Breaking Point

"This is the enemy's last stand. When we take Shuri Castle, we go home. All of us."

- Sgt. Roebuck

"Breaking Point" is the thirteenth mission in Call of Duty: World at War. It takes place in and around Shuri Castle on Okinawa Island, Japan. It is the last mission in the Pacific theater.

Characters

 * Miller (playable)
 * Roebuck (Alive/K.I.A.) (player-determined)
 * Polonsky (Alive/K.I.A.) (player-determined)

Starting Point
Upon starting the level, the player will notice there is no ammo in the M1 Garand given, but a parachute containing ammo will drop. Sprint to the spot and choose a weapon - the guns are: Thompson, M1 Garand, M1919 Browning Machine Gun and a Scoped Springfield. The M1919 Browning is mostly recommended, as later in the level, in the room with two waiting banzai soldiers in the East building there will be a Type 100 and a Browning M1919 with a good amount of ammo. The Scoped Springfield is recommended as a backup, as the campaign level mostly consists of medium-to-far ranged fighting and the M1 Garand is not always a 1 hit kill, whereas the Scoped Springfield is always with a head or body shot. There are also a few MGs in the level and enemies at a distance which are best killed with a sniper rifle.

The crate has infinite ammo, but it is not recommended to run back and forth after wasting some ammo, as the enemies can mow the player down quickly. After choosing a loadout and reloading, a Japanese ambush squad surrounding the area starts a fight with the US marines. Snipers will appear in the trees, and soon after, enemy mortars will be fired at the player's squad. Quickly, follow Roebuck and Polonsky to cover. Roebuck says that there must be spotters underground as the Japanese knew of the team's position almost immediately. The player is told to go inside and clear it of Japanese forces.

After getting past the part where the player must crouch and walk, cook a grenade and throw it at the group of Japanese who have not noticed the player yet - this will take care of most of them. Use any automatic weapons to gun the rest down. After getting out of it, there will be a large firefight and after this the player will have to destroy Japanese mortar positions. Before the player can pickup and throw mortar rounds, there is a high up MG the player must kill, and many enemies will come out of spider holes and either throw grenades, banzai charge, or spray their weapon.

Be careful if the player chooses one side to just fight on since enemies will only come out of spider holes when the player is near, and Japanese throwing grenades will most always kill the player if they are in range when the grenade lands. Once the player wipes out these forces, go up the set of stairs and prepare for the rest of the battle. Use mortar rounds on tables scattered around the place and in the pits themselves to ease the work. Try to throw them on groups of enemies, into the pits, or just freelance throwing, but beware they are very, very powerful. Throwing one too close will cause the player to die, or get seriously injured. After this, the player will enter what resembles the multiplayer map Courtyard, finally the player will go into a large open field with the courtyard buildings and some sandbags, and this is where the real twist of the knife is.

The Twist
Some Japanese soldiers will appear to be surrendering, but it is a trap. As Polonsky goes to one and Roebuck goes to the other two to check for weapons, they lash out and activate grenades, and the player must save one of them. If the player saves Roebuck, Polonsky will die, and vice versa. Saving Roebuck is harder, as there are two soldiers, and a grenade is scripted to go off. When saving Roebuck, he is distraught at Polonsky's death and turns into what Reznov is, ordering the player to show no mercy and kill all enemy soldiers. If the player saves Polonsky, similar things will happen, Polonsky will go into a rage and order to show no mercy and starts cursing at the charging attackers.

The player can choose to skip the 'moaning' part and choose between some automatic weapon or the Scoped Arisaka if the player is out of Scoped Springfield ammo. Be aware that the Scope on the Arisaka is unusual and does not use typical crosshairs, and after each shot when the bolt is moved the scope will dramatically sway down and up. Since the Japanese throw smoke and since there are many of them, scoped weaponry is not recommended at this point. An M1 Garand and Browning or Thompson are better weapons at this point.

Many smoke grenades will pour out, and Japanese Banzai Chargers will scream and rush towards the player. Be careful, as it is impossible to see the Japanese soldiers, so stay in cover and prepare to kill any Banzai chargers that will soon run to the player's position. After the smoke grenades are gone, take out a long-ranged weapon (recommended the Scoped Springfield or Scoped Arisaka) and snipe Japanese soldiers until the radio is available. Call in the airstrikes on the building, and look to the right. Similarly, smoke grenades will pour out, but now the player can use the mortar rounds to bring down the enemies.

