Call of Duty: World at War (Wii)

With its revolutionary IR capabilities, the Wii is undoubtedly the home console which is best equipped for carrying the FPS genre. Unfortunately, common sense does not always come to fruition in this industry, and certain consoles are plagued with missed opportunities. At launch, Wii never got to prove how revolutionary it could make first person shooters, with efforts like the rushed Red Steel, the bug-ridden Call of Duty 3 and the downright awful Far Cry Vengeance holding the genre back on the system. So does Call of Duty: World at War step forward to show the flock how it’s done?

Considering last year’s critically acclaimed Call of Duty 4 failed to find its way onto Wii, it’s difficult to compare World at War as one can on other consoles. While many gamers would most likely stack the series’ latest up against Medal of Honour: Heroes 2, it’s perhaps best to look at this game against Treyarch’s previous Wii effort; Call of Duty 3. The launch-window war shooter was likely the best example of how the Wii’s unique Remote could change control FPS games for the better, but it was still far from posing a rivalry to a mouse and keyboard configuration. World at War improves on the blueprint set down by its father though by allowing players to customise everything from the aiming sensitivity in normal sight and iron-sights, to cranking up the camera’s turning speed if necessary. If this kind of customisation sounds familiar, it’s because EA’s Medal of Honour already allows this and High Voltage’s upcoming The Conduit promises the same thing. Unfortunately, while these other games let us manually tweak these settings, World at War only goes so far as to provide pre-set options. It’s still a certainty that players will find a setting that works well for them (and it’s streets ahead of Call of Duty 3) but the control structure still isn’t going to knock Medal of Honour: Heroes 2 off the top.

Missions in the single-player mode are split into two variations: the American campaign in the Pacific and the Russian struggle on the Eastern Front. Yes, it’s World War Two again, but at least Treyarch has opted for the two stories rarely told in video games. You’ll notice from the get-go that this game is disturbingly more brutal than previous games in the franchise. Torture and execution of squad mates are what the game decides to throw at you in the very opening scene, and soldiers being cut down by bullets right in front of you becomes a norm. There’s no dismemberment in the Wii version, but there are plenty of meaty chunks of flesh to go around when bullets impact.

The US missions sport a much more open-fielded layout of the battlefield than anything in Call of Duty 3, making for plenty more opportunities to take to the fight your own way. Of course, this also means that environments are littered with upwards of a dozen enemies at one time, although Treyarch have admittedly made checkpoints more in abundance. It’s an acceptable balance in the lower difficulties. The other half of the single-player mode is of course the European missions from the viewpoint of a USSR soldier. While these levels take on a much more traditional, linear feel (although the first level is a superb rendition of a sniper mission fought in Stalingrad), it never feels a lower quality to the missions fought further East.

Visually, Call of Duty: World at War sets a bar for third parties on Wii. Never before has a Wii version of a true multi-platform game (PS2 even gets its own CoD) looked so spectacular. Treyarch have obviously taken their time to get the most out of the system, and they deserve nothing less than the highest praise. Atolls such as Okinawa are brought to life with lush fauna all around and as far as the eye can see, and the streets of Berlin bring a genuinely grim feeling to the surface; decorated with hung soldiers and artillery-battered buildings. There’s even further evidence of the Call of Duty 4 engine being put to good use too. We’re not sure entirely what kind of physics engine is used in the game, but we applaud the realism it brings. Watching a Japanese banzai soldier being blown up ten feet into the air - arms flailing - after running straight into a grenade you strategically tossed, never loses its satisfaction value.

It’s not just the graphics where dollars have been spent either. Activision has managed to borrow the voice talents of Kiefer Sutherland and Gary Oldman to bring your superiors to life. It may have been nice for some of the investment to have been put aside for a proper soundtrack (for there hardly is one), but there’s no denying that the Hollywood heavyweights do bring a sense of class to the game.

For as polished as we’ve made World at War sound so far, there are still a few fundamental niggles that make it far from a perfect game. First off, the framerate frequently takes a dip below 30fps when things get hectic. It never gets anywhere near as feeling as buggy as Call of Duty 3 did at times, but it is noticeable. The ability to toss back grenades makes a return, but it will likely get on a lot of people’s nerves. It has to be said that grenades have had their damage ability considerably ramped up; even if you’re far away enough so that the grenade indicator appears at its faintest, you’ll receive severe damage and most likely die instantly. This in itself would not normally be a problem; however the actual indicator is so devilishly subtle that you’ll frequently die spontaneously. What’s more is that the game requires you to stand absolutely precisely on top of the weapon before you can toss it back. All in all then, you’ll have plenty of frustrating experiences with grenades.

