Review Guild's Modern Warfare: Reflex Review

Guild McCommunist

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So, the history of current gen ports to the Wii hasn't exactly been great. Dead Rising? It was severely hampered by a lack of massive quantities of zombies and equally severe dumbed down graphics. World at War? The gameplay was good, for the most part, but it suffered the same dumbed down graphics. So, with the latest Wii port, a port of Call of Duty 4 (even though 6 is the next game coming out), did Activision and Treyarch set a new standard for ports? My answer: Oh hells yeah.

<div align="center"><img src="http://langaria.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/TOP_20_GAMES_OF_THIS_HOLIDAY_SEASON_Call_of_Duty_Modern_Warfare_Reflex.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>

Activision and Nintendo enthusiasts have had a borderline history. The good equalizes the bad, and visa versa. Activision has invested heavily in the shovelware market, much like Ubisoft. However, they've also been behind some good games. The aforementioned Call of Duty 5 was a rather good FPS game. Guitar Hero 3, 4, and 5 as well as On Tour were all behind Activision. Quantum of Solace was sent off and received as mediocre cash in, but it's actually quite good for in the realm of FPS games and has gotten a small fan following, as well as being my personal dark horse of Wii FPS games (you can see my review in the Reviews link in my signature). They've also beaten the life out of once amazing franchises. Don't expect a good Spyro or Crash Bandicoot game anytime soon. Well, actually, they were just the publisher. You can thank the various developers the franchises were sold to like underage sex slaves for that. You may ask "Hey, Guild, why are going through the history of Activision here?" Well, it's because Activision has been rather hit or miss on games it's been behind in the Wii/DS scene, and I wanted to emphasize that this game is a total, out of the ball park, grand slam hit.

Call of Duty 4 was released across the PS3 and 360 a few years ago and it broke ground. No longer were we stuck with WWII shooter after WWII shooter, I mean, there's only so many times you can storm Normandy before you get bored, but FPS enthusiasts and military buffs alike now got a realistic and modernized FPS. No longer did you skip around with a health bar; take a few shots, and you're Stone Cold Steve Austin here (as in dead, since you're stone cold). No longer are you firing archaic Tommy guns; top notch, highly advanced weapons ahoy. It became a highly successful FPS game, selling over 10 million copies across both platforms. Wii owners were giving sadface, though, since they missed the release because of high graphical requirements and such. However, given the success of World at War on the Wii, Activision realized lightning can strike twice and delivered us this gem of gaming excellence. While compromises were obviously made in porting this to the Wii, these are few. The missions are laid out exactly the same. Enemies act the same. AI act the same. It's a true port. The plot, as most people knows, involves an all-too-real nuclear threat in the Middle East and a civil war in Russia, with both plots, followed by the USMC and SAS respectively, eventually intertwining. In today's world, it's all too realistic. With nuclear threat in countries around the world and just an overall instability, this really feels like what could happen if things take a wrong turn. This story is presented through cutscenes during loads or even during gameplay. The cutscenes during loads are, for the most part, shown from a "digitalized" computer sort of view. The in-game cutscenes are unique as they present it as if you were in the action. It's all from your first person view. You'll be flung around by explosions, twisting through the air in helicopter crashes, and get your fair share of tongue lashings from your superior officers. It's quite cool and it really gets you into the game and story. As for the rest of the minor stuff, the menus are laid out nicely and the amount of customization is impressive.

The main thing all real men care about in a game is the gameplay. Call of Duty 4 featured a lot of new features and thusly was a big hit. For the Wii port, all of these features are preserved. Sprinting, crawling, ironsights, Claymores, everything is here. No sacrifices. And with the Wii, if you like using the Wiimote, it's even better. Aiming is top notch and deadly accuracte. There's not excessive use of waggle controls; the only one being to shake the Nunchuck to reload (a feature that was in Quantum and which I liked more than a button). You don't even knife baddies with waggle. Everything outside of reloading is mapped to a button. This makes everything less distracting and easier to access. Of course, the stuff I mentioned before doesn't have to be your controller scheme, that was just the default one. MW: R (as I'll refer to it from now on) features a wide range of customization and options that rivals even The Conduit's. Once you tweak the controls to your will, you can dominate the battlefield. It's just one of many things that tells you that this port was made with plenty of time and effort.

