RAID: World War II

Raid: WWII is a monotonous, dated co-op shooter. It can be fun with a crew of friends, but there are better options.

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"RAID: World War II is a intense 4-player co-op shooter set in WWII, where players work together to thwart the Nazi regime and steal their gold. As prisoners of war, players must fight without mercy in various missions across Europe. Comedy legend John Cleese plays Control, a British Intelligence Agent assisting the team."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

64%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,686 reviews

story66 positive mentions

graphics66 negative mentions

Fun gameplay reminiscent of Payday 2 with a unique WWII twist.
Engaging character interactions and humorous cutscenes featuring John Cleese.
Recent updates have improved the game significantly, addressing many previous issues.

Limited content and repetitive missions lead to a lack of long-term engagement.
Poor AI behavior for both enemies and teammates can make gameplay frustrating.
The game suffers from performance issues and outdated graphics due to the Diesel engine.

story
445 mentions
15 % positive mentions
78 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The story in "Raid: World War II" is minimal and largely serves as a backdrop for the gameplay, focusing on a group of mercenaries tasked with sabotaging the Third Reich while stealing Nazi gold. Players engage in various missions that often lack depth and variety, with many objectives feeling repetitive and uninspired. While humorous cutscenes featuring Hitler's reactions to mission outcomes add a comedic touch, the overall narrative coherence is weak, making it feel more like a series of disjointed tasks rather than a cohesive story.
- “The missions that really shine for me are the ones that have a passable story for me, a good atmosphere, like Wiretap and Odin's Fall for example.”
- “After each mission you earn XP which allows you to level up, select perks and unlock weapon upgrades.”
- “The characters actually speak and banter throughout the missions unlike in Payday, which is honestly a super lovely touch.”
- “The game lacks any real story besides short cutscenes.”
- “The missions themselves are rather boring; it usually ranges from going into a location and killing someone, destroying something, or stealing something.”
- “There's no variety and the fact there's not that many missions to begin with means you will have to rotate between them over and over again.”
gameplay
292 mentions
20 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
15 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Raid: WWII" has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its similarities to "Payday 2" but criticizing it for being less polished and engaging. While some appreciate the co-op mechanics and character progression, others find the gameplay repetitive, lacking in variety, and plagued by bugs and poor AI. Overall, it offers a fun experience for fans of the genre, especially in multiplayer, but suffers from significant flaws that detract from its potential.
- “The skill system has been overhauled and makes a lot more sense now; you don't need a million mods in order to have a stable game, and the overall gameplay is wonderful.”
- “The gameplay is fun and rewarding with friends.”
- “The gameplay has the Payday DNA, but it's different enough to be its own thing.”
- “There is not much variety when it comes to gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is boring and uninspired; it's like a modding team with no experience tried to make a full conversion of payday 2 into a WW2 shooter and then gave up halfway through.”
- “The gameplay focuses mostly on shooting, and the shooting is pretty poor.”
graphics
233 mentions
14 % positive mentions
58 % neutral mentions
28 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have been widely criticized as outdated and subpar, often compared to titles from the early 2000s, with many reviewers noting that they resemble those of "Payday 2" but with even less polish. While some players appreciate the aesthetic and art direction, the general consensus is that the visuals are a significant drawback, detracting from the overall experience and making the game feel like a low-budget release. Despite the dated graphics, a few players argue that the gameplay can still be enjoyable if one can overlook the visual shortcomings.
- “The graphics are amazing, detailed animations, and also the difficulties live up to the name, so when it says very hard, it means you might want to have a good ol' cup of tea before attempting.”
- “This game is absolutely amazing and it should really get more players. 7/10; if there were better graphics, this would achieve 12/10.”
- “While the graphics can be better, I think that in the stage they are now, they are fully acceptable.”
- “The graphics are atrocious with crappy textures, horrible animations, a blurry (thanks to just FXAA being available) ugly mess.”
- “The graphics are a major downfall for it, and the amount of content currently available, with the current tier of graphics (HL2 era), does not make it worth the price.”
- “The graphics look worse than Payday 2.”
humor
89 mentions
98 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
