IGN: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex Review

The original Modern Warfare is hands-down one of – if not the single best – first person shooters out there when it comes to blending an immersive story and intense multiplayer together. Unfortunately, Reflex Edition on Wii just doesn't cut it as a Call of Duty branded game or as a top-tier Wii first-person shooter. The framerate is jumpy, the pointer tracking needs some serious polish, and while most of the elements of COD4 are included, none of them are given enough fine-tuning to truly excel.

Presentation - 6.0
Graphics - 6.5
Sound - 8.5
Gameplay - 6.0
Lasting Appeal - 8.0
Overall -

[komp]

I could not imagine playing Veteran Mode with a Wave about device. Does it even have Vet mode?

[Digitaldude]

So whens there's no hype, you actually review games like you should.
Way to go IGN.

[Shepherd 214]

No, IGN reviews games like they should. Its completely obvious that COD4 on the Wii was not going to be near as good as its bigger brothers, the PS3 and 360 version.

I just completed MW2 on 360 and its fantastic, still need to play an ass load of MP and Spec Ops. Great game worthy of at least a 9.0

[tunaks1]

i have to disagree with you, having actually owned and played reflex and COD4 i can say this is a very good port, everything is here, sure the graphics aren't HD but they are actually good if you see it in action. So unless you've played BOTH Reflex and COD4, I don't think you should be passing judgment.

[Digitaldude]

Like they should? Giving MW2 10/10 for graphics is not "Like they should"

[EvilTwin]

No, they didn't review this one fair at all. I just got done with a few hours online. The visuals are NOT any worse than W@W. And the controls are just as good as Conduit.

It's also got a far superior online compared to Conduit (its main competitor on Wii). You don't spawn in walls or off the map, or wait 8 minutes to connect, find a match and load it. Yet that game scored higher.

Makes no sense.

[Mahr]

"It's also got a far superior online compared to Conduit (its main competitor on Wii). You don't spawn in walls or off the map, or wait 8 minutes to connect, find a match and load it. Yet that game scored higher.

Makes no sense."

Twin, you're overlooking the obvious and clearly insurmountable flaw that not including IGN personnel in the game's credits poses to Reflex's core gameplay.

[dragunrising]

I have to agree that the graphics in Modern Warfare 2 did not deserve a 10 in ign's review. The Wii version seems to be a fair review nonetheless, although I will have to give it a rental to be sure. Anyone know if the framerate is as bad in the Wii version as the review seems to imply?

[EvilTwin]

blindfromthesun -- I haven't had many problems at all with the framerate. In fact, drops are almost non-existent.

You WILL encounter some skips/drops if you max out your cursor sensitivity to make it twitchy...then play the game like a regular setup.

I have had maybe three drops in single player, but I haven't turned the difficulty up all the way. I imagine with more intelligent AI ganging up on me, the game will encounter some drops from too much action onscreen.

Online, 99% of the time the game runs just fine. The only exception is if you have all 10 players involved in an intense firefight in the exact same place with airstrikes coming in and claymores going off. The quality of your internet connection can cause some problems, too, but I haven't had much in the way of lag (and even games like Halo can skip online).

Overall, it's pretty steady, I think. Check out some youtube vids.

[tunaks1]

terrible review. Graphics a 6? Conduit was rated higher and IMO it doesn't look a tad better. I'm really disappointed with this review, IGN still using the PRE-BETA screens???? Really this review needs another take. The controls in this game are amazing. This is the best controlling console FPS. He even said the particle effects in W@W were better, really??? I bet he played like 5 minuets of the game. I usually agree with IGN reviews but recently they've been going downhill.

[Digitaldude]

Really agree with you there, ever since like a year ago, their reviewers have been on crack.

[EvilTwin]

Conduit's character and gun models looked better, and there was some nice bloom thrown in throughout. But really, that's about it.

The environments are much bigger in COD, especially the online maps. And the art style is much more varied.

And the controls equal Conduit's. Easily. If Bozon is screwing up, it's on him. Not the setup.

I have no idea what is up with Boz, but this review is incredibly inaccurate.

[AndrewE]

http://ctrlaltkill.org/?p=2...

[theEnemy]

a great contender for PS2's BLACK game.

[tunaks1]

BLACK was nice an all, but its not running the COD4 engine,
btw here are some more accurate shots of Reflex

http://image.com.com/gamesp...

http://image.com.com/gamesp...

http://image.com.com/gamesp...

http://image.com.com/gamesp...

http://image.com.com/gamesp...

[EvilTwin]

This review really makes me lose a lot of trust in IGN. Their Nintendo team has usually been relatively fair.

I could deal with Bozon complaining about the visuals, because he's been playing MW2 and reviewing that.

But the controls? Are you kidding me? And tying that to framerate issues that no one else is having?

Pretty funny that an online-centric game that operates with no lag and has huge maps gets a lower rating than one with significantly more lag and a bug that makes you spawn out of the map a quarter of the time.

[Product]

Bozon, you either did not play the game, or didn't get the final version. Not only did i not have any of the issues you talked about, I could not imagine what you talked about not being talked about by people in forums who have had their copies for a week or more. Which were not present.

Bozon did you get paid off to review this like crap? Are you too into the HD CoD games to see your reviewing a Wii game? This game is better than The Conduit, but what... did you want this game to be scored below The Conduit because your name was in the credits?

There is a reason why IGN is mocked in almost every forum.

[EvilTwin]

Yep. Cassamania was/is a HVS fanboy, but I at least thought his Conduit review was fair (if a tad bit too high).

I just went back to play COD for a minute doing the test offered by Boz -- aim in COD4, then press the home button and aim around. I'm not having the problem he described.

