Call of Duty: World at War

"Call of Duty is worth the money"

Call of Duty: World at War (CoD) for the Wii is a game that every serious Wii owner should have by now if they don't already have the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 versions. Call of Duty: World at War is a Wii First-Person Shooter (or FPS) based on the Japanese theatre during World War II. This game is also available for the Sony Playstation 3 (PS3), the Microsoft Xbox 360 (or simply 360), and the Nintendo DS; with the exception of the PS3 and 360 versions which are nearly identical, the three versions of the game are very unique and console specific. That is why my review can only be effectively used toward the Wii version of the game because that is the version I own and have chosen to review for my audience.



My view is that this is a very good Wii game, perhaps the best one coming out this holiday season because the competition isn't so fierce this season on the Wii frontlines. Activision's other mega franchise, Guitar Hero, is probably going to be Call of Duty's biggest rival in terms of getting sales. When compared to the other FPS' on the Wii the only game that holds a candle to Call of Duty: Wow is EA's Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (MoH) which released last November and is also based in World War II. The other competition being 2006's Red Steel, and last month's 007: Quantum of Solace get completely blown out of the water by CoD's realistic game play and addictive customization and challenges.



Unlike Mr. Bozon of Ign.com, who claims “it's fair to say that World at War is far from the best controls on Wii (that still goes to Medal of Honor Heroes 2), but that in the end, yes, it's a worthy contender.” I feel that Cod's default setup is much better than MoH or any other FPS on the Wii. I am going by default because the FPS genre on the Wii tends to be very customizable, thanks in great part to the IR aiming of the Wii motion sensing controllers. You can customize your turning speed, camera movement, and sights in these games because as you point at the screen, your cursor moves in accordance with your hand. I feel that Cod's default setup it the best because both Red Steel and Quantum of Solace both move too slow to have any type of frantic action, and MoH moves too fast, with the chaos sometimes just too much to follow at once. In Call of Duty, one has a nice big view of the battlefield; meaning that unlike some of the competition, a player can sneak around without have to check three camera angles with every other step. Vertical view movement is also at a nice pace due to the fact the players view isn't massively skewed each and every time that they fire a weapon. What players really need to concern themselves with is the satiability of the cursor, and that is what Call of Duty offers. Only once or twice have I found myself spinning out control because I went too fast (something done once or twice a match in MoH), nor do I find myself dying too much because of the fact the cursor is too slow for defending myself from an unexpected attack.



In terms of game play Call of Duty is much more realistic than its competitors. It only takes one well placed shot to down an opponent, alternatively, it only take 2-4 shots anywhere else (that's including legs) to end “St. Jimmys1337's” (someone I played online) killing spree. With the superb movement and controls being assisted by excellent button mapping, taking to the battlefield with a more experienced opponents allows you to show no fear. The buttons for sprinting (A), and aiming (Z) are much more accessibly placed then they are in Medal of Honor! Something none of the competitors have is the amazing Create-a-Class and Challenge features. Create-a-Class allows a player to select whichever primary, secondary, and special weapon that he or she pleases. It also allows the player to select what type grenades they are to use, and three different perks that lead to more life, more penetration, or immunity to certain weapon. How do you unlock more weapons and perks? Simply by completing the challenges for the weapons you already have or gaining ranks through multiplayer matches. The fact that this game lets you do so much, like call in airstrikes or sic dogs on foes, really sums up the effort that Treyarch put into developing this game; it is essentially Call of Duty 4 put onto the Wii. The campaign uses real WWII footage and is based on real people, real events, in real locations, so it should come as no surprise how brutal the game can be. “You'll see allies getting their faces burned with cigarettes, countless friends getting shout point blank by both Japanese and German forceds, soldier after soldier lit on fire with flamethrowers – both allied and axis manned – and even spend an entire mission with a wounded sniper who is your eyes and ears on the battlefield.” (Bozon)


