Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex Review

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare came out on the PS3, PC, and 360 way back in November of 2007. The game went on to be regarded as one of the top shooters of all time and has a Metacritic average of 94. Gamers fell in love with Modern Warfare, a sequel was released and all was right with the Call of Duty world. That is unless you happen to only own a Wii; in which case you were denied the privilege of taking down the fictitious Ultranationalist Bad Guy Party. Never fear my loyal Nintendo friends; Treyarch has finally answered your prayers with the Wii version of the game entitled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Reflex.

Right off the bat I’m going to get this out of the way and admit it; yes this is a Wii version of a 360 and PS3 game. So naturally the graphics on the Wii version are nowhere near as spectacular as they are on the other consoles. But despite that, the Reflex edition still looks pretty good. If you played through Call of Duty: World at War on the Wii then you know what to expect from the visuals. They get the job done but it’s nothing to write home about.

The thing is, the visuals don’t have to be great, because the gameplay more than makes up for any hardware deficiencies. Call of Duty 4’s single player campaign is regarded as one of the best in any shooter and it has been ported to the Wii in its entirety. Each level is packed with a series of objectives. Action will take place all around your character and most of the game is spent going from one adrenaline filled fight to another. Everything is here, from exploding helicopters, to jet fighters soaring overhead, to nuclear explosions. The end result is a single player campaign that may be on the short side, but it will keep you entertained the entire time.

One area where the Wii can usually improve on first person shooters is the controls. In this case the Wii-mote does a wonderful job of replicating your character’s gun. Moving the remote around the screen will cause the aiming reticule to follow your movements. If you don’t like the sensitivity of the remote then there are plenty of customization options available to fine tune your controls. Gamers who don’t like console FPS games because of the analog aiming may change their tune with the Wii remote.

Another area where Reflex does not suffer is in the online multiplayer mode. This Wii version has the same great experience points that the other console versions are applauded for. Every time you play a multiplayer match you will be given experience points based on how well you perform. The more experience points you have, the more gear you can unlock and the more perks you receive. It’s an addictive formula that has revolutionized the online shooter world since it was launched with the original version of the game.

Wii owners who enjoy multiplayer death matches will find the best online shooter that the Wii has to offer. Every single mode from the original version is present in Reflex. The Wii is able to handle the matches lag free as well. However, there are a couple of downsides to Relex’s multiplayer. The game does not feature any voice chat (but is this really a bad thing? Who likes being mocked by 11 year olds anyways?), and there is no kill cam, so it’s sometimes hard to find snipers. Another problem facing the online portion is that hackers have figured out how to alter the game. So there is potential for cheating during online matches. I haven’t personally experienced any hacking that I know of, but there are reports of it out there. Other than that, the Wii version is a very solid multiplayer shooter.

I’m not sure what else I can say about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare that hasn’t already been said. By now most people who are remotely interested in shooters have given this game at least one play through. But, if the only console you happen to own is a Wii then you owe it to yourself to check out Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Reflex. Sure the graphics can’t compare to the other versions, but somehow the developers have managed to squeeze everything else that was good into this Reflex edition.