2 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely appreciated, with many players finding the cutscenes featuring Hitler's exaggerated reactions particularly hilarious. The character banter and campy, cartoonish elements contribute to a lighthearted atmosphere, reminiscent of 90s cartoons, while the overall tone balances dark humor with absurdity. However, some players note that the humor can become repetitive over time, and the game's attempts at comedy may not resonate with everyone.
- “The dialogue and interactions between characters are fun, and the game has a great sense of humor that came as an enjoyable surprise to me!”
- “The end of raid Hitler cut scenes are always hilarious, John Cleese is a gem to have around.”
- “It's campy; Mr. Funny Stache literally plays out like a 90's cartoon villain, and the gameplay at its core is very diesel engine, with all the good and the bad.”
- “After every mission (and no, you can't turn it off), the game loads an incredibly cringy, terribly unfunny, horrendously 'acted' video where Adolf does something.”
grinding
82 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with players describing it as excessively tedious and time-consuming, particularly when leveling up characters and unlocking weapon upgrades. Many reviews highlight the repetitive nature of missions and the slow progression system, which can lead to frustration, especially for solo players. While some players find enjoyment in the grind when playing with friends, the overall sentiment is that the game suffers from a lack of balance and variety, making the grinding experience feel more like a chore than a rewarding challenge.
- “However...despite the updates that will arrive at some point (currently on a beta ptr), it can be somewhat grindy and frustrating, especially on high difficulties as the horde mode/bullet sponges become fully evident.”
- “It's fucking absurd how grindy it is and rivals free-to-play titles in that regard.”
- “In short, the game's system of progress has too much of a grinding formula that rewards little with gameplay that starts becoming repetitive and functions worse than games that are older but with the same graphics and engine.”
optimization
59 mentions
15 % positive mentions
44 % neutral mentions
41 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been a contentious issue among players, with many noting significant improvements since its rocky launch nearly seven years ago. However, persistent performance problems, including crashes, stuttering, and low-quality graphics, continue to plague the experience for some users, leading to mixed opinions on its overall stability and playability. While recent updates have addressed some issues, many still find the game poorly optimized, especially on higher-end systems.
- “Released almost 7 years ago, this game continues to receive updates and improvements from the devs. While it had a rocky start, the performance has vastly improved, and it runs smoothly now.”
- “There have been a few performance and quality of life updates rather recently (17/07/23), which is always a plus.”
- “[*] Optimization has been improved drastically.”
- “Almost 7 years and the performance is still horrible.”
- “Its performance is slightly improved, but it still has crashes that can happen at any time.”
- “I wanted to defend the game so damn bad, I loved playing it in the beta, but for me the game has gotten even more poorly optimized, leaving the game nearly unplayable to me.”
music
58 mentions
22 % positive mentions
66 % neutral mentions
12 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it generic, repetitive, and uninspired compared to the energetic soundtracks of games like Payday 2. While some appreciate the orchestral elements that evoke a classic war movie atmosphere, others feel it fails to enhance the gameplay experience, often leading to boredom during missions. Overall, the soundtrack lacks the excitement and variety that players expect from a high-octane heist game.
- “The operations have an old-fashioned war movie atmosphere that, coupled with the orchestral soundtrack, make them feel straight out of films like The Dirty Dozen and Kelly's Heroes.”
- “This game is very fun, has a great soundtrack and very fun missions, can't wait for future updates!”
- “Killing Nazis, pissing off Hitler, stealing gold, amazing soundtrack.”
- “The music is so terrible that if you turn the music off completely and put the Payday 2 soundtrack on instead, the game actually feels better than it is, which is a testament to how important sound design is.”
- “It's the most bland, uninspired, and boring music ever found in a war game.”
- “The soundtrack is bland and adds nothing to the experience; it boggles my mind that they missed the fact that the amazing soundtrack was what gave Payday/Payday 2 a lot of its energy and staying power even when the gameplay had its boring moments.”
stability
54 mentions
6 % positive mentions
-4 % neutral mentions
98 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has been widely criticized, with many users reporting frequent freezes, crashes, and various bugs that significantly impact gameplay. While some players note improvements over time, the game is still considered very buggy, with issues like desyncing, AI glitches, and performance problems persisting. Overall, the game's launch state was deemed unfinished and problematic, drawing unfavorable comparisons to its predecessor, Payday 2.
- “For me, the game runs great on the highest settings.”
