The Best Games Set in World War II

Medal of Honor: Frontline

• Release Date — May 29, 2002
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Developer — EA Los Angeles
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — N/A
• Platforms — GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better World War II film than Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, so it makes sense that the director’s World War II video game series would stand as one of the greatest games taking place during the conflict. Spielberg’s production company, DreamWorks, would develop the first Medal of Honor for PS1 and its sequel before development would shift to publisher Electronic Arts’ LA studio for the next-gen iteration of the franchise. For Frontline, EA Los Angeles pulled out all the stops to deliver one of the most memorable and graphic World War II FPS campaigns in the pre-Call of Duty era. It’s worth playing this game for the opening level alone, which skillfully recreates the iconic and harrowing D-Day scene from the opening of Saving Private Ryan in interactive form.

Call of Duty: World at War

• Release Date — November 11, 2008
• Publisher — Activision
• Developer — Treyarch
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 92% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360

The Call of Duty franchise has always been popular among FPS players and fans of military-themed shooters, but the series didn’t really achieve true blockbuster success until 2007’s Modern Warfare. Rather than dive right into another contemporary-set entry in the series, the next game in the franchise would take players back to World War II using Infinity Ward’s new engine the team developed for Modern Warfare, delivering the best-looking Call of Duty set in World War II for nearly a decade. And, lest we forget, World at War is the game that introduced the world to what is arguably one of the Call of Duty series’ most popular modes — Zombies. Between its excellent single-player campaign and debut of the now infamous Zombies mode, World at War is a game set in history that happens to make a little history of its own.

Company of Heroes

• Release Date — September 11, 2006
• Publisher — Sega
• Developer — Relic Entertainment
• Review Aggregate Score — 93% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — Android, iOS, PC, Nintendo Switch

More than just one of the most realistic World War II games (complete with actual tactics used by the troops and accurate recreations of iconic battlefields), Company of Heroes is arguably one of the greatest squad-based tactics games ever. That the original is still preferable over its two sequels is a testament to how timeless and iconic Company of Heroes is, and it’s no less engaging nearly 20 years on from its launch. Ultimately, what makes Company of Heroes special among other World War II games is the unique way that it approaches the conflict and the soldiers themselves, giving players unique dual-level insight into the individuals on the ground and the larger tactical decisions at play that shifted the tide of war.

The Saboteur

• Release Date — December 8, 2009
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Developer — Pandemic Studios
• Review Aggregate Score — 72% (Mixed or Average)
• Steam User Score — 91% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Pandemic Studios used to be one of the best developers working under Electronic Arts’ umbrella, so it’s a shame that the studio is no longer around to continue releasing smart, well-designed action games. Thankfully, Pandemic would go out with a bang, delivering one of the more unique and compelling World War II games in The Saboteur. Unlike the studio’s previous titles (which include the excellent and over-the-top Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction and the timeless Star Wars: Battlefront), The Saboteur is an understated stealth game set during the Nazi occupation of France. As the name of the game implies, it’s up to you to put a wrench in the Germans’ war machine as a member of the resistance, and The Saboteur‘s recent release and glowing player reception on Steam show the title still resonates with players.

Commandos 2: Men Of Courage

• Release Date — September 20, 2001
• Publisher — Eidos Interactive
• Developer — Pyro Studios
• Review Aggregate Score — 87% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 84% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 2, Nintendo Switch, Xbox

Like Company of Heroes, Pyro Studios’ Commandos 2 is a classic within its genre that’s decades old, yet still as enjoyable now as it was back upon its release. This squad-based tactics and stealth game is a classic among PC players that would find its way to 6th-generation consoles in a heavily compromised form. Thankfully, the game’s legacy has been more recently better preserved in the phenomenal Commandos 2 HD Remaster, which is great whether playing it on PC or Nintendo Switch. Regardless of which version players happen to get their hands on, Commandos 2 offers plenty of World War II-era tactical stealth action across its 22 missions, rewarding players who take the time to commit to its steep learning curve.

