I'm bumping this thread because I've been playing the crap out of Black Ops Wii since getting it in November. Last night there were 22 151 active players on-line. That just blew my mind.
I already owned Black Ops PC, which I bought not long after release, but for some reason the multiplayer in that version never really clicked with me, even when people raved about it being the best in the long-running series. Now with playing the game on Wii my eyes have opened to its charms in a big way.
Black Ops Wii feels like an entirely different, and better, game to the PC version. The lower number of players, the removal of certain killstreaks, and the addition of Wii controls really change how you play the game, not just in the obvious way of having superior shooter controls on Wii, but also in the sense that the whole thing has taken on a much more strategic feel. In other words, having ten players on any given map means you can afford to take the time needed in planning and carrying out an effective assault. No longer does it feel like two waves of players constantly washing up against each other, the guy with the least lag (whether it be network or visual) usually winning. Instead it becomes about tactics and how your mental approach can contribute to winning as much as quick reflexes.
Right now, if you ask me to come up with a list of the five best (or at least my favourite) on-line first-person shooters of this generation I would have no qualms about putting Black Ops Wii at the top. It's a shame the Wii version did not get the extra maps, but everything else makes up for it, and what is there is brilliant.