Opinions are one thing. Preferring a certain genre or art style over another is, of course, valid.

But claiming a game is broken when it isn't? That's just lying.

[quantumriian]

This is a really unfortunate review...

CoD: Reflex is by far the best FPS and online experience I've had on Wii. I played CoD4 on the 360 in the week leading up to this release and I think Treyarch couldn't have done much of a finer job bringing it to the Wii.

The controls and customization are nearly perfect- I would like more freedom in mapping buttons; also a customizable HUD akin to The Conduit-; the graphics are a terrific representation of the original; and the online experience is quick, fun, and hitch-less- better than Conduit and WaW (WaW being the previous superior in my book).

It is unfortunate that Activision did not market this game at all and that the game media was not able to see it/review it before its release as this usually indicates a low-quality title, which this is certainly not.

If Activision and other Wii third parties don't want their "hardcore" games to fail- they shouldn't treat them like they are going to before the fact. This is a fantastic game and it deserves all the hype that went to The Conduit- which is unfortunate because Activision, and specifically Infinity Ward, treat the Wii like crap whereas High Voltage actually wants to cater to the Wii audience and their product ends up playing (mostly) like crap...I traded in my Special Edition of The Conduit to help pay for this game and I couldn't be happier.

[Xander-RKoS]

I'm so sick and tired of IGN always complaining about wii controls. It seems in every high profile game, the controls "need polishing"...and they are usually always wrong about that.

I think a certain point, IGN would realize that they have to use their hands to play a Wii game...

[EvilTwin]

According to the boards at IGN, there's someone who goes by the screen name fyzxwhyz who is a Treyarch dev who frequents neogaf. And this is what he had to say:

"The comments in the IGN review about the cursor not being responsive are baffling. The low-level input filtering (the part of the code that affects the raw cursor response) is 100% identical to WAW. If the reviewer doesn't like the way it feels, that's one thing, but if he's saying its a step back from WAW, then something is fishy.

"The only thing I can think of is that he has his cursor sensitivity set either too high or too low. If you're feeling like the cursor itself isn't doing what you want it to, I would start by adjusting that."
http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

Ouch.

[Gr81]

Caring for IGN once GTAIV got a perfect score. But seriously, read reader reviews instead they are far more accurate. I'll take Product and Evil's opinion over the chumps at IGN. Once I cop this game I'll shoot you guys a PM.

Happy hunting.

[EvilTwin]

I think I figured out what Boz's problem was: he probably went to customize his controls and maxed everything out. That is the only way to get your cursor so twitchy that you have skips/drops.

You honestly couldn't make your controls THAT touchy in Conduit, so in some respects, this game has a higher ceiling for control responsiveness. It's also something that probably shouldn't have been included, because it's nearly unusable (much like having a motorcycle that'll go 220 mph).

I'll warn ya, though...the online community is a lot tougher than Conduit (where the top-rated players were usually hackers). I'm getting absolutely reamed out there. The maps require a very, very, very different strategy. I had gotten so used to Conduit that there's a learning curve for me with this game.

[quantumriian]

This is definitely a different online game than other shooters- you have to play more like you do in single-player: "Watch your corners," using cover, covering teammates and being covered, suppressing fire, leaning etc. Whereas games like The Conduit are much more twitchy and arcade-y, a la Quake.

[EvilTwin]

quantum -- I'm slowly getting better. You're absolutely right...this game makes TCon feel almost arcade-y. And that's great in its own way, but this is a lot more challenging. You can't run right into a firefight with your sawed off and expect to kill three noobs. I'd gotten used to that style, lol. Now I'm back to playing as a noob under different circumstances.

What I find really interesting is that I've actually had to back off of the controls. I had Conduit maxed out, and I thought that would work for me in MWR. Wrong. I turned off precision aiming and made the bounding box bigger, then got my first 5-kill streak. It's a more careful setup for a more carefully played game, I suppose.

[Pika-pie]

I want to see the comparison video between this version and the PS3... I would laugh so hard

[Seferoth75]

I want to see a person using the Wii controller play a person using the PS3 controller. I wanna laugh when the dual analog newb gets owned over and over and over by superior controls. Would be funny to see how useless those HD graphics are when someone with point and click aiming is pwning you over and over

[LynyrdSkynyrd]

I lol'd

[TheMailman]

Press is so predictable: Bash Wii, bash PS3 and glorify Xbox 360 (MS)...

Business as usual..

[Seferoth75]

Did anyone else notic that its not "Reflex"? I just saw it at Wal Mart and the case only said "Modern Warfare" No reflex on the box that I could see.

[quantumriian]

It does say reflex, its just really small on the bottom of the front. Once you're in the game though, its HUGE! Its also on the side.

[AEtherbane]

The conduit was scored higher because it was groundbreaking for the console. this wasn't groundbreaking, albeit better, but not groundbreaking. I mean, sure this games graphics aren't as good a TC's, But the controls are close enough to Tc's, not quite as good, but the online is where this game really shines. i dont really care about the single player, since eveyone and their grandmother has played COD4 single player, or at lest has seen videos.
This game is also not an new IP, its a port, and is also judged based on how well of a porting they did, and when you compare this to the HD counterparts, its considerable a bad port.
All things considered, this is an 8.5 game, just like conduit. but not 7. I think its because nobody wanted to review this right after MW2 came out, but they had too anyway...

[Voice_of_Reason]

Well the Conduit wasnt already out 2 years ago for other consoles either.

[Ian43]

cod-mwr-22ndsad .forumotion .net We are a brand new COD Reflex clan site and would love to have Reflex fans join for some league action and discussion about the game. There are only a few registered users now due to the games recent release, but dont let that get you discouraged! Join our clan today!