World War II does not really need an introduction. Everyone knows who the sides were and what the war was all about. The Germans called it lebensraum (the direct translation is "living space"). The Japanese called it militarism. While the Allies didn't call it "saving our own ass," they should. To most people WWII was all about survival; survival of the flesh as well as the survival of a dream; a dream of human rights and a dream of freedom. It was a dream paved with mortar, shells, sacrifice and eventually triumph.

Activision's Call of Duty - World at War starts out in a very brutal manner. Parts of the movie files are actual life footage of war atrocities. There is footage of bombardment, executions, pain and suffering. It is a footage of our dark side; a side that will emerge again if not checked. Unlike so many WWII games where the focus is the Nazis, in Word at War the game focuses mostly on the battles with Japan. Your character is named Miller and in the first mission, Miller is a POW. The video file starts out with the gruesome Japanese torturing and killing another POW (prisoner of war). You kind-of get rescued; you get untied and a fellow marine throws a gun your way. You're bleeding and you're hurt but war does not give anyone a break. You have to fight your way out of the camp. After that, you're once again just another grunt in a war that should not have been. Beach landings, twisted jungles, maze-like bunkers, they all await you in this superb story of guts and glory. Just remember to run away from grenades; they really hurt. And just when you think you're ready for Miller's next mission, guess what? You start playing as private Petrenko of the Russian army. The Soviet missions seems much smaller compared to the Japanese ones, or it could be the fact that I'm much better at urban warfare. But this game does offer two actual perspectives to the game and the war.