When you have the biggest selling console around it’s only fitting to bring to it one of the most popular games of the last few years. And although it has taken two to develop it, the hugely successful Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is finally available on the Nintendo Wii. Entitled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - Reflex, it takes everything from the HD versions and gives it a coat of Wii paint. While it manages to retain practically everything that made Call of Duty: Modern Warfare so popular, there are a couple of things that prevent it from achieving the same iconic status.

Gameplay

Unless you have been under a rock since before November of 2007, you are no doubt aware of the success of Modern Warfare. When word came out that it would be released on the Wii to coincide with the launch of Modern Warfare 2, it caught some by surprise. For starters, the last COD game, World at War, had already seen a release on the Wii to some relatively positive reviews. Taking a step back and releasing the previous game just felt a bit odd. The other reason was that people feared that everything that made the first such a success could not be replicated on the Wii.

The good news is that everything from the HD versions of Modern Warfare has transitioned to the Wii and without the need for drastic changes. Everything from the game’s frantic first mission, to the stunning middle act, to the wild conclusion of the story has been retained with some fine results. While it doesn’t  have all of the same flavor in other regards, those who either really enjoyed the story or missed out entirely will be in for quite a ride.

As with every Wii game, the focus here is on pointer controls. The success of any Wii first-person shooters is set primarily on how you can deal with them; and this is also where the game will either by loved or loathed by gamers. For starters, the controls can be adjusted to suit your needs. This is fantastic but it also is a curse in the sense that no control set-up is perfect.

Throughout my time with Reflex, I was constantly fumbling and adjusting the controls in an attempt to find the best set-up. I would play for a few minutes, only to have to re-adjust the sensitivity and dead zones to get the best performance possible. What made things worse is that I essentially had to play this with the Wii-remote pointing directly at the middle of my television in order to avoid being put into any uncomfortable viewpoints in-game.

This was made even more awkward since, to be perfectly aligned with my television, I could neither stand up or sit on my couch to get into that sweet spot. My issues with the controls continued with problems related to the layout of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Using add-ons to weapons requires you to hold left on the remote and to push the Nunchuk analog stick in the same direction. Other choices, including shaking the Nunchuk to reload, felt weird and trying to adjust the controls to something I would enjoy took more time than I would have preferred.

One aspect that made the original Modern Warfare so popular was the online component and surprisingly, everything arrives intact in Reflex. Online is identical to what was available to PC and Console players. There are a lot of great modes to choose from and even the class building and perks are available as well, including some new ones thrown in for good measure. The addition of multiplayer is fantastic but it too is not without fault, although the blunders stem predominantly from Nintendo’s Online set-up. There is no voice support, so those who like to actually communicate with their teammates are out of luck. The other issue is that you still need friend codes to set up matches with your mates.

Graphics and Sound

One of the aspects that made Modern Warfare so incredible was the detail and graphics in all the varying environments you battled through. Due to the hardware limitations of the Wii, the same great look did not make it here. That’s not to say that the game looks bad, in fact, it still looks relatively polished. The game does suffer from a grainy look in most sections and the detail, specifically in the facial department, is lacking. Other than that, the game still runs smoothly with no noticeable issues or slow-down to hamper your experience.

Thankfully, the score and voice-acting have made a solid transition onto Reflex. The same great sounding dialogue and gripping music is still here with nothing taken away. There is a great sense of urgency in many sections and the fact that nothing is missing keeps that tension, something that is vital in any FPS.

Value

Those who already played Modern Warfare on other systems will know that the game’s main campaign is pretty short. For most, you should be able to go through it in 5-7 hours, with extra time allowed for adjusting your controls. For the majority of COD players, the focus will be taking it online and building yourself up as a threat on the battlefield. There were absolutely no connection issues online; I was able to join games without problems and searching for various game types was also extremely simple. The only downside to the online is the lack of voice communication. Again, some might not be bothered by this but for those who need to issue commands or to be racist will miss out.

Conclusion

It is a bit odd that Reflex was released two years after the fact. With so many people already playing Modern Warfare 2, it probably would have been beneficial to simply do a Wii edition of that rather than bringing back the first. Once you get past the controls, you will be pleasantly surprised as to how well the game has transitioned to the Wii. If you missed out the first time around or have a strong love of the original, you should definitely give it a try. For the rest, rent this first to test out the controls before taking the plunge.