Hell Let Loose

• Release Date — July 27, 2021
• Publisher — Team 17
• Developer — Expression Games, Cover 6 Studios
• Review Aggregate Score — 77% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 84% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

While there are purists out there who prefer Squad 44 (formerly Post Scriptum) when it comes to their World War II squad-based shooter, there’s something to be said for the more accessible Hell Let Loose. But while it’s not quite as steep of a challenge as Squad 44, Hell Let Loose is still a white-knuckle experience that faithfully emulates the shifting frontlines during a battle and sees massive swarms of competing players advance or retreat in hopes of victory. Launching into one of Hell Let Loose‘s massive 50v50 maps in stunning graphical fidelity makes you feel like you’re right there on the battlefield, and the tension never really lets up for as long as your squad is in the game. Aptly named, Hell Let Loose feels like a close approximation of the hellish atmosphere of a genuine World War II battlefield.

Battlefield V

• Release Date — November 20, 2018
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Developer — DICE
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 70% (Mostly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Back in the late 2010s, one of the more exciting head-to-head match-ups in gaming was the return of both Call of Duty and Battlefield to their traditional World War II setting, with Call of Duty: World War II releasing just a year before EA and DICE’s Battlefield V. Like previous games in the series, Battlefield V‘s multiplayer is more focused on larger-scale warfare versus COD‘s deathmatch-type gameplay, with players able to control era-appropriate vehicles to cross massive maps crammed with 64 combatants. Battlefield V is also an important game in the franchise thanks to its introduction of several new modes, including one of the earlier Battle Royale modes from a major AAA first-person shooter franchise. It’s not the most historically accurate game, but what Battlefield V lacks in realism it makes up for in fun.

Call of Duty: World War II

• Release Date — November 3, 2017
• Publisher — Activision
• Developer — Sledgehammer Games
• Review Aggregate Score — 80% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 69% (Mixed)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

The one-two punch of Call of Duty and Battlefield returning to their traditional World War II settings did a great job of establishing what each franchise does best, with Battlefield‘s excellent multiplayer juxtaposed against Call of Duty: World War II‘s far superior single-player campaign. COD‘s return to World War II following several futuristic entries in the series was a big deal, and the team at Sledgehammer Games pulled out all the stops to deliver what’s arguably one of the greatest campaigns in the series alongside the return of fan favorites like Zombies mode and much more. Notably, Call of Duty: World War II is also a fairly historically accurate game, not for its story and characters but for its painstakingly recreated buildings and environments from hundreds of hours of research and historical analysis.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

• Release Date — November 20, 2001
• Publisher — Activision
• Developer — Gray Matter Studios
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 92% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox

Prior to MachineGames’ wonderful reboot of the Wolfenstein franchise, the best modern game bearing the Wolfenstein legacy was, to many, Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Running off of id Software’s id Tech 3 engine used in the Quake series, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a darker, more horror-tinged take on the classic World War II first-person shooter with plenty of supernatural enemies to contend with and plenty of over-the-top action. Part of what makes Return such a great game is its ability to deftly straddle several subgenres within the FPS umbrella, blending elements of survival horror and stealth into what’s otherwise a fairly standard shooter. While the single-player campaign and its bizarre plot are arguably the highlight, I’d be remiss not to mention the excellent squad-based multiplayer mode that was a blast on PC in the early 2000s.

Sniper Elite 4

• Release Date — February 14, 2017
• Publisher — Rebellion
• Developer — Rebellion
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 91% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One

Rebellion’s Sniper Elite series now consists of 5 mainline games and several spin-offs, but it’s the 4th entry that stands as the best in the series. Taking players to first Italy and then Africa as part of the Axis Powers’ invasion of Albania, Sniper Elite 4 features some of the best stealth playgrounds in which to silently and skillfully take out enemy forces, complete with one of the best implementations of the franchise’s signature “X-Ray Camera” that zooms in to show kill shots in all their gory detail. And while the storyline itself is pure fiction, Sniper Elite 4 also features some authentic real-life nods to frightening Axis plans for advanced weaponry that never came to fruition, allowing players to feel like the unsung heroes of the war.

