So, if you haven’t heard yet, Call of Duty 5, which is now know as Call of Duty: World at War, is once again going to take us back in time to the days of the M1 Garand and the Thompson. I have to admit, when I first heard this, I’m pretty sure I died a little bit on the inside. Call of Duty 4 has, and still is, bringing me the best fps experience of my life. In my opinion it is better then, dare I say, Halo. But this is what Treyarch wants, so I guess I’m just going to have to wait until Infinity Ward makes their next project, which will most likely be Call of Duty 6: Moderner Warfare (sarcasm). But instead of me starting an epic rant about Treyarch and Call of Duty 5, how about we just give you a few details about the game. Don’t get me wrong, It looks like Treyarch is making some good moves, but nothing will make up for the disastrous decision to leap back to the age of World War 2.
Well first off, lets talk visuals apparently, Call of Duty 5 will be very “gritty.” The only way I know how to describe it is, almost like an old film. Not black and white, but almost like a sandpaper type look. The purpose of this look is probably to give you a feeling of truly being in the past (check out the screens below). I think this is a good approach for a WW2 game, it will really set a mood for you the moment you start playing. Also, the Wii version of the game is said to have better visuals then any other wartime shooter on the system. Treyarch will be using the Call of Duty 4 engine, which they have already got running on the Wii. Although the Wii version will be downgraded a bit, Call of Duty 4 looked absolutely amazing, so this is good news for Wii owners.
A new mode to the Call of Duty franchise that fans have been wanting for a long time will also be making its way to Call of Duty: World at War. A campaign Co-op mode will be available for you and your friend to go and obliterate the AI controlled enemy. This is really awesome because Call of Duty always has a good and fun campaign to play through, and having a friend to play it with you definitely bumps up the replay-ability.
The campaign and multi-player modes will both feature vehicles. For some this may be good news, and others, not so much. I personally am not jumping for joy over this news as I really liked the fact that there were no tedious vehicle scenes in Call of Duty 4, but I’m not going to say that vehicles will fail just yet. If Treyarch does this right, then it could be a welcome addition to the game.
(click to enlarge)
Also, the developer noted that Call of Duty: World at War will be more violent then its predecessors. The opening scene shows a Japanese commander stubbing a cigarette out in the eye of a prisoners, but that is only before he slits his throat. The blood splatters and trickles down the side of the tent that you are in. The Commander then turns towards you, planning on doing the same thing. But just in time, help arrives which starts your level long escape.
It looks like I should be a little more forgiving of the new World War 2 environment, because frankly, Call of Duty: World at War looks pretty awesome. What do you guys think about it going back to WW2? Discuss it in our forums and keep checking back to My Wii News for more Wii and Call of Duty info.
A while back, High Voltage Software released the first trailer of the Conduit. With stunning graphics and action-packed gameplay, the game did, and still does, look like it’s going to live up to the hype. The Wii-specific first-person shooter is taking some risks. Sales for these “hardcore” games aren’t too appealing, which is why most developers aren’t attempting to make games that will really impress the hardcore gaming crowd. But High Voltage is trying to tap into that stubborn, brainwashed, Wii Play buying crowd know as the casuals. If High Voltage succeeds then they will be rewarded with a lot of cash (which they deserve) and more developers will start making better games now that High Voltage proved that there is a market out there for these types of games. But if they fail… well, I’d rather not talk about it.
Not to worry though, High Voltage will make this game right, if they don’t miss a few critical components to the game. One of those components being their online mode. Now, High Voltage teased us about this mode in the trailer. At the very end of the trailer, a man with a deep voice says, “Mr. Ford, deathmatch has been authorized.” Then whoever Mr. Ford is replies to that by saying, “about damn time.” High Voltage just recently confirmed the online deathmatch mode, but there are a few key factors that really make online multiplayer fun and not repetitive. This is where we come in, My Wii News is now going to discuss what the Conduit needs to do in order to have a successful, and more importantly, fun, Online Mode.
Lets get right into shall we?
First off, we will name the things that Conduit needs to be successful online but Nintendo probably won’t allow it. Voice chat, some people may disagree but the majority of online players these days love to have voice chat. Without it, you might as well be playing a whole bunch of AI controlled computers because you basically sit there in silence as you get this feeling of emptiness. Voice chat could easily be implemented if Nintendo would announce a mic during E3. Chances are, Nintendo will add some type of voice chat feature at E3 because they have been hinting at one for a while, but if they don’t, shame on you Nintendo! Although, the online wouldn’t necessarily fail without voice chat, it would severely punish these players who are in need of help from teammates and do not have enough time to scroll through a list of automated messages. (Medal of Honor anyone?) High Voltage really needs to push Nintendo to allow them to use this feature.