Unfortunately, there is one main gripe to be had with World at War, and that’s the incredibly inconsistent enemy AI. Playing at the second hardest difficulty mode, it is a very hard game... most of the time. When the AI is working fine, your enemies are going to behave in the expected FPS way: stay behind cover, stand up for a barrage of shots that are eerily accurate at a hundred feet, throw the odd hateful grenade, etc. However, the illusion of your puny soldier facing a hardened army is occasionally ruined by moments of laughable stupidity. At some stages, you’ll often be faced with every enemy soldier standing up, gun pointed but not shooting. Their inactivity continues until you’ve killed them yourself. At other times, they’ll literally run around in circles while your squadmates sprint past and ignore them themselves. At times like these, it’s perhaps best to call a friend in via co-op play and have some stationary target practice.

Of course, if you’re tired of fighting computer-controlled Nazis, you can always square up against fellow homosapiens online. Treyarch were particularly reluctant to divulge full information on the Wii version’s online capacities - other than it would still have an 8 player max - and we can certainly see why it doesn’t look good on paper. World at War Wii is lacking much from its 360/PS3 brothers in terms of modes and maps. This version is only equipped with a simple free-for-all mode, Team Deathmatch plus Veteran and Hardcore variations on the latter. There’s no CTF, and most criminally, no Nazi Zombie Mode. Moreover, there’s strictly no vehicle usage in the Wii version’s online, meaning a good four maps haven’t made it over from other current gen versions. However, it has to be said that what’s there works. Despite a limited number of modes, Treyarch have refined to gameplay to very admirable levels. It takes a jiffy to get stuck into any game and hardly ever will you experience troublesome lag. Add on top of that a full set of Perks, Challenges, Create a Class and leaderboards, and Wii owners still have a game that could easily last way into the New Year.

If any Wii owner is still complaining about a lack of core titles available this festive season then let this be a big ‘cough and point in this direction’ for Call of Duty: World at War. Finally, a developer has clearly taken its time to get the best out of Wii. It looks great, has a decent online mode, but perhaps more fundamentally, it’s another fantastic addition to the Call of Duty franchise. Gamers, it’s time to take to the fight once more.

Comments

Theegg94 Says:
December 7th, 2008 at 13:41 || Total Comments: 121

Got this myself on release, didn't play it much, as I got GHWT also, but when I started playing, I honestly couldn't stop. This game is so addictive, the online mode is just fantastic too. Great review man.

Thanos Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 16:17 || Total Comments: 70

'Aweinspiring graphics'? Meh.. From the screen shots alone you certainly can't tell and even from the trailers I've downloaded I'm sorry to have to say that it didn't get me one bit excited. Maybe I'm spoiled because I own both a Wii and a Xbox360.(Bill Gates would be sick if he knew I played the trailers fromn the Wii version on his toy by means of a USB memory stick... ) Maybe I need to wait untill I play this but I think that in this day and age and with roughly 2.2 times the power of the Game Cube, at least circles should be visible as such and not like octagons or something similar, (look at the oil drum in the second screen shot) which still seems to plague a lot of racing games too when not-so-curvy lines are drawn in road bends. They're often still slightly jagged too. But I'll wait too play this too ascertain my previous comment and if I'm wrong, I'll take it all back, but for now this is my two cents... Sorry, folks.

Thanos Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 16:23 || Total Comments: 70

damn letter 'o' got stuck twice on this @#%&#$ keyboard in the next to last sentence...

D_prOdigy Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 10:31 || Total Comments: 1596

You can't judge Wii games from static screens. It's a game that needs to be played. Anyone who has done will know what I mean.

WAW-sucks-on-wii Says:
January 4th, 2009 at 01:03 || Total Comments: 1

this sucks... i bought the game thinking that i could go and play nazi zombies and run people over in multiplayer with a tank. Then i beat the game and when it didnt unlock zombie mode i went on the internet and saw that i couldnt play on the other multiplayer maps, play capture the flag orrrr do zombie mode. This game got F#cked on the Wii

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