Call of Duty: World at War

aka: COD5, COD: WAW, Call of Duty 5
Moby ID: 37817

[ All ] [ PlayStation 3 ] [ Wii ] [ Windows ] [ Xbox 360 ]

Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 82% (based on 16 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 3.2 out of 5 (based on 14 ratings with 1 reviews)

Not Merely Another WWII Shooter

The Good
Call of Duty, the shooter series whose title has become a household name for games, seems to either make or break when they release a new installment. World at War is not just another run-of-the-mill whoop the Axis and win the war with fanfare and cheers shooter. WaW attempts to capture the feel of being on the battlefield in visual, audible, and interactive experiences. The Wii is the perfect platform to place the hopes and prayers of freedom-loving people across the globe in your hands, literally.

Although the accuracy of the WiiMote compared to that of an Xbox or PS3 controller is debatable, the feel is not. Nintendo's innovative system reminds us that war is not fought from lounge chairs. I recommend using the Wii Zapper with this game to increase stability and comfort. Yes, this does force you to get up on your feet if you sensor bar is in a high place; but once you do you won't want to sit down. (unless you've been playing for an hour) There are plenty of weapons to suit your killing needs from the measly Nambu handgun up to the powerful T-34 tank. Thankfully, this is not an army of one; your allies actually help fight the war and can be a valuable asset to victory.

The Wii is not known for its graphical capabilities, but WaW does justice and then some to those that it does sport. You will be surrounded by jungles brimming with trees and streams as well as war-torn German and Russian cities strewn with rubble. On one later level, your view can be obscured by flying paper trash. While not a bloody spectacle injuries are visible to an extent-especially the reward of a well-placed headshot.

The Bad
For games used to the button-pressing of other shooters, transferring to the Wii is a tall order. The largest hassle is the throwing of grenades, when you are required to twist your remote counter-clockwise to switch (for a millisecond) to a smoke grenade. It seems to be all but chance as to which grenade you toss. The Wii is definetly not the preferred platform for first-person shooters.

This game could've been received better if there had been more levels and more vehicle missions were added to supplement the T-34 driving. At my skill level it felt the game was terribly too short and I would have loved to see more.

I cannot comment on the online features as I have not used them.

The Bottom Line
If you are dedicated shooter player, or a fan of the Call of Duty series, then World at War should be in your collection. If you are new to to the realm of FPSs, then I recommend you look elsewhere and too one of the other consoles for your wants.

Wii · by Nick Slavin (9) · 2009

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by Wizo, Havoc Crow, brentplz, Patrick Bregger, chirinea.