Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Wii Review) by Carl B.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Treyarch
System: Wii, DS, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Release Date: November 8, 2011

November 11, 2011, by Carl B. - Call of Duty is the biggest shooter in an industry dominated by that genre, making Activision's latest installment one of the most anticipated games of the Holiday season. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the closing of the Modern Warfare story, a series that has made the Call of Duty franchise as a whole insanely popular. Just like Black Ops before it, Activision tasked Treyarch with developing the Wii version of Modern Warfare 3, a decision that really says how little the publisher thinks of Call of Duty's demand on Wii. Is this version another watered down port like so many third party Wii titles before it?

Similar to previous Modern Warfare titles, MW3 takes players to various locations around the globe by giving them control of a few characters. Returning cast includes Captain Price, Soap, and Nikolai, and there are several new characters that make their debut, including a player-controlled Russian named Yuri. In general the characters are pretty generic – no surprises there.

The campaign in MW3 is easily one of the best in the entire Call of Duty franchise. There are plenty of epic moments – from zero-G gun fights inside of a crashing plane to raiding submarines – and they surprisingly don't look terrible on Wii. There's hard to see any visual upgrade over Black Ops, which did look pretty good, but I can't help but think about how great the set pieces must look on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

There are more urban levels in MW3, and none of them take place in the Middle Eastern front seen in the previous titles. The levels that take place in the United States and United Kingdom are especially cool because they hit closer to home, but there are some instances where I can't help but feel that Activision is being controversial for the sake of being controversial. The most identifiable moment is when a little girl and her family are blown up by terrorists – this really adds nothing to the experience, and it was poorly done to begin with.

What the Wii version of MW3 offers over its console counterparts is superior control. Aiming via the IR sensor is incredibly quick and easy, essentially removing the need to aim down sights unless players are engaged in ranged shoot outs. The controls are completely customizable, with everything from button placement to dead zone width and height up for players to mess around with.

Every multiplayer mode and map from the HD versions is present in MW3 Wii, but it's unknown at this time if DLC will make its way to Wii owners. Spec-Ops, the online co-op mode in MW3, is fully-featured in the Wii version. This addition alone shows how much care Treyarch puts into their projects, as many developers in the past have simply scratched game modes from Wii ports.

Call of Duty Elite is missing from the Wii version of Modern Warfare 3, and I'm not so sure that's something to be upset about – Elite is just a way for Activision to charge players for basic social networking features that are free in several other games.

Online multiplayer is lag free and is as fun as ever, with plenty of game mode variety, weapons to unlock, and fun killstreaks to use. It only supports ten total players, unfortunately, so battles aren't nearly as intense as they are on the other versions of the game.

The Verdict

Sound
11/15 - Soundtrack has its moments, but players are more likely to hear the noise of machine guns firing instead.

Graphics
15/20 - Looks the same as Black Ops, except the explosive (literally) set pieces slow the frame rate down a bit.

Appeal
24/25 - Fully featured online multiplayer with one of the better Call of Duty campaigns.

Gameplay
30/40 - Essentially a carbon copy of previous Modern Warfare titles. Controversy is used only to be controversial – it serves no symbolic purpose.

Overall
80/100 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a good port from Treyarch. Fans who enjoyed Black Ops on Wii will no doubt love this game, and those that are looking for something to hold them over before The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword comes out have a very serious candidate right here.