Before 2017, Call of Duty had been moving towards more futuristic settings and stories. But the annual first-person shooter franchise brought it all back home with Call of Duty: WWII. The game does its best to recreate the large-scale conflict and while it does a pretty good job to the layman's eye, more avid historians will no doubt spot inaccuracies.
Those with a keen eye for history will both be impressed by the times where the game is accurate and frustrated with the moments where they dropped the ball on realism. At the end of the day, the game is still a tight first-person shooter regardless of its faithfulness to historical accuracy.
10 The Tanks In The Opening Scene
The opening scene shows Axis troops marching through France with tanks of all different varieties. Mainly, one can see tanks with long and short barrels. However, since their attacks on the country took place in 1940, there should only be short-barrel tanks. Germany did not start producing and using tanks with long barrels until 1942.
9 PPSh-41 In Normandy
The opening level recreates the dramatic Normandy invasion. Once the American forces breach the barricade and take out the first group of enemies, they can pick up a machine gun called PPSh-41. This is a Russian weapon, but by this time, Germans had captured a whole stockpile of Soviet weaponry and had repurposed them for their own use. It is interesting to pay such close attention to a detail some may misinterpret as an inaccuracy.
8 Sherman's Canon Should Be Able To Rip Through A Panzer
Midway through the game, the player takes control of a Sherman tank and has to battle it out with a German Panzer. To beat it, the player has to maneuver their way behind the enemy and shoot the back.
However, the canon should have had no problem breaking through the enemy tank's front armor. If it was a Tiger and not a Panzer, then it would be more appropriate to have to circle around.
7 The Dogfighting Sequence
The Dogfight sequence, while cool, comes with its own factual inaccuracies. For one, a plane holding bombs would not also be escorting planes and then offer assistance. The added fuel expenditure from the increased payload would not make sense. Nor would the planes be as agile like they are when playing the segment. However, even World War II enthusiasts might not know the nuances of flight deeply enough to notice this one.
6 Town Names And Locations
One thing the game gets right to a tee is the geography. All the towns and cities mentioned are real locations in Europe. Most of the time, real battles took place there too. That last tidbit would be hard to be wrong about, however, since fighting went on over nearly every inch of the continent.
5 The Date Of The Liberation Mission
The mission "Liberation" puts players into the shoes of a French Resistance fighter for the first half before switching back to Daniels for its bombastic finale. The level starts out stealthily, which is curious considering it takes place on August 25th. The battle for the city started on August 19th, and ended on the night the mission starts in the game. By the 25th, the streets would have already been erupting in violence and a calm banquet would not be taking place.
4 Using Other Country's Weapons
The Wehrmacht had a serious need for weaponry and supplies during World War II. As such, the PPSh-41 was far from the only piece of equipment repurposed for their needs.
They often used weapons and equipment from other countries to supply their own forces. For instance, the SVT-40, which players can lift from dead enemies, is another Soviet weapon which German forces used during the conflict.
3 German Defenses In Normandy
Surprisingly, the Normandy level is quite simple, especially in the beginning. It is difficult to blame them, however, considering it serves as the game's introduction. Making it an impossibly hard mission would turn a lot of players off. However, it does lend to the game's historical inaccuracy. The beaches were covered in mines and various other obstacles in addition to the barbed wire. Additionally, players breach the defenses in just a couple of minutes.
2 M1 Garand
Traditionally, an M1 Garand's bolts automatically snap forward once the magazine is loaded. However, the reloading animation shows the player manually pushing the bolt forward after putting the clip inside.
The method of reloading is so well-known, injuries caused from getting one's thumb stuck inside the chamber from its automatic release has been dubbed "Garand thumb." Considering the research put into the game, it seems odd to miss this, though pushing the chamber forward is admittedly flashy.
1 The Rhine
In reality, the battle for the Ludendorff Bridge was far less dramatic in real life than it was in the game. That's not to say it wasn't dramatic at all — soldiers still crossed the bridge through smoke and fire as the Germans' explosives failed to completely destroy the bridge — but the U.S. lost just over 900 men in the whole 18-day battle, and while the Nazis' casualties are unknown, about 19,000 were captured. Additionally, an American soldier never commandeered a German anti-aircraft gun to shoot down the Stukas trying to blow up the bridge.