Call of Duty is one of the longest-running franchises of all time. The series might be criticized for its lack of innovation at times, but there's no denying the fact that the license has garnered a massive audience that loves each installment for its intense multiplayer action and great single-player campaigns, permitting the latter to be included in an entry.
Call of Duty: World at War deserves all its plaudits for being a pretty excellent game in the series. It kickstarted the Black Ops saga, building the foundations for one of the greatest Call of Duty games of all time. Players who want to check this FPS out in modern times can enhance their experience with the use of the following mods.
Updated on April 28, 2023, by Ritwik Mitra: Call of Duty: World at War, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision, is a first-person shooter set during World War 2. Released in 2008, it received critical acclaim for its intense gameplay, realistic graphics, and fun campaign. Players are thrust into the harsh realities of war as they navigate through war-torn environments, experiencing brutal battles and facing a wealth of enemy soldiers that can snuff their lives out in no time flat if they aren't careful enough.
Players who want to enjoy the game even more can download a wealth of mods to reinvigorate the experience. While the modding community for the game is far from a thriving one, players can still try out some of these CoD: WaW mods to make the game feel fresh and engaging once again. The best ones of the bunch are mentioned below.
13 China War
Many people feel that the Chinese participation in World War 2 is not really shown all that well, which is a shame since fighting on Chinese battlefields can be a great setting for a game set in this tumultuous time period. While official games may not have touched upon this aspect of the war all that much, players can download a mod for World at War that takes care of this instead.
While this mod is nothing more than a reskin of the main campaign, that doesn't mean that players shouldn't check it out at all. The NPC reskins are great, and weapons certainly look unique... although players should keep in mind that the Lee-Enfield and its variants are rendered broken by this mod, with their iron sights being totally useless. However, this is a small gripe, and China War is a great reskin mod in every other way that players intimately familiar with each and every detail of Call of Duty: World at War should check out.
12 Pacific Theater
Historical accuracy is a topic that can bring about several varying responses from players. Some people prefer games to be fun and exhilarating experiences at all costs, and don't mind if historical accuracy has to take a backseat as a result. Meanwhile, other players feel that games that take place in certain time periods need to do justice to the setting, and developers have a responsibility to do what's right and portray these historical settings in an accurate and respectful manner.
It's no secret that Call of Duty leans toward the latter side, with these historical periods serving as a backdrop for players to become one-man armies as they mow down enemies and destroy entire bases without a care in the world. This is why mods like Pacific Theater exist, which try to bring back historical accuracy in some form or the other. The changes brought about by this mod are actually pretty minor, but welcome regardless — it increases the accuracy of teammates to make them seem more like competent soldiers instead of incompetent wannabes, and it fixes the sound of the M1 Carbine to make it more accurate to its real-life variant.
11 Vendetta: Darkest Days
Players who want a more comprehensive mod to heighten the historical accuracy and immersion present in Call of Duty: World at War will be well-serviced by Vendetta: Darkest Days, a decent mod that brings about its fair share of small yet meaningful changes. Most of the changes are reskins that aim to make outfits, uniforms, and weapons look more accurate.
The mod also adds some models from Call of Duty 3 for greater visual variety, which is always welcome. These changes may seem superficial, but players who are extremely adamant about their games being as historically accurate as possible will be more than happy with the changes Vendetta: Darkest Days brings to the table.
10 Fall Of Berlin
Call of Duty is many things, but historically accurate is definitely not one of the pillars it holds up strongly. The games take many liberties with their settings to promote bombastic action over realistic moments. This is one of the biggest criticisms of Call of Duty, with the titles feeling like a twisted celebration of war that doesn't do justice when it comes to depicting the horrors of these wasteful conflicts.
Fall of Berlin is one such mod that aims to make war seem realistic and brutal in this game. Players take on the role of Sergeant Reznov in this brutal mod where enemies have extremely accurate and deadly while a few inopportune moments are all it'll take for players to bite the dust sooner rather than later.
