WWII, here I come. (again)
The campaign mode centers around, you guessed it, two soldiers (one Russian, one American) fighting their way through World War II. The missions won't really surprise you if you've been to history class within the past twenty years, but then again they are very historically accurate with the dates. You go through all the venues: the Reichstag, Peluliu Isle, Okinawa, and all the rest. World at War does present WWII in such a way that it makes you want to play through the entire campaign, even though you probably already know the ending. Also, the voice acting is great, some of the best I've seen in video games, even though the old "Silent Protagonist" bit is getting really old (I'm looking at you, Zelda). There is only one mission that you play that has any vehicles at all and there really is no true soundtrack. Also, the AI is really bad. The enemies on Hard difficulty sometimes just stand there and wait for you to kill them, and your sqaudmates really don't help you in any way.
There is a wide selection of guns that you can use. Your arsenal consists of some of the eras most infamous weapons: the Thompson SMG, M1 Garand, Springfield bolt rifle, and much more. Also, the motion sensing makes you really feel like you're shooting a gun, adding to the game's realism and fun.
The game's graphics are very lackluster, though. The textures often resemble either turds or sandy turds, with some chunky turds mixed in. The NPC's faces rarely have any emotion at all and their animations aren't all that varied, often boiling down to run to cover, duck, stand up, shoot, duck, etc. Their models won't wow you either. I can probably describe to you all of them in the time it takes to play through one of the games missions. In addition, the lighting effects are horrible. I mean come on Nintendo! The Gamecube could have done better than this!
Now, moving on to the most important part of video games in this console generation: the online play. Suffice to say, it's very fun IF you can withstand the horrible lag of Nintendo Wi-Fi. Nintendo Wi-Fi is very annoying, especially when you're on a hot streak and all of a sudden it disconnects. Plus, there are tons of glitches. People often clip through walls, making it easier to take them down. Also, if someone is in a building, you can see their shadow on the roof of said building, also making it immensely easier to shoot them. But on the bright side, all the weapons available in Campaign mode are available in online play, plus more! But, there are only 7 game types including good ol' fashioned Team Deathmatch and Free-For-All. But, they miss a major component in gaming: Capture-The-Flag. I don't know if the Wii just isn't capable of it or if some lazy guy at Treyarch was like "Naaaah, no one likes CTF" but its very annoying. And just like in campaign, vehicles are nowhere to be found (much unlike the PS3 and 360 versions). But, its still very addicting to try to get to level 65 and start burning people with Flamethrowers. It would've been nice if they added Wii Speak so I could also burn people with my words. But sadly, Wii Speak is not available for use in this game. Also, there are some spawning issues that are very frustrating. After getting killed by someone, do you really want to end up spawning right in front of them?
Overall, CoD: WaW is one of the best third party games on the Wii. The 360 and PS3 versions have much better graphics, gameplay, and online, but the Wii's motion sensing does a good job of immersing you in the game. If you only own a Wii, you should definitely get this game, but if you have a PS3 or 360, get it for them instead.