The graphics aren't too shabby but I hope that they do better next time around. They are by no means horrible like 007: Quantum of Solace or Red Steel, which look like games that should have come out on the Nintendo 64 ten years ago. They are also a step above Medal of Honor because when playing online the figures don't move as if they were made of card board. The frame rate is better established and the effects are of higher quality than any of the direct competitors but Nintendo's own First-Person Adventure game, Metriod Prime 3: Corruption, which was released August of 2007, even before Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, is still head and shoulders above all these games in terms of good graphics and smooth visuals. It is hard to excuse a game for having poor graphics in 2008, but when the game play is the primary focus, which the end product shows that it was, then it is excusable to have less than stellar visuals. Yet the effects like fire, explosions, and other little features here and then are still appealing to the eye; if the graphics can be upped to Resident Evil 4 or Metriod Prime 3 standards, then I feel all will be happy with the game.



The sound, unlike the graphics, is top-notch. Voices yelling, “Sticky grenade!” the sound of dogs barking and their tags jingling as they get closer to you, the boom of some artillery going off around you; all these effects have been done exceptionally well. The music in the menus and in game set a fantastic tone for the forth coming events. When you walking around a bombed-out building the music just tells you what to think, it says you never know what's on the other side of that wall ….. nothing! The sound of each gun ringing is 100% percent authentic to real life as well. Overall the voice actors did a wonderful job living up to expectations, the sound effects are high quality, the guns are realistic, and the developers put together some great clips and sound tracks.



Now to look at my favorite part of the game, the multiplayer; agreeing with Mr. Bozon again when he says, “Wii gamers are getting a great little package.” I was disappointed when I found out that the Wii version would not be getting any split-screen (as in, two or more players on the same television) because I am a firm believer that split-screen is often the most fun version of multiplayer games, and it is often at its' best when you can take a friend online with you from the comfort of one couch. Call of Duty is a worthy exception because it is better for the game to be done right. I played both Red Steel and 007, which both include four player split-screen, and let me tell you that they might as well not have included that mode at all. It is just horribly done. After playing the online multiplayer those fears were put to rest. Up to eight players can battle for online supremacy in a system that comfortably supports friend matchmaking. Gone are the days of Medal of Honor's 32 player madness, where tactical cooperation was nigh impossible, and adding friends was pointless because unless you actually knew the person and called them up to say, “Hey, get online and go into this lobby,” then it was straight up meaningless. In MoH you cannot even see in which lobby your friends are playing in. In Cod, are these issues are handled perfectly. Once you add a friend online, you can always check if they are online at the moment, and invite them to a fight with or against you. You can start a private match that only your friends are allowed to join, or you can join a private match. Alternatively, you can start or join a party with whichever friends are online at the moment and then go on to join a random match in which your party will stick together through thick and thin basically. Your friends even appear as blue dots on your map as opposed to green (allies) or red (foes) to distinguish them from the others and make it easy to fight side by side. It's incredibly easy to use these features and it is extremely fun. The Thanksgiving holidays are coming around soon and I know I won't be the only one with three Wiis and three copies of CoD at my house wrecking all kinds of havoc online with my brothers. The Create-a-Class features also take a whole new role here as every player you come across is essentially unique with different weapons and perks. Then there is the Barracks, where you can view all sorts of statistics including the top players, and comparing you to those on your friends list. It really is a first in online Wii gaming to include some many of the features that are often only one the 360 or PS3 versions of the game, while the Wii version usually gets the short end of the stick. If Activision and Treyarch can keep all these great features, add some split-screen multiplayer, and bump the number of player to ten or twelve then the next CoD would be the game of the year. Even then, asking for twelve players seems like a lot because sometimes eight players seem like too much.



Overall I agree with Mark Bozon's score of 8/10. CoD is impressive, but still has the potential to improve; the series is going to need to improve on just about everything I commented that they could use, because 2009's The Conduit, to be published by Sega and being developed by High Voltage games, is promising all of those things. It is promising high end graphics, effects, and sound, as well as online and LAN for up to sixteen players, split-screen multiplayer, and more modes like capture the flag, ect. So if Call of Duty wants to remain the top FPS on the Wii, then they are going to have to step up and make their impressive game into the best, definitive FPS on the Wii.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/08

Game Release: Call of Duty: World at War (US, 11/10/08)