Wii Online FPS Comparison

[Zechs Merquise]

Wii Online Shooter Comparison:

 

The Wii has had its fair share of FPS games, and of all the titles released there are four games that stand out in the Wii’s library. These games are Call of Duty (COD), Medal of Honour Heroes 2 (MoHH2), The Conduit and Goldeneye. For the purposes of this comparison we will focus on the online competitive portions of the game and discuss the pros and cons of each game.

 

We will discuss the games in the order they were released. Please note, there are three online COD games on the Wii, we have chosen to discuss Black Ops, the most recently released and thusly most relevant instalment in the series.

 

 

Medal of Honour Heroes 2

 

Medal of Honour Heroes 2 was the first online FPS to be released on the Wii and for that reason you’d expect it to be quite dated by now, well you’d be wrong. MoHH2 still has the record for the largest number of online players in a match on the Wii with a maximum of 32 players allowed in a single game. What’s more MoHH2 is the only online shooter on the Wii to use dedicated servers rather than a peer-to-peer system. These two points alone make MoHH2 a serious contender and stand out amongst the crowd.

 

The online system is very solid, rather than searching for a game, you view a list of games on the server and choose from them, each game is fully customisable by the individual who sets it up. You can choose how many players play, what type of game is to be played, limit the length, conditions of play including the total numbers of players you want to take part and set which weapons and grenades can be used in that particular game. The game modes are quite basic and include free for all, team death match and capture the flag.

 

This online setup can be slightly confusing for players used to the COD style of searching games, but when you get used to it, the system allows far more customisation in open play. If you want a game minus grenades – you set one up, you want to leave out rocket launchers – leave them out, you want a capture the flag game with a 20 minute limit – you can do it. What’s more anyone can set up a game and when they leave, because it is based on a server, the person who set up the game can go without closing the game and ruining the fun for everyone else.

 

The game didn’t utilise Friend Codes and you could request to add other players who were online to your friends list as well as add people you knew by searching their user name. This system was clearly preferable to the Friend Code system but sadly didn’t include any options for voice chat (please note there wasn’t actually any microphone or headset available for the Wii when this game released). MoHH2 did however try to compensate by allowing players to issue text commands to other players which could be chosen from a list of prewritten statements. What’s more the game included leader boards and some stat tracking – which by today’s standards are a little lacking. There was also no form of levelling up your character.

 

Before you take to the field you will find the controls quite customisable, but the options are nowhere near as comprehensive as more modern titles – it does however allow you to alter all the sensitivity settings and allow the standard changes you would expect in an FPS. Before you go into a match you choose the side you want to fight for, the uniform you want to wear and pick from a limited number of weapons which are specific to each force. It certainly doesn’t have the weapon count found in other games but the weapons present do cover all the regular classes, shotguns, sub machine guns, machine guns, rifles and sniper rifles and bear in mind they are specific to each faction. Which faction you choose to fight for will most likely depend on which faction’s weapons you prefer.

 

When you get into the game it plays very well. Due to dedicated servers the game doesn’t suffer from the lag issues found in peer-to-peer games. The maps are well constructed and feel like actual locations rather than just arenas, although the actual map count is quite low. MoHH2 does provide a very different experience to other Wii shooters in the fact that a 16 on 16 capture the flag match is literally something you won’t find anywhere else on the system.

 

What’s more, because of dedicated servers there was no option to play a private match against friends; however you just had to set up a room and put a password on it, allowing perfect online play against all your friends with exactly the set up you wanted.

 

Pros

32 players

Dedicated servers

Customisable games

No lag

No Friend Codes

 

Cons

No voice chat

Small number of maps

No character progression

 

 

The Conduit

 

The Conduit was one of the most hyped games for the Wii and was meant to bring a whole new level of control, customisation and community interaction to Wii online FPS gaming. The Conduit’s controls were highly customisable eclipsing what was previously available on the Wii (although they did force you to throw grenades by shaking the nun-chuck). The Conduit’s customisation went beyond just controls and allowed the player to customise and arrange the look of the in game HUD. What’s more The Conduit was the first Wii Shooter to have voice chat which was provided via Wii Speak. The Conduit also allowed up to 12 players in a game, to this date this is still a record number of players in a Wii FPS using a peer-to-peer system.

