Call of Duty: World at War is the fifth major installment in the series and the second to be developed by Treyarch who was also responsible for Call of Duty 3, a console-only version of the game.

Considering the high expectations built around this release it will be interesting to see how 'World at War' stacks up against other competing shooters, but perhaps most importantly how it compares or improves upon last year's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which was developed by the series creator Infinity Ward and was an all-around success on the PC platform.

As for similarities between these two games, Call of Duty: World at War was built using an enhanced version of the CoD 4 engine which should come as great news for PC gamers. Not only do we expect this game to look really good because of that, but it should also fair quite well on systems with modest specifications. Unlike Crysis and a few other visually stunning games, Call of Duty 4 wasn't able to bring a high-end system to its knees, and believe us that was a good thing.

In terms of the game engine features, this enhanced version of the Call of Duty 4 proprietary engine still boasts support for true world-dynamic lighting, HDR lighting effects, dynamic shadows, and depth of field. Furthermore, "Bullet Penetration" is also calculated by the engine taking into account factors like the type and thickness of the surface that the bullet hits before reaching its target.

As was the case with Call of Duty 4, certain objects like cars and some of the buildings are destructible in World at War, though this is reported to be further enhanced on CoD 5. The dynamic physics engine has also received a slight revamp enabling for more realistic animations and ragdoll physics.

Now that we know more about what drives this new game, we find ourselves asking what Call of Duty: World at War is all about? The story focuses on the final battles of World War II in the Pacific and Eastern Europe involving the United States, the Empire of Japan, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany. As usual, the game is based on a number of historical battles, which include the Battle of Berlin, Battle of Peleliu, and the Makin Island raid.

The gameplay dynamics have gone relatively unchanged and those who have played previous Call of Duty games will be able to jump right into World at War without any problems. The multiplayer portion of the game follows the Call of Duty 4 way of doing things as it contains similar modes with the always exciting leveling system that rewards gamers for kills with additional weapons and special abilities.

A completely new feature in Call of Duty 5 is the co-op mode which can support up to four players online and two offline. Call of Duty: World at War is certainly shaping up to be one of the most exciting installments yet, and now we must find out how it will run on your computer...