9 Axis Player: Expanded Edition
An expanded edition of a popular mod for World at War, Axis Player: Enhanced Edition is a rather simple mod. Its function seems so basic, yet it makes a world of difference when it comes to the gameplay.
With this mod, the models for Axis and Allied soldiers are flipped. This changes everything in the game modes and flips the script to make for a unique experience. Playing as a member of the Axis forced against the Allied enemies makes for a fresh change that might just be right up the alley of players who are bored of the vanilla campaign and gameplay.
8 Nazi Zombie Modern Weapons
Zombies mode has become a classic in Call of Duty. World at War was no exception, featuring a great mode that allowed players to experience the hectic nature of trying to survive against powerful zombies.
With this mod, the weapons present in Zombies mode are changed considerably. Instead of the archaic weapons of its time, the mod adds new modern options for the player to mess around with. It's a simple yet great mod that modernizes a Zombies mode that definitely feels aged and is in dire need of an overhaul.
7 Vietnam Mod
The Vietnam War left a huge mark on history, and it has served as the setting for many movies and games. Therefore, it's only a given that this setting would be replicated in a mod for World at War.
The Vietnam mod does exactly what is stated by its heading. It adds a bunch of new maps, player modes, weapons, and everything else along those lines to make for an extremely authentic experience as players place themselves in the shoes of a soldier during the Vietnam War.
It's a simple yet great mod for players who want to play through simulated conflicts during this conflict in the World at War engine.
6 W@W Frontlines
Featuring a selection of new and improved maps for the game, W@W Frontlines is a great mod to freshen up the experience of playing this game. A lot of work has gone into the classic maps that are rebuilt in World at War's engine.
W@W Frontlines is a brilliant mod that deserves all its plaudits. It might take a few patches before the multiplayer starts working properly, but it's worth it just to check out the amazing maps in this mod. That being said, all this effort might be ultimately useless if the player base using this mod is low, so players should ideally have a group of friends with whom they can play local multiplayer matches instead.
5 Zombie Realism Mod
Players who want the Zombies mode of World at War to be completely overhauled will be well-serviced by this mod. It's an ambitious project that aims to completely revamp the experience of playing through Zombies mode in this game.
The sheer number of changes made by this mod is truly extensive. It increases the difficulty of Zombies in a balanced way, makes the enemies harder to deal with, increases the number of weapons, and adds a number of other changes that spice up the gameplay quite a bit.
4 ERM - Extreme Realism Mod
A mod that serves as a great total conversion of World at War, ERM is a must-have mod for fans. The vast changes made by this mod make it well worth the price of admission, which is also free!
Everything from new classes to engaging game modes has been added to the title, with gameplay being tweaked quite a bit as well. It's a great mod for players of this underrated Call of Duty entry.
3 The Rising
The Zombies mode is something that modders love to tweak in World at War. The Rising is one such mod that aims to accomplish something really ambitious.
With this mod, players can engage in the fun of Zombies mode on a multiplayer server that can house up to 64 people! It can be a chore to try and get these many people playing World at War concurrently, but this mode is still a blast with a lower number of players.
2 Brothers Realism Mod
Call of Duty isn't a series known for being particularly strategic. That being said, some of its competitors don't shy away from this aspect of a military shooter, and players who really want World at War to replicate this strategic gameplay can do the same with this mod.
The Brothers Realism mod allows players to call for help, unleash mortar strikes, and perform many unique actions on the battlefield. It adds a layer of depth to the gameplay that has never been seen in World at War.
1 Textures And Sounds Mod
Given how dated World at War is, it's only a given that its graphics and audio design aren't exactly up to par with modern titles. However, modders have tried to modernize the look and feel of this game quite a bit.
This can be seen with the Textures and Sounds mod for the game. It's a rather self-explanatory mod that overhauls these outdated aspects of World at War to make it easier on the eyes and ears of players.
Call Of Duty: World At War was released on November 11th, 2008, and is available for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, and Nintendo DS.