- “I haven't experienced any crashes or major bugs, which is impressive.”
- “The performance is smooth, even during intense gameplay moments.”
- “Very buggy, likes to freeze and crash on occasion, some multiplayer syncing issues, and there have been instances of player progression resetting.”
- “Broken on launch, low performance, incredibly buggy and unplayable.”
- “The game essentially takes all the bad things from both the original and sequel payday games, mixes them together, and produces a buggy mess of a game that plays very choppy and flows as well as a dam blocked stream.”
replayability
26 mentions
23 % positive mentions
54 % neutral mentions
23 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with some players enjoying the variety of missions and character customization, while others find the content limited and repetitive. Although certain aspects, like the skill system and randomization in raids, offer potential for replay, many reviewers note a lack of substantial challenges and a desire for more diverse content. Overall, while some players appreciate the replay value, others feel it falls short compared to similar games like Payday.
- “With the revamped skill system that is flexible enough to allow for experimentation, the different classes, the solid array of guns (all of which feel unique and viable), and the amount of stuff that can be obtained with gold, the game is certainly not lacking for some replayability.”
- “All content is designed to be thoroughly replayable.”
- “Cards give a ton of replayability value to the game, and can result in some extremely fun situations.”
- “Sadly lacking in replayability, though I'd still recommend you pick this up when it's on sale.”
- “While the game looks terrible, the driving still sucks, it's short on content, it's not very replayable and some missions just really suck, it does other things really well.”
- “This game is really bad; there is close to no replayability to most of the missions in this and there are like 10 of them.”
monetization
18 mentions
6 % positive mentions
6 % neutral mentions
89 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has been heavily criticized, with many users labeling it as a "cash grab" and expressing disappointment over misleading advertising and a lack of effective promotion. Players feel that the game's launch failed to attract a broader audience, primarily relying on the Payday 2 community for support, which resulted in a low player base. Additionally, there are concerns about the developers' previous promises regarding microtransactions, which have contributed to a negative perception of the game's monetization strategy.
- “+ no microtransactions at time of release”
- “Yes, that same piece of shit Almir who lied about never adding microtransactions to Payday 2.”
- “Raid: World War II feels like a low-effort cash grab.”
- “They've clearly tried to attract customers that are interested by the WW2 setting, but they've failed to convey any of the important lessons from that history, as if they'd only done it as a cash grab for an American audience.”
atmosphere
9 mentions
44 % positive mentions
22 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is praised for its effective blend of panic and urgency, reminiscent of classic war films, enhanced by a strong orchestral soundtrack and distinct voice acting that adds depth to character interactions. While some missions excel in creating an engaging ambiance, the overall graphics are considered outdated, leading to mixed feelings about the game's immersive qualities. Despite these criticisms, the unique personality and humor within the WWII setting contribute positively to the overall atmosphere.
- “The atmosphere of those moments in particular is really well done, creating just enough panic to get the whole team moving quickly.”
- “The operations have an old-fashioned war movie atmosphere that, coupled with the orchestral soundtrack, makes them feel straight out of films like The Dirty Dozen and Kelly's Heroes.”
- “The graphics also fit the atmosphere and time very well.”
- “The graphics feel outdated, the game lacks atmosphere and overall, I've yet to feel any sense of achievement for finishing a raid.”
- “The operations have an old-fashioned war movie atmosphere that, coupled with the orchestral soundtrack, make them feel straight out of films like The Dirty Dozen and Kelly's Heroes.”
- “The voice acting of the playable characters is consistently good, and unlike PD2, they all have distinct and consistent personalities that help maintain a self-aware, overdramatic atmosphere that, when it isn't overshadowed by something else, is well done.”
emotional
4 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players express a mix of emotions regarding the game, with some feeling heartened by its growth in player base, while others describe their experience as disappointing and lacking depth. The emotional responses range from nostalgia and hope to frustration and sadness, highlighting the game's polarizing impact on its audience.
- “It may not be much, but seeing the game go from peaking at 5 players to holding a modest player base of 100-150 players off the update is kind of heartwarming, in a way.”
- “Incessantly, I played Payday 2, reminding myself that even a spectacular and mentally wholesome game such as Raid: World War II has to undergo production from time to time and maybe I also didn't know about it for several years.”