 

Sadly however The Conduit’s online system was poor. Searching a match could take several minutes and when you got one you couldn’t specify what weapons you took into the match. Instead of picking a gun beforehand that suited your style, The Conduit boasted a Mario Kart voting system which determined which gun set was to be used in the game. Sadly the vote also determined how long the game would be. This often led to nightmare scenario of being stuck in a 20 minute game using rocket launchers and explosive weapons. The game modes were interesting enough with the classic free for all, team death match and capture the flag being joined by several new additions, some of which added real freshness to the game.

 

One of the big issues with The Conduit online was the amount of lag and the glitches. This lead to frustrating moments where you would kill an enemy only to die seconds later from that enemy’s gun fire. People regularly seemed to run through scenery and before long the game seemed to have more than its fair share of hackers. These frustrations were compounded by the fact that if you dropped out of a game you knew that it could take awhile to get into another game and when you did there was no guarantee you wouldn’t be saddled with another 20 minute launcher based nightmare!

 

The game featured the standard Friend Codes and you couldn’t communicate or add players you didn’t know. However the inclusion of Wii Speak was great and to date it is still one of only two FPS games that feature voice chat on the Wii (NOTE: The Conduit 2 which releases in February 2011 will also feature voice chat). The game did feature a character progression system and at the end of each game you were awarded XP. However there was no tangible gain from levelling up as all it granted was a different icon next to your name. You could however choose the character you played as and customise the colours of your outfit. The game lacked any leader boards and featured only minimal stat tracking.

 

The weapons in the game were a mixed bag. There were quite a few and they fell into three classes: human weapons, sci-fi weapons and alien weapons. The weapons covered all the regular classes you would expect to find and whatever you picked up in a game you could always go back to your trusty pistol – which thankfully performed very well.

 

When you went into a game and it was what you wanted to play and the connections were good it was enjoyable. There were eight maps available and each one was essentially an arena with each half of the map being a perfect mirrored image of the other half. Due to the lack of distinguishing landmarks some of the maps seemed very dull and you could spend too much time running around identical corridors not having a clue where you, your teammates or the enemies were. There were a handful of good maps which thankfully got picked the most.

 

The Conduit allowed for private matches and this is where the game really shone. When you played with a full complement of friends with Wii Speak you could have quite a blast as you could ensure beforehand that no one picked silly weapon sets or overly confusing maps.

 

Pros

Voice chat

High levels of customisation

Good player count

 

Cons

Lots of lag

Generally uninspiring maps

Too much time spent searching a game

Voting on weapons doesn’t work

No leader boards

 

 

Goldeneye

 

The game we all grew up on. The game that revolutionised the console FPS. One of the best loved games of all time. Now it’s back, how does it stack up against other modern FPS games? So let’s get this out of the way straight away, Goldeneye online is basically a ‘lite’ version of Call of Duty. It feels very much like the developers Eurocom looked at what Infinity Ward and Treyarch had done, saw it worked and realised that Goldeneye needed to be updated in that vein or it would simply not stack up to the competition. Goldeneye runs on a peer-to-peer system and sadly only supports 8 players, 4 less than The Conduit and same amount found in Treyarch’s 2008 World at War title. The game uses Friend Codes and doesn’t feature any form of communication what-so-ever, which is a pretty poor show for a 2010 game.

 

The online system itself is good. Searching matches is quick and efficient and you are never left waiting. You can choose the game type which is to be played and join a lobby of other players who wish to play that type of game. Goldeneye boasts the regular game modes, free for all and team death match, as well as a couple of interesting new twists which are worthy of playing. Before you join a match you customise your set up including your gun, your side arm and the grenades you wish to use. What’s more, just like in Call of Duty, you can pick three perks, sorry ‘gadgets’, which customise your attributes. These ‘gadgets’ allow you to take more damage, spot enemy explosives and make your bullets more potent.

