Call of Duty: WW2 Gameplay Walkthrough Part 6 - Collateral Strike (1/2)

Collateral Damage is the sixth campaign level in Call of Duty: WWII. It takes place during the Battle of Aachen. The player assumes control of SSG Augustine Perez in the early minutes of the level before controlling Ronald "Red" Daniels for the rest of the mission. The player is later ordered to rescue civilians involved in the battle, including Anna and Erica. This is the only campaign level which features destructible environments.

Months after liberation of Paris, the 1st Infantry Division is in the heart of the bombed out city of Aachen, the first city in Germany attacked by the Allies. Daniels receives a letter from Hazel, but Stiles warns him not to open it as he believes Hazel wrote it to let him know she is leaving him.

The next morning Turner's platoon attacks the Aachen theatre in the center of the city. They are outnumbered and surrounded as German infantry attacks them from all sides. Daniels, Aiello and Pierson run to the theatre and use a field phone to make contact with Perez and the 745th Tank Battalion, who are in a different part of the city. Perez and Rabson reroute from their mission to save Turner's platoon. On their way, they are attacked by a Panzer IV, which destroys Rabson's tank and kills the crew. This leaves Perez alone in a battle with a Tiger II and another Panzer IV. After destroying them, Perez finally arrives at the theatre and clears out the Germans, securing the square and saving Turner's platoon.

The platoon then continues moving forward to reach Hotel Allendorf, the last German stronghold in the city. Their relatively quiet journey is then interrupted as a machine gun fires on the street, forcing them to go through ruined buildings instead, swarming with German troops. Once the long fight through apartments is finished, they reach the hotel and surprise German infantry by breaking through one of the walls with a rocket launcher. Once the lobby of the hotel is cleared, they move to the basement, where they find a group of civilians hiding. They are greeted by Erica and her young sister Anna. Erica begs for help since they have run out of supplies, and although Turner wants to get them out, Pierson is reluctant, arguing that it was not their mission. They remember that there is a German truck in front of the hotel, which they will use to safely evacuate the civilians. Zussman communicates with Erica in German to calm her down, to the surprise of his squadmates. He reveals that his family is in fact German-Jewish. This makes Pierson suspicious of Zussman again, being mad that he didn't tell them he could speak German earlier.

Daniels and Aiello start the truck before German reinforcements arrive and drive it to the front of the hotel. As civilians board the truck, Erica starts panicking when she realizes Anna has ran back to the basement. Daniels heads out alone to find her. He runs to the basement, but is surprised by German troops. He tackles them in a melee fight and locks himself in the basement, where he finds Anna hiding in a closet. However, the rest of the German infantry tracks him down and looks for him in the basement, forcing him to sneak his way out with Anna. When he reaches the hotel lobby, there is already a raging gunfight between the platoon and German reinforcements. Daniels makes it through the warzone and returns Anna to Erica.

When all the civilians are reunited, Turner wants his squad to guard the truck until it's completely ready. Pierson and Zussman argue that it is too risky, as they might draw fire from German troops, so the truck is probably safer with no US infantry near it. Turner dismisses this and orders everyone to keep alongside the truck. They are soon attacked by a German patrol, which opens fire on them. Most of the bullets end up in the back of the truck, and Erica collapses on the ground dead, with at least one bullet ripped through her heart. Pierson finally orders the truck driver to go, and he drives the civilians away. Turner watches the truck drive away in silence, realizing that Pierson was in fact right about leaving the civilians alone.