COD Black Ops Wii - FK's continuing adventures with Nintendo's finest!

Apart from the ginger gene, the only thing my three sons share explicitly, is the opinion that Call Of Duty (online) rocks. It's the only thing they can agree on as far as videogames go -their gaming preferences outside of the franchise go like this - Joe (20): Fifa, Martin (17): Dead Space, Ted (14): World Of Warcraft -see what I mean?

On the subject of Call Of Duty, however they are in full agreement. Every new edition of the game must be bought faithfully for full price on the day of release - pre-ordered and at a midnight launch preferably- and (most importantly) that from the point of getting the game into the house, right up until the next COD launch, the game will ONLY be played as a multiplayer, online experience.

I could not be more different. I have no compulsion to play these games as and when they are released. I cannot (despite the desire to play) cope with the game online! To me it is a panick stricken, jarring, frenetic, disorienting experience. On top of that, a humiliating one as I simply get picked off by other players repeatedly until the game session ends.

I DO love the franchise though. I've played a variety of the series offerings across a variety of consoles - PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 - I've even played two COD games (COD 4 and COD: World At War) on the DS! But until this month, I'd never played one on the Wii.

Nice graphics for the Wii doncha think?

It was with a look of wearied disbelief, followed by stifled giggles that my sons enquired why I was choosing to depart from the world of the 'serious' gamer, to play the shoddy and inferior offering presented to Wii gamers. Well, I'll answer that question right away!

Ultimately it was the price... Black Ops for the Wii was available for £15 (inc. postage), whereas it's 360/Ps3 cousins were costing above £25, even for pre-owned. It also served as a sweetener, when I took the risky decision of having a Wii only summer... I had read enough reviews online to know that the Treyarch boys had done a rather grand job of furnishing Wii gamers with a faithful edition of the game... not some embarrassing child-like "Wii edition" - the option chosen by some high profile releases - Ghostbusters for example, or even a "down graded" version of the game - the accusation levelled at Dead Rising, the game mentioned a couple of posts ago.

As far as I can tell, apart from a few control issues with the nunchuck and wiimote at times, the Wii version offers a full and comparable alternative to the games I've seen on the Ps3 and Xbox 360. I'd be a liar if I said the graphics were as good as it's high def relations, but they look pretty good for the Wii. Essentially the game offers the same high octane, constantly moving, thoroughly enjoyable experience, for a fraction of the price. (And I've not even played the zombies mode yet!)

Most of the Wii games I've bought this summer: Chop Till You Drop, Cursed Mountain, House Of The Dead 2&3 Return, Red Steel 2, Scarface The World Is Yours, and Dead Space Extraction - cost about £7-8 pre-owned. Ghost Squad and, Gunblade NY cost £5 pre-owned. Geometry Wars and No More Heroes? £2.99! This could be a reflection of sales, but is not a reflection of game quality. The Wii is a mine of untapped potential for serious gamers... You've just got to sift through a LOT of crap, to find the games worth playing. As you can see from the list of titles accquired this summer, I've still got a lot of play left in my Wii before I dust off the old Xbox again!