We've already written quite a bit about the Xbox 360 and PS3 version of Call of Duty: World at War, but thus far, we haven't had the chance to go hands-on with the Wii version of the shooter. At Nintendo's recent Fall Media Summit, though, Treyarch was on hand to show off the game and we got some playtime with the title.

The developer decided to show us the co-op mode, which has two playing on the same screen. Unlike traditional shooters, the second player doesn't have their own screen and doesn't move their own character. One player controls the movement of the character and also has the ability to aim and shoot, and the other player just controls his or her own reticule and weapon fire. Conceptually, the idea is decent, but in execution, it's a bit of a mess. One might expect that for the second player, the experience would be similar to something like a rail shooter. However, there's a key difference between a rail shooter and World at War's co-op mode. The former is designed and paced specifically for players to aim and shoot and do nothing but that, and the latter is not. While the first player has an idea of where they're going to move and strafe and can aim accordingly, the second player is on an unpredictable rollercoaster ride of erratic movements and strafing. It's just not much fun.

Moving beyond the co-op mode, mechanically speaking, World at War seems solid. The pointing control is better than the majority of Wii shooters I've played. That said, the game suffers from the inherent problem found in most Wii shooters: whenever you move the reticule the whole screen moves with you, making precision a difficult thing to achieve.

For Wii-only gamers, World at War is shaping up to be a solid shooter with good controls and the traditional Call of Duty design. The co-op mode didn't impress me, but I am interested in giving single-player affair a try. Personally, though, I am planning on doing so in the Xbox 360 or PS3 version because it'll be technically superior and control better.