Call of Duty: WWII Microtransactions will have to be Handled Sensitively

Despite moving away from the far future, microtransactions will certainly be present in Call of Duty: WWII and they will have to be handled with care and sensitivity. This comes down to the fact that instead of the game being based on a created fantasy event, it will take players through historic moments. It's different when you're having fun in a futuristic setting compared to emulating actual events in history. There needs to be a certain level of respect shown to not only provide an authentic scene, but to make sure that there isn't an outcry against the gameplay.

I'm all for people spending their money however they'd like on decorative items, but what's available in this one will need to be somewhat proper. That means with the supply system they're most likely providing; the skins, tools and weapons will have to be close to what actual weapons you could come across. It just won't fly to have lime green colored guns or rubber ducky’s on weapons as that's just disrespectful. Not only could it cause some issues with how the game is perceived, it'll most certainly annoy players wanting Sledgehammer to embrace the realistic and gritty war.

Call of Duty Microtransactions WWII

Despite not having quite the same system or time in place, I felt that the first Black Ops handled customization well. Changing of your emblem was cool, throwing it on the gun was a nice touch and it kept it realistic. Black Ops wasn't quite at the level of a World War, but still went over serious material. There were things to buy with the CoD Points and while that system didn't last long, it was neat. This gave players some fun tools that were close to realistic and gun skins that retained the gritty look. They weren't fancy or colorful, but it worked well and gave players just enough customization to make it work for everyone involved.

Weapons and tools are another questionable area with what might be done. When looking at Modern Warfare Remastered I'm downright pissed off that they've added stupid melee weapons and while they don't change anything, it looks stupid. That's somewhat of a different complaint, when remastering things I like them left close as possible to the original. I'd assume there would be a larger focus on these items if colored gun skins aren't present and what options will be there? Battlefield 1 seems to find the right balance between serious melee and fun, so hopefully Sledgehammer will. With this taking place in World War II I'm curious as to what weapons will be accepted and how far away from realistic weapons the developers travel. The best guess would be seeing an authentic set of guns at launch and then wilder ones as the season pass/supply drop depot progresses.

This would be somewhat similar to the scheming behind Modern Warfare's new guns that came post-launch as a surprise. I say this as a warning to those that expect the launch set of weapons to be the definitive set as no matter how realistic or not, there will most likely be strange things coming later. I hope that they aim to keep the game as realistic as possible and despite there being microtransactions whether we like it or not, that they be tasteful. Games are meant to be fun, but with such a setting things should be handled with an authentic focus and not something like shown above.

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Gamerheadquarters Reviewer Jason Stettner