After Modern Warfare took the franchise to new heights in technical and gameplay execution, Call of Duty returns to its roots with a massively ambitious look at the Japanese and German fronts of World War 2 in ways never seen before.  Whether this will be considered a step backwards is debatable, the genre has rarely been presented in such a brutal and unflinching way, easily setting a new benchmark in violence and disturbing imagery for the series.  Developer Treyarch takes the lead from Infinity Ward this go-around, utilizing the powers of the Call of Duty 4 engine to create the most compelling and visually disturbing World War 2 shooter yet, managing to wring every last drop of emotion and vitality from a genre many feel has been spent creatively.  While the Wii version of the game may lack of the visual acuity and multiplayer options of its console cousins, is an otherwise complete experience for Nintendo's machine and should please fans aching for a mature experience.

World at War definitely makes for some truly engaging combat, as the challenge and overall difficulty have been greatly increased as enemies are become even more aggressive, from treetop snipers to banzai raiders who are quite merciless and downright terrifying.  The action has never been quite this tense and provocative in a WW2 shooter. It been said that a project of this magnitude would’ve been impossible on the Wii, given the console's penchant for more casual and family-friendly fair.  Despite the reduction in visuals and gameplay modes, the core elements that make up the brutal and unforgiving experience of the other versions have been retained here in all their blood-soaked glory.  The atmosphere is epic as you’ll begin as a POW, which quickly elevates the momentum from emotional despair to soldiering through harsh adversities all in the name of triumph. The pacing and plot deals with the struggles between the American and Japanese fight for dominance over the Pacific islands to the Russians offensive against the Germans, and will alternate regularly between two soldiers throughout the single player experience.

The use of the Wii's motion controls are quite good, easily better than Call of Duty 3's clumsy implementation, but not quite as smooth as other shooters like Medal of Honor or even Metroid Prime 3.  Still, having a few disorienting battles and several deaths the controls became almost second nature and felt great.  Multiple mapping options are other standard configurations are present, and I would advise anyone having trouble finding their groove to take a few minutes to adjust the Wiimote and Nunchuk to their liking.  The Wii Zapper is also an option in other gameplay modes, although the core gameplay remains eminently playable with the stock Wiimote/Nunchuk controllers.

The game's sole cooperative offering has affectionately been called “girlfriend mode,” which allows another player to piggyback with his/her own cursor and choice of weapons during the solo mission and help your buddy through the carnage.  Even though it’s not really essential to the experience, it's a nice touch that allows the second to hop in and out during the campaign.  Another big change to the Wii version is with how online multiplayer is handled, which has been scaled back significantly from its Xbox/PlayStation cousins.  Gone are many features other consoles take for granted, such as voice communication, objective matches, and even vehicular combat, and true cooperative campaign gameplay.  But as this is the first Call of Duty for the Wii to feature online play, the silky-smooth network connections were impressive, and some aspects of the other versions "perks" system have been left intact.  While nowhere as robust as its more attractive counterparts, the action can still get quite intense and in the heat of battle that's all I really ask for.

As optimistic as I am when it comes to Wii graphics, I still expected more from World at War...a lot more.  While its remarkable that Treyarch was able to fit just about every cinematic battle and locale onto Nintendo's console and make it work, the game's fidelity and visual clarity has been muted to such a point that it hinders gameplay.  Scenes that were remarkably vibrant elsewhere, such as the landing on Peleliu Island, have been reduced to flicker-fests that really don't do the game's otherwise fantastic art direction justice.  The lack of dynamic lighting and flame effects help turn what could have been an attractive excursion into a dull and dreary slog.  Pixilated enemies and blurry backdrops often blend into a haze of confusion, and I can't help but think the graphics were rushed through development, and certainly don't push the Wii hardware to its limits.

The game's soundtrack remains epic and bombastic, easily impressive and one of the finer things about this or any version.  Equally good are the various vocal performances and acting, which help continue the high benchmarks set by Modern Warfare and feature the talents of Kiefer Sutherland (24) and Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight).  Wii owners should take comfort in knowing their version sounds as good as the others.

Overall, the Wii version of Call of Duty: World at War does a great job at mimicking the look and feel of its bigger console cousins, capturing much of the intensity the franchise is known for and shoehorning it onto a console it clearly wasn't designed to play on.  That Nintendo's console is receiving the full and uncensored campaign mode this time around is reason enough to celebrate, but the lack of polish to the game's rather bland visuals (we've seen much better on the console) and dearth of online options is questionable.  While the effort by developer Treyarch is - however minimal - admirable, in all fairness those looking for the definitive World at War experience should seek their visceral pleasures elsewhere, although in a pinch the Wii version is a satisfactory substitute and one of the better first-person shooters for the console.