COD5 video premiere approaching

The first footage of the next instalment in the Call of Duty series will be shown exclusively on Xbox LIVE this weekend.

Call Of Duty World At War is being developed by Treyarch whilst Modern Warfare's creators, Infinity Ward, presumably take a well earned rest. It's purported to be a darker, grittier game, swapping some of the 'Boy's Own Adventure' stylings of the previous games for a sense of real endangerment. In fact, according to Treyarch head Mark Lamir, "This is a scarier Call of Duty than we've ever seen."

Speaking to Official Xbox Magazine, Lamir also talked about the changes they'd made to the AI system to reflect the battlefield tactics of the Imperial Japanese army. Apparently there will be less hiding in trenches and flanking manoeuvres, more hiding in trees and suicidal sword charges.

The game will use an improved version of the engine which powers the truly excellent CoD4, with lighting and physics getting a facelift. A fire propagation model features too, allowing the new flamethrower weapon to toast all and sundry.

World At War has had a significantly longer development time than CoD3, being boiled on the ideas hob for twice as long as its elder cousin. Everyone is being a bit coy about details so far, especially as World At War is somewhat optimistically scheduled for this Christmas, but we do know that vehicles will feature again and that co-op campaigning has been introduced. Local co-op will be a 2 person split-screen affair, whilst online will be a hairy foursome.

World At War will be available on 360, PS3, PC and Wii.