 

Goldeneye also features a levelling up system and XP is granted to the player for kills, streaks and for completing challenges with different weapons. As you move up the levels you unlock more weapons, ‘gadgets’ and attachments for your weapons. The weapons in the game are great and there are plenty of them covering all the classes you’d expect and you can customise your guns with different attachments – something not found in The Conduit or MoHH2. What’s more the game features a system with leader boards and a good amount of stat tracking. The one annoying thing about the system in Goldeneye is that you can’t alter your classes in between matches. If you want to alter your set up you have to leave your lobby and quit your group.

 

When you start a game you will notice that the games are pretty much lag free and seem to be glitch free. The game runs smoothly for the most part but occasionally suffers from a few dropped frames here and there. What’s more the controls are highly customisable and allow you to play with a variety of schemes even giving the option to use the Classic Controller and Gamecube pad. Sadly though the maps are a real mixed bag with most being arena style maps. Although they’re not anywhere near as bad as the maps in The Conduit they do lack the landmarks and the realistic feel of those found in COD and MoHH2.

 

The big omission seems to be for customisable private matches. Rather than an option to set up your own games for you and your friends, you simply have to join up and play online together as you would with a group of strangers - rather disappointing.

 

Pros

Solid levelling up system that borrows heavily from COD

Lag free

Classic and Gamecube controller support

 

Cons

Low player count

No voice chat

Lack of private matches

 

 

Call of Duty: Black Ops

 

COD is the big name in the FPS world which continues to draw huge number of gamers into hours of online play. But how does the Wii version stack up against the other top tier shooters on Nintendo’s console? Well COD:BO has a lot going for it, it has a solid player count of 10 (2 less than The Conduit mind) done over a peer-to-peer system, it has ditched Friend Codes in favour of its own online system which is basically XBOX Live on the Wii, it allows for voice chat (via headset) with any player and is the first FPS on the Wii that allows for patches and will offer DLC in the future.

 

The online system is great and just what you would expect to find in a COD game. It is quick and easy to search a game and there are a huge number of modes and game types available to the player. These game types stretch far beyond just free for alls and team death matches and really do put the number of modes in the other games listed here to shame. Sadly however there were initial teething problems with the match making service. Most of these problems have now been ironed out with the release of patches, however occasionally it can still be problematic finding a game of team death match when you are in a group of friends.

 

The classic COD system is in place – and honed to perfection in Black Ops. You can customise your character, weapons, perks, camo and equipment before a match and the amount of options is staggering. The amount of guns is fantastic and they all have a hug number of attachments and an extensive list of camouflage patterns. Whilst you don’t get to choose a side as you did in MoHH2 and you can’t customise your characters looks as you could in The Conduit, your uniform does change depending on the perks you assign. The game features and insane amount of customisation for the control scheme including options for the size, shape and even colour of your reticule. Treyarch even threw in Classic Controller support for those who want it, although the Gamecube pad is not supported.

 

Black Ops feels far more polished and better thought out than the ‘lite’ system on offer in Goldeneye. You can alter and equip your classes between matches whilst waiting in the lobby. During games you are awarded XP for gaining kills and completing challenges which allows you to level up unlocking new guns and equipment. All of your achievements and scores are tracked to a ridiculous degree; I’ve never seen such comprehensive stat tracking in an FPS before. What’s more there are weekly, monthly and all time leader boards for every single game type!

 

The online play for the most part is lag free and runs smoothly. However there is an issue where the host of a game can get reduced frames when the action gets hectic. This can be very annoying as it can prompt the host to quit the game. The maps in Black Ops are both plentiful and well designed. They are all proper maps rather than arenas and you can always find you bearings from landmarks and it’s pretty much impossible to get lost or confused. Black Ops online system is just like XBOX Live. You can chat to anyone with a headset regardless of whether they are on your Friend List and you can add people in game to your Friend List. This has lead to a genuine community forming around this gaming which has been sadly lacking in other online Wii titles due to the Friend Code system.

