Call of Duty 3 (Wii)
About 2 months ago I mentioned that I had gotten Call of Duty 3 for the Wii. I was really excited about trying one of my favorite franchises (I never get tired of shooting Nazi’s) with the Wii’s interesting control system. I was looking forward to some good point-n-click gun-totin’ action in my living room, so I didn’t wait long before I dove in hard to try it out.
Unfortunately, I was initially pretty disappointed. I could tell it was a mediocre port from the beginning when I brought up the first menu. Where every other Wii game I’ve played used the "Big White Finger" or a crosshair (Zelda) that were motion tracked so you literally could "point-and-click" on all the menus. Not so in COD3, you have to use the directional pad to move around all the menus in the game. This includes not only starting the game, but entering your savegame names, setting options, everything. That was something I could live with, if not for the fumbled control scheme. I had expected something like Twilight Princess, where the nunchuck controller is used for movement and turning, and the Wiimote is treated like the barrel of the gun. Unfortunately, I was only half right. The nunchuck controls forward/backward and Strafing, but turning is accomplished by moving the Wiimote crosshair towards the edge of the screen. This sounds good in theory, but the implementation is an invitation to motion sickness to a whole new generation.
In case you don’t understand, let me post this in-game scenario to you: You walk up to a half-wall and come under fire. You quickly duck down and wait for a break in the fire. As soon as they stop, you pop up over the wall and look for a target. The problem is that as you move the targeting cursor away from the center of the screen, you immediate start turning. So when you see a head pop up to your left, you aim over there and immediately start turning left, which makes your target move to the right requiring you to "chase" them toward the center of the screen with the wiimote. For the first few days I could only play for an hour at a time, then I needed an extensive break. The nausea was unbearable.
Fortunately, I eventually adjusted to it and now it’s almost normal. With that hurdle out of the way, the game has started to live up to my expectations. It’s classic Call of Duty, with the innovative wiimote features added. A few special motion tracking features:
- Driving – One scene you spend driving a jeep while your 2 comrades fire out around you. You hold the nunchuck and Wiimote in front of you at 3 & 9 o’clock and pretend it’s two sides of the steering wheel, using the buttons for Gas & Brake.
- Detonators – One mission has you placing charges on Anti-aircraft flak guns. When you walk up to the gun you play a short minigame where you have to use the nunchuck to mimic the motions of placing the charge, screwing in the detonator, and pulling the pin.
- Boating – One mission has a scene where your squad rows a small boat across a river. You hold the Wiimote & nunchuck together like a boat oar and have to paddle the boat across.
- Hand-to-Hand combat – A few times I’ve cut a corner to find myself face-to-face with a German (Scripted, unavoidable). What ensues next is a Wii Sports Boxing-like scene where you both wrestle for control of the gun you’re carrying, and if you’re successful then you complete a "finishing move" to either stab him or clock him with the butt of the gun.
So what started as a rather dismal port of a classic game franchise is turning into a simply fantastic game. I’m having alot of fun with it, and I’m still working on it. My only other complaint is that so much of the game is Audio-based (Squad Leaders barking orders to you), and they don’t seem to offer subtitles on any of it. That means i have to have the volume up to hear what’s going on, meaning I can’t play it at night or risk waking everyone in the house up with loud explosions and gunshots. So I only get to play it in short bursts, mostly on the weekend. Nonetheless, it’s proven to be a fun game. Give this one a 4 of 5.
[tag:callofduty][tag:game][tag:wii]