Battlefield 1942

• Release Date — September 10, 2002
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Developer — DICE
• Review Aggregate Score — 89% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — N/A
• Platforms — PC

The Battlefield franchise has evolved well beyond its original template, but none of that evolution would have been possible were it not for the excellent foundation EA and DICE laid with the series’ first game, Battlefield 1942. While it might look fairly dated by today’s standards, Battlefield 1942 was a bit of a technical marvel for its time. Not so much in its visuals but in its performance, stunning players of the era with its massive 64-player maps and well-balanced class system. With 5 different infantry roles players can select from, vehicles to pilot, and plenty of different maps to fight in, Battlefield 1942 is a classic squad-based FPS with multiplayer as its central focus, and it still stands as one of the best World War II games more than 20 years later.

Sumerian Six

• Release Date — September 2, 2024
• Publisher — Devolver Digital
• Developer — Artificer
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

The newest game on this list, Sumerian Six is the loving spiritual successor to Mimimi Games’ Shadow Tactics and Shadow Gambit, trading samurai and pirates for a ragtag group of supernaturally gifted soldiers in a World War II setting. Sumerian Six continues the stealthy turn-based tactics of the games that inspired it but adds plenty of charm, humor, and an occult twist to tell a World War II tale that would sit right with fans of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, along with a fairly compelling cast of characters that grow and develop as the game introduces new enemy types, mechanics, and other wrinkles to the gameplay. Team 17’s Classified: France ’44 offers similar stealth-based tactical thrills, but I find Sumerian Six to be a better-balanced game on the whole, making it the superior choice for a more contemporary World War II tactics game.

Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway

• Release Date — September 23, 2008
• Publisher — Ubisoft
• Developer — Gearbox Software
• Review Aggregate Score — 76% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 90% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Anyone who has a fondness for games set during World War II has likely played at least one game in Gearbox’s now-legendary Brothers In Arms series, and Hell’s Highway is the best in the franchise. After the first two games see players control a squad in purely first-person, Hell’s Highway switches things up to incorporate a camera shift during times when players take cover, transforming tense tactical encounters into a dynamic cover shooter, not unlike the Rainbow Six Vegas games. This shift in perspective gives a greater sense of strategy to positioning each member of your squad, and the use of real-world tactics and weaponry adds an extra layer of realism to a series already known for its gripping and emotional narratives. Hell’s Highway is truly one of a kind among World War II games and one of the greatest shooters of the era.

Medal of Honor: Airborne

• Release Date — August 28, 2007
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Developer — EA Los Angeles
• Review Aggregate Score — 78% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — N/A
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Like the Brothers In Arms series, Medal of Honor is a franchise known mostly for its gripping story-driven campaigns, and Airborne delivers what might be the best one in the franchise. Notably, Medal of Honor: Airborne is also the last great game in the franchise before diminishing returns and a failed attempt at a reboot. Regardless, Airborne gets a lot right and even manages to implement some innovation in the standard Medal of Honor gameplay. Rather than complete levels containing objectives in a set order, Airborne gives players the freedom to pick a landing point and approach the game’s campaign in a nonlinear fashion.

Aside from featuring the best single and multiplayer modes the series had seen up to that point, Airborne is also a great-looking game for the era. With any luck, EA will give Medal of Honor another look to deliver players a new single-player focused FPS set in WWII.

Call of Duty 2

• Release Date — October 25, 2005
• Publisher — Activision
• Developer — Infinity Ward
• Review Aggregate Score — 89% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 93% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, Xbox 360

Perhaps the greatest World War II game ever made, Call of Duty 2 would move the needle forward not just for military-themed shooters but for the entire FPS genre. Several elements that are now staple mechanics in the first-person shooter genre can trace their origins back to Call of Duty 2, and it was also Call of Duty 2‘s faithful audience that helped take the series into the mainstream thanks to its peerless multiplayer mode concurrent with the rise of online gaming. Aside from its importance to gaming and the franchise, though, Call of Duty 2 is just an excellent title with one of the greatest single-player campaigns of any first-person shooter, putting players into the shoes of three different allied soldiers fighting in each theater of war. A timeless classic that established Call of Duty as the definitive name in military shooters.