Parents' Guide to Call of Duty: WWII

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Common Sense Media Review

Paul Semel By Paul Semel , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 18+

Engaging, mature shooter goes back to its roots & triumphs.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 18+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 12+

Based on 66 parent reviews

Parents say that while the game contains violence, swearing, and historical themes, the ability to adjust settings for blood and language makes it manageable for many mature kids. Most reviews suggest that it provides educational value regarding World War II, but caution that the multiplayer experience can expose younger players to inappropriate language from other users, leading different parents to vary in their recommendations for age suitability.

  • violence adjustment options
  • educational value
  • multiplayer concerns
  • suitability varies
  • parental discretion needed
Summarized with AI

age 12+

Based on 116 kid reviews

Kids say the game features intense graphics and gory content, which can be turned off, making it suitable for teens if approached with caution; however, many reviewers emphasize that it is too graphic for younger players. The campaign is praised for its engaging story and historical context, but the multiplayer experience is often deemed lacking, leading to mixed opinions about its overall value.

  • graphic content
  • age recommendations
  • engaging story
  • multiplayer issues
  • historical context
Summarized with AI

What's It About?

Set in 1944 and 1945, the campaign in CALL OF DUTY: WWII casts you as an American soldier during the D-Day invasion of Normandy. From there, you move on to Merigny, Falaise, and other French cities on your way to Paris before heading into Germany. Along the way, you'll join up with the British, take out artillery, and shoot a lot of German soldiers who were only following orders. You also, on occasion, become other characters, including a French resistance fighter and a tank driver. The game also features a second campaign where you (or you and some friends) have to kill an endless army of Nazi zombies.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 66 ):
Kids say ( 116 ):

By going back to its roots, both in its setting and its gameplay, the latest installment of this first-person shooter series is one of the best action games of the year. In Call of Duty: WWII's single-player campaign, you play as an American soldier who, starting with D-Day, goes on a series of infantry missions against the German army. Along with the historic setting, this also brings back some of the mechanics from this series' early days, such as health packs instead of regenerating health in the campaign. More importantly, this largely goes back to the kind of gritty realism of the original games, with only brief bits where it has the over-the-top action movie vibe of the Modern Warfare installments. All of this applies to the game's addiction online competitive multiplayer modes as well.

What hasn't changed -- whether you play the campaign, multiplayer, or the co-op zombie mode -- is that you still engage in a series of harrowing firefights that will test your reflexes and your trigger finger. All of which is aided by this series' always intuitive controls. That said, the campaign's interactive cut-scenes can get tedious at times, there are times when its action sequences drag on, and its ending is a bit too heavy-handed. But even with these irritations, Call of Duty: WWII is a solid and engaging shooter that's not so much a throwback as it is a return to form.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about violence in games. Does it make a difference that you're killing people in this game's campaign, as opposed to aliens or monsters? What about the parts where you're killing zombies; does that make you feel different?

  • Talk about World War II. Do you know why we fought WWII? Do you know what happened?

  • Discuss risking your life to save someone else. In this game, you sometimes put your own safety aside to rescue another person, but would you ever do this in real life? Why or why not?

Game Details

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