You’re a
highly trained government soldier operating under strict orders to shoot and
eliminate anything that moves in this sector. But there’s a problem. You can’t
seem to hit anything. For some reason it’s taking you much longer to line up
your targets and by the time you do you’ve sprayed bullets all around them and
now have to reload and start the process all over again. Two years ago on nearly
a carbon copy of this mission you deftly marched through the city streets and
none survived. So what’s changed? Oh yeah, the Wii remote.
The Nintendo Wii has never
really been known for its amazing collection of first-person-shooters. Quite the
contrary, in fact. The system is notorious for its horrendous ports of much
better FPSes from other consoles. So it was with much trepidation that I
approached the (finally) newly released Wii version of one of the greatest FPSes
ever made, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
Ultimately, the Wii’s unfriendly controls clearly proved to be too much of a
hurdle for even FPS masters Call of Duty veteran developers, Treyarch, to
surmount. That said, this game comes much closer to success than any other
shooter on the Wii, and gives hope that the future of the Nintendo Wii could
hold some good games in this genre.
The overall product is buoyed in no small part by the simple fact that the
original source material is so fantastic. This is the same game that was
released back in 2007 on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. So this entire review comes with
the caveat that if you have the capability to play CoD4 on one of those other
systems you absolutely should. And so it goes without saying that if you’ve
already played the game there’s no reason to play it again here, unless for some
reason you have a hankering to enjoy the experience again while struggling with
the controls.
The motion controls and
pointer just make the experience that much more difficult to enjoy, especially
if you’re not using the Wii Zapper add-on. Classic events like the opening in
which you’re playing a dethroned leader of a nation being driven through the
streets of his own overthrown city, watching his supporters executed, becomes
much harder to enjoy once you have to keep the Wii Remote pointed at the center
of the screen at all times. It’s either that or the camera will just aim towards
the floor for the entire event, which isn’t exactly a more plausible option.
Again, it’s not a deal-breaker, but it’s semi-obnoxious.
This is the type of thing that plagues the entire experience. It’s not that the
overall quality has gone down; it’s just that the whole game is just a smidgen
more annoying. The great firefights and intense scenes are bogged down just a
bit, because you’re not able to be as fast or precise as you could be with a
mouse or a control pad. As a result, you’re not able to play as much of a key
role in each battle that takes place, and have to rely much more on your squad.
The graphics
on the other hand have held up rather well. Obviously, they’re not as impressive
as the other versions of the game, but as far as realism goes on the Wii, these
are some of the best graphics on the system. Historically, the Wii hasn’t
handled realistic graphics with much grace, but aside from some overly dark
areas, CoD4 looks pretty good.
The only major difference is in the multiplayer. Most of the game modes and maps
have made it into this port, but matches cap at 10 players which is
approximately half of the original. And of course, there’s the horrible Friend
Codes to deal with which only allow you to play with people who’s Friend Code
you already have. So don’t expect to experience the same amazing multiplayer
that was on the consoles and PC.
Overall, there are some good thoughts here, but it’s only enough to elevate this
game to the level of an average first-person shooter from another console. And
it certainly doesn’t live up to the legacy of its forebear. Small touches like
the ability to press a button to hold your viewpoint in place while you aim
around the screen, add to this game’s enjoyability, but don’t expect miracles.
This game is still severely hampered by the need to use the Wii sensor to both
aim and turn the camera. I’m not really sure how else the control scheme could
have been implemented with this controller, but my hunch is that Wii FPSes need
to ditch this setup if they’re ever going to overcome the level of mediocrity
that is holding the system back.
Gameplay:
9.4
Even though it’s two-years old, Call of Duty 4 remains one of the very best
first-person shooters around.
Graphics:
8.0
These are some of the best and most realistic graphics on the system to date.
Other games manage better visuals by going to style, but in realism CoD4 is
practically unsurpassed.
Sound:
7.0
There’s nothing here that’s going to make your jaw drop, but everything is where
it should be with no distracting glitches other than a few repeated instructions
during battle.
Difficulty: Medium
The difficulty is tuned just right. You’ll die a few times every now and again,
but that’s to be expected.
Concept:
7.5
It’s nothing truly original given that it’s a port of an existing game, but the
original game itself wasn’t all that original either. CoD4 makes a name for it
by perfecting the existing formula not reinventing the wheel.
Multiplayer: 6.0
Matches only hold roughly half as many people as the original, and you can only
play with people who’s Friend Code you already know. But if you’re Ok with that
you’ll have a blast.
Overall:
7.4
This is still a really great game, but it’s unable to truly surmount all of the
difficulties that Wii puts on an FPS. If you only play one FPS on the Wii, this
should be it, but it’s still got many of the same problems that the genre is
known for on this system.