Another thing they would need is some kind of downloadable content (DLC). Games, sadly, do not stay fun forever, after you play the same map over and over again, it begins to become quite stale. But this is where DLC comes in. Once you start getting bored of whatever game your playing, you tend to slowly slip away from it, destined to never return. But then those clever developers release a new map pack and your back on that game and thinking, “why did I think this was getting boring?!” This is what we need. We need that sense of renewal but without a hard drive it is impossible. Which is why we really need Nintendo to announce one at this years E3. We already discussed the possibilities of a hard drive inthis article, but the way things are looking, it seems like this may be Nintendo’s year to announce a hard drive, or at least fix this memory issue. If Nintendo in fact does announce some type of HDD, it is very likely that not only will High Voltage will take advantage of this, but all of the developers who are actually trying to make a real game on the Wii instead of Dogz 2. (*cough* ubisoft *cough*)
Okay, now for the things that High Voltage can take care of themselves. What they really need to implement is some kind of leveling up system. No ranks, no exp, and no challenges= No Fun. If your not working toward some type of goal, whether it is to unlock some new gun, or to finally reach that next rank, you are going to get bored really quickly. Games like Halo and Call of Duty 4 for example have ranks and exp. With these things, people are always trying to reach the next rank which is what keeps it fun. In Call of Duty, there are challenges that you can complete for new types of weapon attachments or camo. This keeps the online mode steady, fun, and rewarding. Without anything like this, The Conduits online mode will fail.
There are other small things that keep online modes fun. Leader boards are one of them. Leader boards are are a good way to keep track of you skill level and are fun to people who love to climb their way to the top of it. Leader board can keep people immersed in the game and will make a lot of players happy because they have an efficient way to see where they and their friends rank. A lot of different game modes is also a really nice thing to have, such as capture the flag and king of the hill. It helps put strategy into the modes instead of just racking up as much kills as possible.
A good thing that Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 left out was friends codes. Nobody has ever liked them and nobody will, a stupid decision by Nintendo. But EA found a way around this with their online system that allowed gamers to use their own gamertag of some sorts and made it alot easier for the players to find their friends and add them. If High Voltage could make a system kind of like this then that would be awesome.
A decent matchmaking system is crucial for online games. Everyone remembers Gears of War and the horrible host advantages. The host was able to kick any player, and the host always had a much better connection then the other players. The host had absolutely no lag which gave the host a huge advantage over any competitor he faced. The Conduit needs to follow a Halo or Call of Duty style matchmaking system. Even Epic Games has noticed this problem and has confirmed that Gears of War 2 will feature a Halo style matchmaking system.
Finally, High Voltage really needs to design good multiplayer maps with an array of different environments. Playing in the same type of environment over and over again gets boring. Every map will look and feel the same, people will get bored and they will stop playing. In Call of Duty 4, they have a good amount of different environments. Everything from desert, to woodland, the inside of buildings, and with the new DLC, a chinatown, a broadcast room, and even a assault training hangar. The maps don’t get boring, and most importantly, the game stays fun.
If High Voltage follows these guidelines and continue doing the great job that they are doing already, The Conduit will be an awesome game that all Wii owners must buy. Hopefully The Conduit will get it right, and if they do, you guys know that I’ll be standing in line on launch day.
Discuss this article below or take it to the forums, check out the trailer if you haven’t already, and keep checking back to My Wii News for more Wii and Conduit info!
Lukatoll | June 10, 2008
So, if you haven’t heard yet, Call of Duty 5, which is now know as Call of Duty: World at War, is once again going to take us back in time to the days of the M1 Garand and the Thompson. I have to admit, when I first heard this, I’m pretty sure I died a little bit on the inside. Call of Duty 4 has, and still is, bringing me the best fps experience of my life. In my opinion it is better then, dare I say, Halo. But this is what Treyarch wants, so I guess I’m just going to have to wait until Infinity Ward makes their next project, which will most likely be Call of Duty 6: Moderner Warfare (sarcasm). But instead of me starting an epic rant about Treyarch and Call of Duty 5, how about we just give you a few details about the game. Don’t get me wrong, It looks like Treyarch is making some good moves, but nothing will make up for the disastrous decision to leap back to the age of World War 2.
