WW2-themed environment.
COD: WW2 loot boxes
Sledgehammer Games were one of the first studios to experiment with loot boxes in a triple-A game with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, but they appear to have learnt a great deal from that game’s Supply Drop system, which offered special variants of each weapon in the game, some offering important stat boosts like increased rate of fire, magazine capacity, and damage.
When you get a COD: WW2 supply drop, it will land in front of you in the Headquarters social space. To open a COD: WW2 supply drop, you will need to throw down a special smoke grenade, and watch as a chest full of goodies falls in front you – other players can see what rewards you get, too. Unexpectedly, you can also earn COD: WW2 loot boxes by watching other players open them in Headquarters.
Loot comes in five different tiers: common, rare, legendary, epic, and heroic. COD: WW2’s supply drops will only contain cosmetic items and consumables such as double XP, double weapon XP, and double XP for your divisions. Cosmetic items include weapon variants, skins, calling cards, and armour. Since these COD: WW2 supply drop items are only cosmetic, they will not confer any direct combat advantage.
Happily, you can earn COD: WW2 supply drops by simply playing the game – and buying them from the in-game store, of course. They are also randomly allocated at the end of multiplayer matches, encouraging you to stay in the game even if you are losing badly.
Completing daily and weekly challenges can also grant you some COD: WW2 supply drop goodness – or you will just receive a standard XP boost, instead. Succeeding in timed contracts – that can be bought with armoury credits – can also earn you a supply drop. You can only have three at once, though, so, if you fail the contract, the credits you invested are lost for good.
COD: WW2 zombies
The co-op campaign sees players head to a snowy Bavarian village in search of artwork stolen by the Axis powers. During their mission they discover that the village is home to a shadowy secret; the Nazis have been building an undead army.
Akin to previous zombies modes, this year’s COD: WW2’s zombies mode will feature celebrity talent. Heading up the cast this time is David Tennant as Drostan Hynd, and he’s joined by Elodie Yung (who played Elektra in Netflix’s Daredevil). What kind of role their characters will fulfil is yet to be seen.
Regardless of what character you choose in COD: WW2 zombies mode, you need to be hoovering up Jolts at every opportunity. Jolts are your COD: WW2 zombies currency, which you earn by killing zombies and use to upgrade your character, buy guns, open doors, and progress through the map.
Upgrading your character is important in this year’s COD: WW2 zombies mode as you can carry persistent upgrades from match to match, meaning your character increases in strength the more time you spend with in COD: WW2 zombies. You can upgrade your character with a mix of active abilities such as temporary infinite ammo and passive ones such as Camouflage, which grants invisibility for a time.
In this year’s COD: WW2 zombies mode there are two possible finales on top of the traditional wave-based zombie annihilation. Make sure the Jolts you earn from killing the undead are put towards fully unlocking the map to achieve the finale. But, look out for a hidden path in the COD: WW2 zombies mode, too. Easter eggs often in zombies modes past, and we know that this will combine with the COD: WW2 zombies mode ‘story’ in some way.
Thanks to some datamining of the the PC open beta we also know a number of the perks and wonder weapons you will be able to get your hands on in the zombies mode. Additionally, the datamining also suggests that you will be able to prestige in COD: WW2 zombies, which was first introduced in Call of Duty: Black Ops III.
COD: WW2 system requirements
Call of Duty might be going back to its roots, but unfortunately its hardware requirements are more futuristic than ever before – not by much, mind.
Here is what you will need to run the final game:
Minimum spec:
- OS: Windows 7 64-Bit or later
- CPU: CPU: Intel Core i3 3225 3.3 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1400
- RAM: 8 GB RAM
- HDD: 90 GB HD space
- Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660 @ 2 GB / GTX 1050 or ATI® Radeon™ HD 7850 @ 2GB / AMD RX 550
- DirectX: Version 11.0 compatible video card or equivalent
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
Recommended spec:
- CPU: Intel Core i5-2400 or AMD Ryzen R5 1600X
- RAM: 12 GB RAM
- HDD: 90 GB HD space
- Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / GTX 1060 @ 6GB or AMD Radeon R9 390 / AMD RX 580
- DirectX: Version 11.0 compatible video card or equivalent
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
COD: WW2 season pass and DLC
As ever, this year’s COD will feature an optional season pass, confirming a DLC plan. So far, only one map pack has been announced, as well as a bonus map on launch for anyone who owns the Call of Duty: WW2 season pass. The first map pack is called The Resistance and will launch on PS4 on January 30, 2018 with 30 days exclusive access until it arrives on PC and Xbox One. No details have surfaced on where The Resistance will take COD: WW2 players, but the bonus map has been revealed as Carentan – you can have a good peek at it in the trailer above.
That’s all the intel our allies have been able to smuggle out of the Berlin bunker, but we’re expecting further details to be decoded during E3 and the next few months. Be sure to check back here for all the most vital wartime developments.