Let me start by saying that I enjoy a good COD game as much as the next guy, and that I’m pretty happy with Activision’s Black Ops installment in the series. With that said, there are more than few things wrong with the Wii port of this FPS. The following problems with Black Ops make me want to throw my Nunchuck through the TV in rage.
The first issue that I notice with the port is downgraded graphics; the character models have minimal detail, the explosions are weak, and the cinematic scenes are not to the Call of Duty standard. Now I know that the Wii isn’t an Xbox-360 or Rocket league boost. But considering the amazing visuals in titles like Super Mario Galaxy 2 and No More Heroes, I was expecting something more than PS2 level graphics out of a seventh generation console.
Next on the chopping block is multiplayer. Wouldn’t it just make sense to have a split screen co-op and multiplayer option on every port of the game? Apparently Activison didn’t think so, and as a result there is no local multiplayer or campaign co-op of any kind. Instead of hosting a local game at my house I have to deal with the technical difficulties of internet gaming on the Wii.
Online game play on all the other systems is at least descent.
The PC version is pretty good, XBOX Live has only a few glitches, and the Play Station Network only gets hacked once in a blue moon. However, the Wii is a totally different animal. I’ll go online wait three minutes and then finally a match is found, then after a matter of seconds the host ends the game mid-match, so there I wait disconnected and stuck in the lobby waiting for the system to find another suitable game. Then after I have been placed in the match I have to deal with getting trapped inside a friendly care package and my other teammates constantly lagging. And just when I think my team is getting ahead the game lobby is closed and I have to log back into it.
In addition to all of this, the friend system is really messed up. I find somebody online that isn’t a spawn camping jerk-wad, I send him an ally request, and then he has to figure out my friend code and where to put the stupid thing in. You would assume that there would be a streamlined system for adding friends and removing enemies. But no! That’s too much to ask for.
Zombies has to be one of the best modes of play in Black Ops.
Treyarch keeps releasing loads of DLC most which is more maps and variations of the beloved Zombie mode. With the latest DLC the Xbox and Play Station have 6-9 seven zombie maps each. How many maps does the Wii port have? A grand total of two, Kino Der Toten and Five. Also, the Five unlock password does not work on the Wii version. Yep even though there is a cheat code to let you play Five before you have finished the campaign and the Wii system accepts it, the code doesn’t work at all.
I’m really hoping that these issues get fixed but until then it looks like I’m going to have to buy another system to play Call of Duty: Black Ops on. If you want to play Black Ops just get it on another system. It may be a solid shooter but it’s lacking as a port.