The first part of the game is the single player. Before we get into that, though, I just want to make a side note to all the people who burned the PAL copy of the game and that have the freeze before Aftermath. For the last fucking time, don't make a new thread that says "FREEZE BEFORE AFTERMATH HELP ME!" I posted a thread discussing the issue and a fix was found involving ejecting and inserting the game. Go start your GBAtemp training and use the Search function to find it. Anyway, the single player involves the aforementioned storyline, switching between SAS and USMC (although later in the game you'll be with both). The one thing I do enjoy is the variety of combat styles you'll have to employ. Before the two forces join, the USMC will be fighting in the Middle East and the SAS will be fighting in Russia. There's an obvious contrast. The USMC levels are full of urban areas with close quarters and "twitch reflex" house-to-house fighting. On the other hand, the SAS are in rural Russia, where for the most part you'll be fighting across a field or between distant houses. For the USMC, it's more about being fast and a little messy to mow down all the baddies. For the SAS, it's about timing, waiting, precision, and accuracy. It's just one of the contrasts I love in the game. The storyline is gripping enough to keep you on the edge of your seat (unless you already know it, but it's still good anyway), the controls won't keep you down (and may actually keep you up, for a bad opposite to "keeping you down"), and it's fun from beginning to end.

However, the one thing every guy knows about Call of Duty is the intense multiplayer, which is mostly preserved here. Multiplayer is 5v5 (aka 10 people total); less than the 360/PS3 versions of the game yet more than the Wii's previous Call of Duty. It also lacks the Kill Cam, if you were a Kill Cam enthusiast. Still, those are minor gripes that wash away when you start playing. You get a nice round of 13 maps to choose from (it lacks the DLC ones, though) and play through various deathmatch modes. The game runs with little to no lag, which is good (since The Conduit's multiplayer was severely stricken by lag issues). The big selling point of the game is the customization and RPG aspects. You'll gain levels as you play the multiplayer, which opens up more unlockables such as weapons and challenges. Even when you reach the final level, you can earn Prestige afterward for even more goodies. You'll also gain the customizable classes and I think the 3, 5, and 7 kill streak bonuses (in my defense, I didn't play much and I kinda suck at the game currently). Expect yourself to be hooked for a while on this baby.

Graphically and sound wise, the game excels. I must first say this; how the fuck are these graphics bad? I argued this issue with a few people (*cough* CasperH *cough*) and tried comparing it to 3 other realistic looking games: Scarface: The World is Yours, The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, and of course, Call of Duty: World at War. Some people say the game is above World at War, some say it's below, and some say it's on par. I say it's above. The game is simply beautiful. The only hindering aspect is the lack of texture. Still, it's the Wii; texture has always been crap on realistic games. Have you seen The Godfather game? Their hair looks like it's something you put on your Legos. You'll notice there's some short cuts, such as 2-D smoke and grass, but it's overwhelmingly offset by the overall graphics. There's also minor things I noticed, such as blood spatter, bullet marks on walls, and even some neat stuff like pictures falling off of a wall when a grenade or other explosion goes off near by. There's some minor slow down here and there, but nothing too noticeable. There's obvious sacrifices made here for the Wii, but they didn't sacrifice a lot. On the sound, it's great. The constant ringing of gunfire, yells, rockets, explosions, tanks, and everything war has is here. It just adds further to the realism of the game. There's some music here and there, which is some nice background stuff, but most of the time it gets taken out when in major fire fights. Not that that's a bad thing; the war sounds are great to hear if you want an inclusive experience.