Still, many Banzai chargers will be spawned frequently, so take care. This time, the building takes two airstrikes to be destroyed. Either snipe the enemies from a far side, or take cover and wait for Banzai Chargers. After calling in the airstrikes on the buildings, the battle ends, and the surviving one of the two (Roebuck or Polonsky) will give the player the other's tag, hinting that they do not deserve his death and are extremely upset and feel guilty of the other's death, even though they could not do anything. But whatever the scenario, it is extremely emotional, compared to the Soviet's campaign's ending, which gives it the better sense of victory.

If the player does save Roebuck, the Xbox achievement/ PS3 trophy Guardian Angel is rewarded. On the Xbox it is worth 10 Gamerscore, and on the PS3 it is a Bronze trophy.

Trivia

 * The supply bags are identical to the objectives for the attackers in Search and Destroy.
 * During the sniper shot that kills the soldier at the beginning of the level, the ammo drop will sometimes come out of midair.
 * If the player does not try to save Polonsky or Roebuck, Polonsky will push down and beat up his opponent and the grenade will explode, causing Roebuck to die.
 * If Polonsky dies, the player can take the M1 Garand to use in the final battle, but if Roebuck dies, the player cannot take his Thompson.
 * After the player climbs out of the bunker, an anonymous marine throws a Satchel Charge in the bunker though the player killed everyone before.
 * When the bunker quoted above is demolished, the ground above it would cave-in, but that doesn't happen.
 * In the same bunker, it's possible to perform a glitch where the player gets back in the bunker while it's being demolished. The room is still intact, in fact the only change is a dirt/rubble layer added under the trap-door. The player can get out, but it's not possible to get back in after the collapse.
 * When the player primes the mortars, the object is to hit them on a hard surface. However, the player can turn around and the mortars will still make the sound of it hitting something, but there is nothing but air directly beneath it.
 * Sometimes, if Roebuck is killed, his body will disappear before Polonsky even gets to him.
 * If Polonsky is killed, at the end of the mission when Roebuck collects his dogtags, it will show Polonsky wearing a helmet even though it is shot off earlier in the mission.
 * If planes are not called in for some time, live grenades will spawn under the player, first every few seconds, then every one second. The player can walk continuously to avoid these; however, the player will die inevitably, from collision, enemy fire, an error in judgment, etc. This was done to hurry the player up in finishing the mission.
 * In Co-op mode, when Miller is given the dog tags of the victim by the respective survivor, one player's screen will fill the whole screen; the same thing occurs at the end of Downfall.
 * In very rare cases on the Wii, a player with the Scoped Springfield can shoot all three of the "surrendering" Japanese when they grab Roebuck and Polonsky. This requires great aim and timing. Nevertheless, either Roebuck or Polonsky will die, apparently of no cause, and the mission continues as normal.
 * It is possible to save Roebuck and Polonsky with a mortar round, but Roebuck say all his lines as if Polonsky died.
 * Although extremely rare, the player may be able to find a M1911 from a dead marine.
 * If the player uses a mortar and saves Roebuck and Polonsky, Polonsky will remain standing and Roebuck will plead and cry as he would if Polonsky died. At the end of the mission it will show Polonsky, instead of Roebuck, collecting his own dogtags from his dead body.
 * It's possible to destroy the temple where the player first finds the mortar rounds; this aids in getting the achievement "Mortar-dom", as there are multiple Japanese soldiers in the temple. The machine gun nest the player finds later can also be destroyed with a mortar shell.

Achievements/Trophies
Guardian Angel (10 / Bronze Trophy ) - In the final battle for Okinawa, Save Sgt. Roebuck.

Mortar-dom (10 / Bronze Trophy ) - Kill 8 Japanese infantry with thrown mortar shells.

The Setting of the Sun (30 / Bronze Trophy ) - Complete "Breaking Point" on Veteran.

The Last Stand (20 G/ Silver Trophy) - Complete Breaking Point on any difficulty.