Have you ever played Call of Duty 4 online? Then you'll instantly be at home with World at War multiplayer. In fact, its pretty much identical except for the World War Two setting – different maps, Seelow, Makin, Berlin etc and authentic World War Two weapons. You begin life as a bog standard private and must gain four ranks before you unlock the create a class option. Here you can choose to create classes with different weapons and perks; skills that increase your effectiveness on the battlefield, from flak jackets to protect you to making your chosen weapon more dangerous with Deep Impact and Stopping Power and similar perks. Also like Call of Duty 4, the more kills you rack up unlocks weapon challenges which in turn gives you extra experience points and weapon upgrades such as suppressors, sights, bipods etc....as you rank up through the levels, you unlock more weapons and more perks. Like I said, very similar to Modern Warfare.
 
Now at level eighteen, you unlock Hardcore mode. My mode. Realistic mode. Now you will forgive me if I rant for a while but I feel I have to; from levels one to eighteen, the matches, for me anyway, weren't fun. The problem may be that I am too used to playing Hardcore on Modern Warfare – I like the realism, the realistic damage, the lack of a radar, the friendly fire, it appeals to me and makes games more exciting and edgy. Running after an enemy soldier through the ruins of Berlin and unloading an entire magazine from your MP40 into his back only for him to emerge unscathed is frankly, in my opinion, unforgivable in an online shooter, it detracts from any sense of making every shot count. It's frustrating and no fun at all. In the un-Hardcore mode, the submachine gun is king, its a case of who has the fastest gun wins and thats about that. The usual scenario is after expending a magazine into some poor unfortunate, you'll be rubbed out by his comrade while you reload. Typical. Rant over.
 
I'm not saying that the multiplayer is weak by any stretch of the imagination, I just can't grasp the point of not playing it in Hardcore mode. In fact, if anyone has the game and doesn't play Hardcore, then I'd like to know why.......