 

Black Ops also supports private matches in which you can alter almost every aspect of the game for you and your friends. Finally Black Ops also features Combat Training where you (and your friends if you wish) can play free for alls and team death matches against computer controlled bots.

 

Pros

Voice chat via headset

XBOX Live style online system without Friend Codes

Extensive stat tracking and leader boards

Amazing maps

Highly customisable in every way

Combat Training

 

Cons

Connectivity Issues

Host lag

[D_prOdigy]

Pretty much every online FPS bar Counter Strike feels the same these days. It's so uninteresting, though I admit I have a phase about once every year where I have the craving. GoldenEye is giving me my fill lately, but the difference between that and any Call of Duty game of the last few years is that its single player is superbly executed, with substantial levels that play very well to stealth, rather than just being linear, visual set-piece-laden schlock.

 

Great single player FPS experiences like the original Half-Life, BioShock and GoldenEye will also be infinitely more interesting to me over playing point-and-shoot with other people.

[mcj metroid]

Had no idea the conduit on-line was so poor? I thought that was where the game thrived because it had a very short one-player and no-split screen. I never played the game because it always sounded like a trainwreck to me.

 

Great comparison though there simply isn't enough of these for the wii. This site should feature it on the main page

 

 

Great single player FPS experiences like the original Half-Life, BioShock and GoldenEye will also be infinitely more interesting to me over playing point-and-shoot with other people.

 

Yep I'm about the same but then I haven't even taken off on the on-line phase in general with consoles.... I find myself even going on the ps3 with games like modern warfare going " what?... THIS is what the fuss is all about?" I feel like they haven't got the social aspect of it completely right yet. Seems to only invite obsessive competitive gamers but that's another story.

 

My favourite type of fps games are ones that do MORE than the usual run shoot and cover. Half-life 2, Bioshock, Metroid prime etc. These games all have other elements to it that make it more fun to me altogether.

[darksnowman]

Great stuff, Zechs. Do you ever play GoldenEye or are you a CoD: BlOps elitist?

 

Great comparison though there simply isn't enough of these for the wii. This site should feature it on the main page

 

Agreed.

[Kav]

The host lag in Black Ops is being patched with the forthcoming patch thankfully.

 

If I were to rate these games against each other they'd go;

 

Black Ops

MoH:H2

GoldenEye

Dog shit

The Conduit

 

 

...yes, the Conduit was just that bad! lol

[Zechs Merquise]

Great stuff, Zechs. Do you ever play GoldenEye or are you a CoD: BlOps elitist?

 

Agreed.

 

Thanks! Yeah I play Goldeneye too, it's fun for a quick blast now and then. When I play it I generally do Free For Alls and just have 30 mins or so running and gunning. It don't think Goldeneye is bad, I actually find it quite enjoyable. It's just not in the same league as COD:BO.

 

The problems with Goldeneye is that there just hasn't been as much thought gone into things like the levelling system, the maps and the online system. So whilst you'll still have fun, you just feel the game lacks that extra level of polish and feels a little vanilla.

 

I would wager anyone that hasn't played an FPS online before, or anyone that only likes a bit of FPS action now and then would have a total blast with Goldeneye though.

 

On another note I'd be more than happy for this to feature on the main site as an article. I'd also be happy to regular write stuff like this.

[stuwii]

Is Cod black ops 8V8?

[lostmario]

Is Cod black ops 8V8?

 

its 5 vs 5

[LostOverThere]

Interesting read, but one thing you can't measure here objectively is fun. Just because something is technically superior doesn't necessarily mean it's more enjoyable to play.

 

But hey, who am I kidding. I'm a single player FPS guy myself.

