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Game Title: Call of Duty World at War
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Exakt Entertainment
Publisher: Activision Blizzard
Genre: First Person Shooter
Age Rating: PEGI: 18+, ESRB: M for Mature,
Release Date: 11th November 2008 (North America), 26th November 2008 (Australia), 14th November 2008 (Europe)
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Game Score: 8.0/10
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Summery:
Great controls and enjoyable Singleplayer and Multiplayer modes make World at War a fight worth going through on the Wii.
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As far as Call of Duty games go, historic battles are of World War II are told impressively well on consoles and PC gamers alike. On the Nintendo Wii it is a different story, Call of Duty 3 on the Wii may have been disappointing but it showcased that the Wii can provide an enjoyable way to shoot with the Wii Controller. Call of Duty World at War on the Wii hopes that it can translate the COD experience at a more refreshing level.
Call of Duty World at War's plot takes place between the American forces where you play as Pvt Miller and young Russian Red Army solider Dmitri. You jump between these two characters over the course of the game and the storyline carries World War II footage which shows some of the darkest moments of that era. If you have played Modern Warfare you won't have a major bad guys to fight against in this title, unless you would have wished to have Adolf Hitler to be in the game to kill. The voiced dialogue between the soldiers of all factions are solid especially during the cutscenes that take place in between stages.
The Single Player in World at War has 15 different stages where you advance forward with your squadmates and face off against waves of axis forces and then making your way to the objective when the game wants to cool down. You do objectives like calling in Airstrikes to clear out enemy forces, snipe off a hiding target and planting explosive charges. Like in the earliest COD titles you get a range of different World War II varied weapons like the Thompson, M1 Grand, MP40 and many others that different factions used. World at War's newest weapon is the Flame Thrower which is very useful for many of the games difficult challenges.
The game's main challenges is the AI, most annoying is that the enemies tend to spend more time throwing grenades at you. While you throw them back but they may throw that can be steps away sometimes you may not have enough time to toss it back before it explodes killing you. Your allies on the other hand get themselves shot standing in the way without providing much covering fire, when they do fire back their bullets tend to miss a lot making them useless in battle. They are only useful in being a distraction while you go to another corner to pick off the enemy one at a time. Dispute the A.I issues the Single Player campaign is enjoyable however for the Wii version of the game there is no split screen and online co-operative campaign mode and also importantly there is no Nazi Zombie mode, perhaps due to the memory limitations of the Nintendo Wii. Instead exclusive to the Wii version is the Squad Mate mode where you allow a second Wii Remote to be used on the same screen and that player can either jump in or drop out at anytime. The second player can also switch between two weapons like normal but replacing a weapon requires the first player to stand above a weapon on the ground and press the action button on the second Wii Remote. It is a great mode even if both players need to get used to playing in this kind of mode and also getting used to the colour of their crosshairs.
The main attraction the Multiplayer is still intact thankfully, you have the same competitive Multiplayer modes like Death Matches and Capture the Flag and can still earn experience from matches to earn new weapons and perks to use. The level cap is the same and you can still use the prestige system to gain additional custom slots. Thankfully the Multiplayer matches in the Wii version are just as enjoyable as the original version with 16 player max servers with some lag here and there which can ruin the fun a little bit, otherwise the servers do perform well.
Call of Duty World at War on the Wii is played using the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk. The game replicates using a rifle which makes you feel like a skilled marksmen. You use the pointer to aim and turn while the Nunchuk Moves and Strafes. Other actions on the Wii Remote and Nunchuk also function for shooting, aiming down on the sight, sprinting and activating objects on the map. You can also use motion gestures such as reloading on the Nunchuk and twisting the Wii Remote sideways and pressing the B trigger throws a grenade while to use a special grenade you twist the remote in the opposite direction. You can melee by thrusting the Wii Remote forward and it does work but sometimes the gesture takes a while for the Wii to recognise it so if you happen to get pinned down by a bonsai Japanese solider you are guaranteed to get stabbed because the motion didn't register. The game has compatibility of the Wii Zapper shell peripheral but using it to control the game can be difficult to get used to. Thankfully you can use the Wii Zapper control scheme and also discard the accessory as well as turning the gestures off in the options menu, this allows you to use the game controls on the buttons which makes the game easier to play.
Being released on the Wii the graphic quality of the game is lowered in matching the details of the PlayStation 2 but that doesn't stop World at War from being a visually sharp game. You still get great explosion and flame effects, the character model are rendered nicely but as a sacrifice the game lacks the shadow and stormy effects from the original version and the framerate is dropped to 30 but still the game performs very well. The audio is outstanding with plenty of musical scores that are very dark and emotional.
While the setting is very familiar to longtime fans of the series Call of Duty World at War is a great game that focuses well on what Modern Warfare did for the series. The Wii version on the other hand while not as impressive as the main console version it provides you unique way to play with the Wii Remote and the game is just as competitive online. If you are a Wii owner who was disappointed with the execution of Call of Duty 3 on the Wii then thanks to great controls and enjoyable Singleplayer and Multiplayer modes make World at War a fight worth going through on the Wii.
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The Good Points:
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Multiple control options
Impressive Soundtrack and Solid Voice acting
Multiplayer Modes are just as fun on the Wii as well as the SquadMate Mode
The Flame Thrower
The Bad Points:
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All to familiar to the past entries in the series
Lacking of features
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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