Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" called the song "a bitter, furious tirade about a soldier's death and the prospect of endless war." Brian D. Schiller of Slant Magazine called the song "another perfectly serviceable single to add to their canon" and proclaimed it as one of "the band's best pure rock cuts since 'Spin the Black Circle'." Jayson Greene of "Stylus" said, "There is real joy in hearing let it rip again, howling the title of "World Wide Suicide" with relish until it breaks into a screech." Kyle Anderson of "Spin" said, "Despite its dark title, the single "World Wide Suicide" is a speedy, punky song played with the reckless abandon of a garage band." The song was named number 11 in "Rolling Stone's" "The 100 Best Songs of the Year" for 2006 and was also named number 54 in the "New York Post'"s "206 Best Songs to Download of 2006".