Call of Duty: World at War

Call of Duty: World at War was also released on Wii in 2008, where it offered a significantly different technical experience than the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC versions. The basic story structure - the parallel campaigns of the US Marine Corps in the Pacific and the Red Army in Europe - was retained, but the graphics were noticeably simplified due to the Wii's weaker hardware, with lower-resolution textures, less detailed environments, and more limited environmental destruction. Visually, the game was closer to the series' previous Wii entries than to the new console generation of the time, which it couldn't compete with graphically.

A major difference was the controls adapted for the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, or optionally the Wii Zapper peripheral, which simulated the shape of a gun and offered players motion-based aiming by pointing at the screen as an alternative to a classic controller. This control scheme made the Wii version a specific choice mainly for players who preferred motion controls and wanted an experience closer to a shooting gallery than a classic gamepad, albeit at the cost of the precision and speed offered by the dual analog controllers on PS3 and Xbox 360. The game's multiplayer was more limited compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, with fewer players per match, a simpler selection of game modes, and a more modest choice of maps, reflecting the console's more limited networking and performance capabilities.

As with the series' previous Wii entries, developers also had to simplify the visual effects and the density of enemies on screen due to the console's hardware limitations, so some combat sequences felt more subdued than on PS3, Xbox 360, or PC.

Overall, it was a lightweight variant of the game aimed primarily at Wii owners who wanted to experience the World at War story and its signature zombie mode, not a full technical substitute for the versions on more powerful hardware. Anyone with access to a PS3 or Xbox 360 as well would generally reach for the more gameplay-rich and graphically advanced version, but the Wii version remained a legitimate choice for owners of that console exclusively.

Why play it: For the story and the popular zombie mode, the lightweight Wii version is best suited to owners of that console exclusively, while owners of a PS3 or Xbox 360 should reach for the richer version.