Call of Duty: World at War

Welcome! If you're reading this post, that means you're planning on playing Call of Duty: World at War on its most difficult settings. This experience at times will be one of the most rage-inducing trophy hunts you undergo, however the rewards are well worth the frustration. For the purpose of this review, I am going to be giving general advice for playing through the game on Veteran difficulty seeing as there are achievements for beating each mission on that setting, but these tips can be applied to any difficulty setting.

1) USE COVER!!!:
This is the golden rule of playing through on Veteran. Without it, you will be killed in seconds. Stay crouched/prone, pop up for a couple of seconds to fire off some rounds, then immediately drop back down and reload. This leads me into my next tip...

2) Aim assist is your friend, but it is for just that, assisting:
This feature is extremely helpful for locating enemies, especially in darker portions or when you're finishing up clearing an area. Just spam the aim button to lock onto the general area of an enemy, then adjust your aim and take your shots.

3) Enemies spawn infinitely:
Remember this. The only way to stop them from spawning is to progress forwards until the spawnpoint is triggered to do so. Of course you still need to work on clearing out an area to advance, but if you find yourself fighting at a location for a long period of time, try to move up. This one of several annoying characteristics about this game's harder difficulty settings. Another one is...

4) Do not rely on your squad mates:
They hardly do any work and will often block you out of useful cover points. The most helpful thing they can do is let you know when you can move on, although most of the time they do this you already have a good handle on the situation. One of the most frustrating parts of this game is that enemies focus solely on YOU. Banzai chargers will run right past your entire squad just to attack you and enemies will ignore allies out of cover to shoot at you 100 yards downfield.

5) Grenade spamming:
Probably the aspect of this playthrough that will set you off more frequently than any other. The AI doesn't get smarter in this game, it just gets cheaper. There will be many occasions where you are maybe 50 yards or so downfield from the enemy and will suddenly find yourself surrounded by multiple perfectly thrown grenades that mean instant death if you don't move immediately. On Veteran, grenades will automatically kill you the majority of the time. If the indicator is solid that means it is nearby and I would recommend trying to through it back if you feel comfortable doing so. Any indicators that are partially transparent are farther a way and extremely likely to detonate before you can throw them away so I would recommend moving until the icon vanishes.

6) Regarding your own grenade usage:
On this difficulty you need to have perfected the art of grenade cooking. If you just throw it downfield the enemy will either run out of its blast radius or throw it right back. Also, don't worry about stockpiling your grenades, as there are plenty of them lying around the battlefield.

7) Weapon choice:
Above all else choose weapons that you are comfortable with, although I would recommend that you avoid all pistols, shotguns, and the flamethrower (except for unique circumstances; i.e. Burn 'em Out). I personally played through a large part of the game with one rifle (M1 Garand, Gewehr, PTRS) for long range and an automatic weapon (Type 100, MP40) for midrange to close quarters. This gives you weapons to handle all scenarios. Be sure that to choose weapons that suit the level you are playing. For example on Vendetta I played through a good portion with the Springfield and the PTRS since you will be sniping for the most part.

8) Practice beforehand:
Obviously I would highly recommend beating the game on Regular before attempting it on Veteran. Also, play through each level individually just before you play it on Veteran. This will give you an idea about what you have to do, where enemies come from, and what weapons you will encounter.

9) Take your time:
This should be a given but its important enough to stress again. Playing through levels on Veteran will take MUCH longer than they do on lower difficulty settings, so plan accordingly.

10) Don't be afraid to change tactics:
If you get stuck on an area, do something different. Take a different route, use different weapons, or play more aggressively. Checkpoints are perfect for attempting to just clear an area as quickly as you can.

11) Don't be discouraged if you have trouble:
This mode is extremely difficult. You will have periods when you wish to throw your controller through the TV. When this happens, pause the game, put it down and take a break. Eat something, watch TV, go on the computer, anything to calm yourself down. When you get angry, your play will suffer.

12) Remember you get a trophy for beating the game on HARDENED:
If you are REALLY having difficulty with a mission and don't think you'll be able to beat it on Veteran, lower the difficulty to at least earn Hardened War Hero.

That's all the advice I have for now, but I'll be sure to add tips as I continue my own Veteran playthrough. Feel free to comment or message me with any questions or additional info you think should be added.