So, MW: R overall shows that ports of capable of so much. The game preserves all the intense action and great aspects of its HD brotheren while keeping bargains and sacrifices minimal. The game is frantic yet tactical, and one of the best FPS games out there. If you wanted a FPS for the Wii that will keep you engaged, look no further.

<b>Presentation</b>: A fantastic port. Sacrifices are kept to only what's necessary and what will make the game overall better. The storyline is deep and engaging through great cutscenes and loading sequences. Menus are simple and well laid out and customization is great. Definitely the high standard for Wii ports. <b>9.5/10</b>

<b>Graphics</b>: There's some lack of texture, but that's expected on the Wii. Grass and smoke seem like that girl in the dark section of the bar; she looks hot when you buy her a drink, but when she comes over to give you a nightcap you realize she's an ugly bar skank. Still, the game's overall graphics are very realistic and some of the top for the Wii providing plenty of realism, particle effects, and atmosphere, as well as some things you may not notice like blood spatter, falling pictures frames, and bullet marks. Occasional framerate dips, but they aren't severe and are very infrequent. <b>8.5/10</b>

<b>Sound</b>: It's what war sounds like. Everything from explosions to gunfire to battle cries sound incredibly realistic. There's some nice music every now and then, but the atmospheric sounds of war are dominate. That's not a bad thing, mind you. <b>9.3/10</b>

<b>Gameplay</b>: By far one of, if not the best, FPS on the Wii. A great control scheme with tons of customization, Wiimote aiming is pinpoint precision, and there's no dumbed down aspects or sacrifices compared to the 360/PS3 versions. A great single player is only bested by a top notch, phenomenal mutliplayer. Online customization and RPG aspects add to an already great game. <b>9.7/10</b>

<b>Lasting Appeal</b>: The single player mode features multiple difficulties levels as well as some goodies, on top of the fact that the story is overall decently long for a FPS game.. After that's done, there's also an Arcade Mode, not to mention co-op play. The real winning point is the downright "should be classified as an illegal substance" multiplayer, which is way too addictive. Expect this game to be going into your Wii a lot. <b>10/10</b>

Overall: <b>9.6/10</b>

Man, first Sin and Punishment and then this? I love to give high scores!

Here's some links involving the game, since I felt it necessary:

<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=189235" target="_blank">Discussion Thread</a>

<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=182036" target="_blank">Information</a>

<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=189049" target="_blank">Friend Codes</a>

<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=189241" target="_blank">Clan</a>

<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=189421" target="_blank">"Aftermath freeze" topic and fix</a>
 

Cablephish

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The Wii's control scheme must be way less of a pain in the ass. I began to suck with the PS3 controller when I played World at War, but it's probably a mood thing.

But yeah, kudos to a good port of the Modern Warfare game to Wii.
 
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Forstride

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Excellent review. Very well structured, and even though you seem to love the game, you can at least provide some cons about the game (Unlike other reviews I've read reviews from). I'm going to put the link to this topic in my discussion topic, since a lot of people seem to visit my topic, and in case they don't see the review in this section, they might see it in my topic.
 

Edgedancer

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Nice review. I cannot wait for my downloads to renew and be able to grab it.
Just curious as I bet it has been asked but is it actually a bad dump due to the issue or is it simply protection.
 

Guild McCommunist

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Edgedancer said:
Nice review. I cannot wait for my downloads to renew and be able to grab it.
Just curious as I bet it has been asked but is it actually a bad dump due to the issue or is it simply protection.

It's a bad dump, from what I've heard. You can still play the game fine as long as you use the disc eject trick before Aftermath.
 

Edgedancer

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Guild McCommunist said:
Edgedancer said:
Nice review. I cannot wait for my downloads to renew and be able to grab it.
Just curious as I bet it has been asked but is it actually a bad dump due to the issue or is it simply protection.

It's a bad dump, from what I've heard. You can still play the game fine as long as you use the disc eject trick before Aftermath.
Thanks for that. I think I may just wait till I can rent it and dump it to the USBloader.
 

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