[The Mad Monkey]

Goldeneye > All

[Kav]

Goldeneye > All

 

GoldenEye N64, back in the day > all (played now you see it hasn't aged well)

 

Of the Wii FPS's, for multiplayer, both Black Ops (and MWR & WaW) and Medal of Honor H2 are better than the GoldenEye.

The correct order goes:

 

Black Ops>>>>>>MoH:H2>GoldenEye>>>>The Conduit

[darksnowman]

Is it just on the Wii that the majority of shooters is based on a PvP system? I hate it in GoldenEye when the host quits. Is it a big thing for the devs to set up a server?

[Kav]

The majority of FPS games on all of the console are PvP based. Just for some reason on GE you lose all your XP and stats etc when the host quits... you keep them on most other games.

 

One thing that gets me about these games is the "I'm not going to bother getting Call of Duty because I've got GoldenEye", that's like saying "I'm not going to get Mario because I've got Crash Bandicoot"... the difference in class of these games is so big!

 

CoD is so underappreciated on this forum, given that so on many here got excited over the Conduit which was so substandard, you'd expect a better following for what is easily the best FPS available on Wii.

[Beverage]

One thing that gets me about these games is the "I'm not going to bother getting Call of Duty because I've got GoldenEye", that's like saying "I'm not going to get Mario because I've got Crash Bandicoot"... the difference in class of these games is so big!

 

You have no idea how much I agree with that! However, I do feel as though you're observing the tree rather than the whole forest. I say this because I have another perspective on that amazing view that you see.

 

How about possibly seeing it as "I getting PeS so there's very little point in getting FiFA"? : peace:

Or "I'm getting Juiced so I can't be arsed with Need For Speed"? Or, or, even "I've got SSBB so I'm not even going to attempt another brawler"?

 

Black Ops does truly sound/look/seem impressive. I hope C2 adopts the excellent features : peace:

[Kav]

You have no idea how much I agree with that! However, I do feel as though you're observing the tree rather than the whole forest. I say this because I have another perspective on that amazing view that you see.

 

How about possibly seeing it as "I getting PeS so there's very little point in getting FiFA"? : peace:

Or "I'm getting Juiced so I can't be arsed with Need For Speed"? Or, or, even "I've got SSBB so I'm not even going to attempt another brawler"?

 

Black Ops does truly sound/look/seem impressive. I hope C2 adopts the excellent features : peace:

 

I see what you're saying, it's just that for those games you mention, one doesn't try to be like the other, they give different experiences and play styles (I can't say for Juiced & NFS as I haven't played either).

As Zechs says, GE is effectively a "CoD Lite" with a Bond theme... it emulates things from Call of Duty but feels like a completely diluted and unbalanced experience.

Edited January 20, 2011 by Kav

[The Mad Monkey]

As Zechs says, GE is effectively a "CoD Lite" with a Bond theme... it emulates things from Call of Duty but feels like a completely diluted and unbalanced experience.

 

And yet as a whole Goldeneye > CoD.

Personally I'd rather FPS spent more time on the single player than making it all about the online. TBH, as someone who has access to a Wii and 360, I'd still rather play Goldeneye online than any CoD, except maybe 2, that was, and always will be, the best CoD for online play, no matter how many bells and whistles they add.

[Kav]

And yet as a whole Goldeneye > CoD.

Personally I'd rather FPS spent more time on the single player than making it all about the online. TBH, as someone who has access to a Wii and 360, I'd still rather play Goldeneye online than any CoD, except maybe 2, that was, and always will be, the best CoD for online play, no matter how many bells and whistles they add.

 

The campaign on GoldenEye is without doubt far greater than CoD's, it really is brilliant!

But online..? GoldenEye's online is laughable when compared to CoD's, that is the sad truth! It seriously doesn't stack up at all... much like CoD's campaign in comparison to GoldenEye's.

 

With Zombies however, as a whole package, CoD>GE for sure.

