Call of Duty: WAW. Great FPS for the Wii.
I love the smell of Molotov Cocktails in the morning...er, um. I mean, if you liked the other Call of Duty games, you're pretty much guaranteed to enjoy this one. World at War is a great first person shooter for the Wii gaming system. The game play bounces from Japanese to Russian layouts, and there is a good variety of weapons and terrain to engage in fierce WWII combat.
It takes a little while to get comfortable with the controls, and button layout, but after getting accustomed to it, I actually prefer the Wii controller layout to any other system controls. The graphics are good... Alright, we all know the graphics on the Wii aren't as sharp or defined as other consoles, but the truth is, it doesn't matter all that much to me and it doesn't take away from the game experience.
The game itself is pretty action packed. There aren't many places where you're not blasting away at your enemies, and the places you're not blasting away are just brief pauses between firefights to let you catch your breath and take inventory of your ammo and weapons.
I like this game because it's hard. Let me explain. There are many games where you just run in, blast away at everything that moves, and roll on. This isn't one of those games. You have to use your head. If you just try to charge the enemy soldiers and mow them down with your Thompson submachine gun, you're in for a rude awakening. I believe the phrase is, "Homie don't play that." The AI enemies are pretty good at taking cover, and swarming you in a torrent of gunfire when you do something stupid.
Online play is equally entertaining. Team Deathmatch and Free for All games can host up to 8 players, and it should be noted that on the Wii, Online play is free. Completing weapons challenges rewards the player with weapon upgrades, additional perks, and new weapons to master.
The game isn't perfect, however. Accurate fire is literally hit or miss, no pun intended, in story mode (not nearly as bad in Online Multiplayer mode). Even with a stationary target and an optic site, be expected to take more than one shot.
But Online play isn't without its problems. There aren't as many online maps to play as their are on other systems, and while online play is free, expect to lose connection with the server during peak usage. I've noticed that playing a complete round of Free for All late at night is nearly impossible due to losing connection with the game server. Team Deathmatch doesn't suffer as bad, but it's still a problem and very frustrating to lose your game connection in the middle of a match. Also, game size is limited to 8 players, while the 360 version of this game offers double the number of players in a single game.
Speaking of multiplayer, I'm still confused as to the Call of Duty team's decision to cut out single system multiplayer- you and 3 friends playing against each other on a single system. You can have an online private match, but I would still like to have a local system multiplayer option.
Overall, this is a great game that offers a lot of bang for the buck. It isn't a perfect game, and online play is somewhat limited when compared to other systems. But don't let that stop you from enjoying a classic game. If you have a Wii, and enjoyed other Call of Duty offerings, you're sure to enjoy this one.Read full review
