With Black Ops III due out in November and the public betas just recently finished, I was looking for something to scratch the Call of Duty itch I was left with. Advanced Warfare‘s hype got me to buy in on day one for PC because I was looking for something more dynamic than Ghosts, but the gimmicks that permeate that game and inability to avoid the hoards of gamers that are much, much better than me left me far shy of the dozens of hours I normally invest in CoD multiplayer modes to begin with, so I didn’t really feel like going back there. This led me down the path of CoD self discovery over the next couple of days bringing me to an interesting conclusion: in spite of its shortcomings my favourite CoD since MW2 is Black Ops II for Wii U.
Moving another step back in time I decided to fire up Ghosts on the PS4. I had a decent amount of fun with Ghosts in its heyday, but there was no denying that CoD was in a bit of a slump at the time and the magic from the earlier games was wearing off as the novelty was dissipating and the new mechanics were largely failing to revive the feeling we all got the first time we played the original Modern Warfare.
I figured that this would be my CoD of choice until I decided whether or not I’d get Black Ops III this fall (especially considering I’ll be very busy playing Fallout 4 anyways), so I went ahead and bought the Season Pass to get all of the DLC that I had never bought when the game was new because my interest in it had already sufficiently waned by the time they started being released for Sony systems. This was a horrible mistake. Even though there are still a couple thousand players playing Ghosts on the PS4 at any given time, matches can be really hard to get into (unlike the Black Ops III beta which was deliciously fast at throwing you into matches) and a lot of the game’s remaining players have shacked up in the Strikezone-only playlist making my $40 DLC maps entirely useless. After a certain amount of time the season passes should just become free on CoD so the remaining hangers on can just play in all of the maps as they try to avoid the inevitable tide of upgrading to the latest and greatest thing. I have yet to be put into a match with a single one of these DLC maps, and I’ve basically given up and mourned flushing my $40 down the toilet and moved on.
The CoD I played the most immediately before Ghosts was Black Ops II and my system of choice was the Wii U. I chose the Wii U for many reasons, not the least of which was that I was soooo happy to finally be playing a mainstream FPS on my Nintendo system and hoping it would last forever (which it sadly did not). Want to see my career stats on Black Ops II so far?
Yes, you are seeing correctly. 227 hours of gameplay. 6th Prestige. 1.74 K/D. Almost 31500 kills. I even spent the time and made a Game Usagi logo emblem. I have never played any other game (including other Call of Duty games) that much in my life. I think if you add up my time in Advanced Warfare, Ghosts and the first Black Ops it still wouldn’t come close to that. What makes Black Ops II for Wii U so special? Well quite a few things actually. First there are the things that make Black Ops II multiplayer special as a CoD game no matter what system you play it on:
- First CoD game with the ingenious “Pick 10” system for designing classes where each item/perk/etc. you equip counts as one “point” and you can mix and match up multiple effects to perfectly match your play style within that limit.
- Scorestreaks instead of Killstreaks so no matter what game style you’re playing or how you help your team you’re still always earning toward your streaks
- A less harsh prestige system with permanent unlock tokens and the ability to refund unlock tokens so that you’re not completely locked out of your favourite gear for long stretches of time after prestige-ing like in other CoD games.
- Players stand out a little more from most scenery so you’re not always squinting and wondering if things in the distance are people or not.
- Very tight controls and a rock-steady framerate, on the Wii U too!
- Very fast matchmaking, much faster than Ghosts even.
- Very few gimmicky powers/streaks that cause 100% inescapable deaths as are far too prevalent in the series. (aka it’s balanced a lot better)
- You can earn XP in the excellently fun “Party Game” modes like my all-time favourite One in the Chamber as well as the other excellent ones like Gun Game and Sticks and Stones. (I very much hope these return in Black Ops III)
- In Combat Training you can play against and earn a bit of XP from fairly clever bots, which is great for new players just starting out or playing select Objective modes that people don’t normally populate well.
Black Ops II for Wii U in its heyday was unfortunately severely neglected by Treyarch. For whatever reason it only ever received a couple of bug fixing/balancing patches, usually weeks after the other systems received them, and only one DLC map, Nuketown 2025 ever made it to the game. Even though Nuketown 2025 was announced as a preorder bonus for Wii U, it took years before it eventually showed up for the system, but thankfully it’s there now. So some of the downsides to playing on the Wii U are:
- No DLC maps (minus Nuketown 2025) or support of any kind ever
- Double XP weekends when they were happening often skipped over Wii U
- Players can play with the Wiimote and nunchuck and depending who you ask that either gives them an unfair advantage or disadvantage against players playing with the GamePad or Pro Controller
- Since there was never a huge amount of players, a lot of the smaller game modes including Capture the Flag, etc. have never really been played or playable. Now that we’re down to only a few hundred players on at any given time, you’ll basically only be playing team deathmatch.
Even with all of these things considered, here’s why the Wii U version was the most special version of a special CoD game:
- Full GamePad support means that you can play CoD off TV either using the GamePad controller or just using it as a screen and using the Pro Controller. You can also play multiplayer and one person can use the TV and one can use the GamePad. Various chat headsets or even just Apple/Android headphones can be plugged into the GamePad and used for in game chat.
- A smaller community means you get to know the other players and know generally who to fear when they pop up in a lobby. It makes vendettas and tactics much more personal than your average CoD game.
- Wii U players, on average, are less hugely skilled at microsecond reactions than the players on the main CoD consoles so it usually feels more fair and more fun.
- Did I mention that matchmaking is still way faster than it is on Ghosts for PS4? This makes a big deal when you play a couple hours at a time.
- No extra cost for online multiplayer
- Visuals are just as good, if not better, than those on Xbox 360 and PS3
- Can post to Miiverse to show off or ask for tips if you want too.
It’s a real, genuine shame that Treyarch has apparently decided to forego making Black Ops III for Wii U because after my time with the beta on both PS4 and PC I have to say that that game has the potential to be a great step toward saving Call of Duty from wasting away into something only a few select elite gamers can truly enjoy. You can now attach your NNID to your Call of Duty account though, so here’s hoping Activision is planning something for Wii U owners to enjoy. If we all wish really hard maybe they’ll actually make DLC and patches for it too! Until we find out what they have planned, why not join me in waiting for Black Ops III by throwing down a mere $20 in most places (if you haven’t already) and reliving one of the best CoD multiplayer experiences there has ever been for any system, on the Wii U. I’ll be waiting.