 

 

And we are talking about the Wii CoD, even though I've got a 360 too I have CoD on the Wii as I much prefer the Wii controls.

Edited January 28, 2011 by Kav

[The Mad Monkey]

The campaign on GoldenEye is without doubt far greater than CoD's, it really is brilliant!

But online..? GoldenEye's online is laughable when compared to CoD's, that is the sad truth! It seriously doesn't stack up at all... much like CoD's campaign in comparison to GoldenEye's.

 

With Zombies however, as a whole package, CoD>GE for sure.

 

 

And we are talking about the Wii CoD, even though I've got a 360 too I have CoD on the Wii as I much prefer the Wii controls.

 

Oooooooooo zombies, must be better as it has the undead.

Don't see the attraction myself, even in an online co-op game I'd rather be against real people,.

[Kav]

Oooooooooo zombies, must be better as it has the undead.

Don't see the attraction myself, even in an online co-op game I'd rather be against real people,.

 

...?

I'm not the biggest fan of zombies myself but I was just talkig about the total package as you had. I much prefer playing against other people than I do AI.

 

It comes down to simply this; CoD runs better, plays better, is more fun and just outdoes GoldenEye in every way... that's why it's better.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like GoldenEye, I play it most nights. I've sunk 18hrs into online now and do enjoy it but if you compare it to CoD then it just doesn't stack up.

[The Mad Monkey]

Except one thing CoD sucks big hairy donkey balls.

[Kav]

Except one thing CoD sucks big hairy donkey balls.

 

That may be so, but GoldenEye sucks CoD's balls! lol

[Zechs Merquise]

Except one thing CoD sucks big hairy donkey balls.

 

Have you played Black Ops on the Wii? I actually own all the games in the comparison and more, in fact I own the following list of first person games on the Wii:

 

Metroid Prime 3

Metroid Prime Trilogy

Medal of Honour Heroes 2

The Conduit

COD:WAW

COD:MWR

COD:BO

Goldeneye

Red Steel 2

FarCry

Quantum of Solace

 

Thus I'm pretty well placed to make such a comparison. I would say those who are staunch supporters of Goldeneye really do need to try Black Ops, as Goldeneye, whilst playable and fun, is a very much watered down COD.

[Beverage]

Yo du's (kav82 ), is 'Conduit' worthy enough to be a participant in this FPS war?

 

Except one thing CoD sucks big hairy donkey balls.

 

GoldenEye Wii sucks on The Conduits left ASE ball.

 

That may be so, but GoldenEye sucks CoD's balls! lol

 

Call of Duty: Black Ops (Nintendo Wii Edition) sucks on The Conduits right ASE ball.

 

I would say those who are staunch supporters of Goldeneye really do need to try Black Ops,

 

Well I'd say, you need to suck on Michael Ford's rifle as both CoD:Bo & GE is a 'lite' and 'watered down' Conduit! : peace:

 

(I joke, I joke... I love youz all )

[Kav]

Conduit is easily the worst of the games in the comparison. I've owned all of the games in the comparison and sunk a decent amount of time into each, when you have done so it's as clear as day that CoD > MoH:H2 > GE > Conduit.

[Captain Falcon]

Of the list of proper FPS games, I've only player GoldenEye and The Conduit and of the two, GoldenEye is the better game.

 

The level of customization in the Conduit was incredibly impressive and whilst being generic as ell to look at, it wasn't dog ugly. The actual core gameplay wasn't that bad either... it just had really bad levels that didn't make the use of any of those strengths it did have.

 

And some of the online levels were stupidly big. The only ones I like playing on were the streets (the square block one) and the labs (either a lab or hospital type environment thingy) as they were much more compact.

 

Good level design isn't a technical thing like some of the other aspects the game got right, it's a more more intuitive and subjective. Hopefully, the additional time the sequel has had will mean it can challenge GoldenEye and the other games that I haven't played but people who have rave about.

 

But Conduit 3 will be as big as revolutionary as GTA3 so that's the one to keep an eye out for