Video Game Review: Call of Duty: WWII

Normally I wouldn't bother adding anything to my blog on a national holiday but last night I finished playing a very fitting title given that today is Independence Day in the United States. Last month one of the free games on PlayStation Plus happened to be Call of Duty: WWII and I thought I would give it a go. The campaign is not very long and I finished it over the course of the month. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Call of Duty is one of those franchise games from Activision that is one of the most played video games in the world. I have only dabbled in the games playing the beginning of one or two titles but always having something else on my list of games to play. Lately I have been studying a lot of history and am fascinated by World War II. For some reason my history teachers always spent so much time on discovering America that I never got to study anything past the American Civil War.  I don't have a lot of knowledge about what happened in the second great war other than what I see in movies. I figured I might learn something from the game and was not disappointed.

The game begins with the D-Day invasion. One thing I didn't realize is how late D-Day actually was. I know the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941 but D-Day didn't happen until June 6, 1944. What did we do up until that point? Was our only focus the war in the Pacific with Japan? Now I am going to have to do a bit of reading to figure that out.

The game then has 11 missions all based on actual events in the war. Each mission took me about an hour to complete. Your mileage may vary as some will be a lot faster than me and those new to video games may be slower. The story is pretty linear and there are very few side missions, if any. You do have the option of finding collectables and performing heroic actions but I didn't worry about that through most of the game. I did enjoy the story and that kept me playing.

Before COVID-19 I spent a good part of my week in California where I had a lot more time alone and I could spend it playing video games. Now that I have been at home in Utah since March 7th, I have not really played any video games. I'd rather spend that time with my wife and other family members. Call of Duty: WWII is something I started playing because it interested me and I'm glad I took the time to go all the way through the game. In other words, I highly recommend the game.

Call of Duty: WWII has an ESRB rating of M for mature because of violence and strong language. I wouldn't recommend the game for young children or teenagers for that matter.

I got my copy for free on PlayStation Plus and so the only thing I paid to play the game is my time. If I missed adding the game to my digital game library this month and saw it in the $15 bin at a local retailer, I would probably buy the game.

Video Game Ratings

One of my good friends just posted something on a popular social media site that I found interesting. Here is the sentence that caught my attention:

"How are we the only parents that think Call of Duty for a 12yo is a bad idea?"

Let me preface my remarks with a reminder that I currently work for a large video game company. While I do not work for the same company that publishes "Call of Duty," my comments also apply to our own games that are similar and I am not trying to single this game out as a bad game. I actually like "Call of Duty" and have played several of the various titles. There is a reason it is one of the most popular video games.

Video games come with a rating similar to movies, never mind that most American's ignore movie ratings. In the United States we use the ESRB system and "Call of Duty" is rated "M" for mature. That means that the game is meant for those 17-years old or older. My friend's son is only 12. Now I know that not all 12-year old boys are the same. However not a single one that I have ever met has the maturity that the ESRB expects from a 17-year old. Furthermore a lot of actual 17-year old boys lack the maturity the ESRB expects from them.

You can argue that first-person shooters like "Call of Duty" are rated that because of violence and strong language. That doesn't really make it acceptable for your 12-year old to be playing it. Some parents want to be their kid's friend and think that getting a video game will help strengthen those bonds of friendship. Guess what? Your kids have enough friends and sometimes need you to step up and be a parent. This is one of those times.

So if your kid comes to you asking for a game that is meant for someone older, grow a backbone and tell him, "No." When he throws out that his friend's parents got the friend the game, tell him, "Your friend's parents are idiots." You can quote me on that.