James Cameron's Avatar: The Game is getting noticeably different treatment on the Wii, courtesy of publisher and developer Ubisoft. Like the Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 versions you'll play as the alien Na'vi. But you won't play the humans.
Avatar for the Wii puts you in the role of a Na'vi warrior, meaning a stronger focus on melee combat and a little bit of stealth. During our hands-on time with the game, we crept through the tall grass while taking out those pesky RDA soldiers with our Na'vi staff and bow, requiring much Wii Remote waggling and careful aiming, courtesy of the Wii MotionPlus accessory. While it may not look quite as good as its higher-definition peers, the Wii version of Avatar: The Game has something the other entries don't.
That would be two-player same screen co-op, which allows a second player to join in as a female Na'vi soldier. When a fellow member of the press hopped in mid-game, it appeared that both Na'vi players used the same set of moves. That presented a bit of an obstacle, as the camera didn't quite know what to do in a two-player situation when one of us was trying to aim his or her bow.
Hopefully that's something Ubisoft is aware of and tweaking, as the two-player mode has its benefits—namely the cooperative revive technique.
When my Na'vi was defeated by an RDA soldier in one of those hulking AMP suits, my partner helped revive me, letting us double team that massive exoskeleton. While I was attacking the thing, my partner sneaked into the tall grass, reviving his character with one of Pandora's life giving plants, then finished the AMP suited invader from behind. It worked, but not without some hitches along the way.
The Wii version of James Cameron's Avatar: The Game definitely looked sharp, if you're thinking of going with the motion controlled version. It should ship on or about the same day as its more visually detailed brothers, should you and a friend want to fend off that human invasion of Pandora together.