10 Greatest Unspoken Video Game Plot Points

Call of Duty: World at War may turn 15 (!) years old next year, but it still lays claim to one of the most ingenious pieces of subtle environmental storytelling in the series' history.

During the sixth campaign mission Burn 'em Out, players are tasked with operating an M2 Flamethrower and torching the Imperial Japanese Army's trenches and artillery positions.

While a burning Japanese soldier will most often say "kasai" (meaning "fire") or "atsuidesu" (meaning "hot"), sometimes they'll actually say "api" or "panas" instead.

This is significant because the latter two words actually aren't Japanese at all but Indonesian. This suggests that the soldiers in question are members of the Indonesian Army who were captured and forcibly conscripted to join the Japanese Army instead.

It's a detail as interesting as it is horrifying, and certainly lends mesmerising added shade to what, superficially, is one hell of a badass mission.