Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Nintendo
Formats: Wii Played: Wii
Release Date: July 24, 2009
Genre: Sports
This is just more of a quick going over review then a full review and also only played as a single player and not multi which is where this game would shine.You start by skydiving down from an airplane getting you used to the wiimote and motion plus. Controls are easy, you hold the mote out and move it down to travel faster straight to glide etc etc, everything is easy to pick up and has instructions which you can skip, apart from the first 3 minute video you have to watch to show you how to connect and disconnect the motion plus.
The menu system is easy to follow like the first, you click on what you want to do then it opens up the options for the game you clicked on. As you progress through the game there are stamps to collect, some you will just get by playing through everything and the other will take a little more work. I will briefly go through all of the games available, all which are open from the start but you have to play through some to open up more locations, courses or levels.
Swordplay – You use the wiimote only on this one, I have opened up three different games, first is you vs. a computer (or friend if you are playing multi), three rounds and it’s whoever knocks the opponent off the middle cycle into the water below. Best of three, and if both of you are standing once the time runs down then it’s a draw no matter how many times you hit your opponent. You hold the wiimote with both hands, use B to block and move the mote in every direction you can think of to attack. It's quite fun but I can see it getting boring fast. The second section puts you against an opponent and chucks items at you with an arrow directing you which way to slice it. This section is all about direction and speed and its first person who slices their objects correct and fastest who gets the point. The third section is the best, this puts you against loads of opponents and it’s up to you to fight your way through it to the boss without losing 3 lives. Duel is 1-2 players, Speed Slice is 1-2 players but Showdown is only 1 player.
Wakeboarding - You hold the wiimote straight in front of you like one bar, you are tied to a boat and move left and right to glide along the water. You use the ripples and waves created by the boat to jump and do tricks while in the air and it’s up to you to land straight to get the points. More impressive the trick the higher the score. Up to 4 players for this sport.
Frisbee so far is my favourite, using the wiimote you chuck your Frisbee as you would a real one and try and land it on the marker shown where your cute dog will catch it. Closer to the marker the bigger the score and the last 4 throws will also have a balloon you can pop for extra points. The motion plus works well here and you can see how the Frisbee tilts at the slightest throw and curve. The second game is Golf with a Frisbee, this is ok and made easier at the end as you only have to get the Frisbee through the area at the end and not land there. The Frisbee will throw like you would so if you have a curve when you throw this could prove hard for you. 1-4 players on both games.
Archery – One of the few games which uses the nuchuck. You use the wiimote and nunchuck to aim your bow and shoot arrows at a board. The wiimote acts as the bow itself and you use the nunchuck as the wire. You aim then hold down A then Z once you think you have the correct position you let go of A and an arrow will shoot out. Points range from 10 down to 1 depending on where you hit. The distance and wind will affect your shots. Up to 4 players on this sport.
Basketball - The 1 player mode was better than 3 on 3 imo. Controls are really easy to use, just use the wiimote in your throwing arm holding down B then as you would throw a ball let go of B and aim when you think it’s right. Only thing they can't imitate is the weight of the ball. 3 on 3 lets you pass the ball with A or the Dpad then you throw when you think its right. Dribbling requires you to bounce the wiimote up and down to simulate a dribble and if you get close enough you can go for a dunk. The 3 point Contest is up to 4 players but 3 on 3 is 1-2.
Bowling - feels the same but it’s easier to spin the ball with the use of the motion plus. The second game lets you have a go at striking down 100 pins and the third option adds barriers in the way of your pins, some of them moving. Like before up to 4 players can participate.
Table Tennis - feels like tennis did but again your movements are more accurate. You have a match option or a Return Challenge which lets you hit back balls served to you until you miss or hit one off the table. Items will be places for you to hit to gain more points. Match games have 1-2 players but up to 4 for Return Challenge
Golf – Again this is much like the first, all original courses are back and 3 new ones. You can tell the difference having the motion plus but the game is more or less the same. Like before you can have up to 4 players.
Power Cruising – another game which uses both wiimote and nunchuck, using both like handles to a bike. I would have liked to use the wiimote as a throttle to go faster instead you just hold down A or B which can be tricky and use the mote itself for turning and a sharp twist will give you a burst. You have the options of a Slalom Course or VS mode which would be better with two human players.
Canoeing – Using the mote alone move it from side to side of your body like you would, great fun to do and the course has bends which lets you understand how your movements can affect your direction. Both Speed Challenge and vs. are 1-4 players.
Cycling – Using both mote and nunchuck you move them up and down to speed up, and side to side to steer, Fun for about 3 minutes then gets old. You tire very fast and have to then stop peddling to gain your breath. You will start last and have to work your way around everyone. It reminds me of jogging on the wii fit but less fun. Both Road Race and vs. are 1-2 player
Air Sports – the last game you can play consists of Skydiving like at the start of the game which is only a one player game to catch as many of your wii’s during your fall. Island Flyover which lets you fly over the island collecting as many Info points as possible, this was a good play through and you can choose the time of day. Dogfight lets you try and pop your opponent’s balloons and whoever has the most left at the end wins, up to 2 players can play this but I felt that shooting each other would have been more fun.
This game gets a 89%
One thing I will comment the game on is how beautiful everything looks even down to Banjo and Kazooie. All the characters from previous games make an appearance but l just feel they have stepped away from what fans of the original games were expecting and hoping for.
The challenges can me quite challenging at time but once you have found many parts and you are able to build a better vehicle then the ones they provide you can turn a challenging race into a breeze. After awhile I did start to enjoy building vehicles and taking some of the previous challenges back on but I felt this came to late in the game and most people may have given up and put the game down by then.
In conclusion it does get better if you stick with it but on a whole I feel they could have done such a better game if the challenges and level design were better and maybe more of what we loved in the first game.
The story and cut sense are very good slandered and entertaining throughout the game but the quick time events can be frustrating at times as they could be quite fast. The early stages when you have mini boss fights require you to finish off the bosses with quick time events but get it wrong and the boss regains half his health……………Half? It’s a bit much. The funny thing is that later in the game this no longer happens and any enemy you have to use quicktime events on still has it if you get it wrong.
As you power up the game gets easier and easier especially the end which is a little disappointing, also the length of the game is very short. I finished it in a day and a half and that’s only playing for a few hours.
This is the only problem with the game, its fun to play, a great story and I suppose it would have a replay value. My recommendation would be to start on Hard if you plan to go through it once. You can pick it up for £10 so it’s more then worth it for this price.
You can increase the adrenaline bar up to three times to max and this can be used for three individual takedowns or if you have three enemies around you, you could take them all out if you get the quicktime events right.
Shooting is another thing that annoys me in this game, aiming is slow and crap! When you take cover and then come away to shoot the aiming does not auto focus and by the time you have moved your sight the enemy has moved. Also sometimes you take a headshot and they will die straight away and other times it takes a few hits.
The last problem I have is while running away from enemies like in the Embassy level (Demo Level) while running away from shooters and you get into a fight once you defeat that enemy the camera is not always left in the way you were running sometimes you have turned around then once you finish you start running into trouble instead of away. Also maps are not always clear and to go back to a point just raised when you enter a one on one battle and there are shooters you can not break away from the fight and therefore you still get shot at and lose live.
The storyline pretty much follows the first film with some old missions included, the graphics are good and the gameplay when working can be fun to play but there are just too many issues. I wanted to like this game but it’s just full of frustrating moments and it’s way to short.
RE5 has taken a lot of ideas from RE4 like some of the boss battles and a guy with a chainsaw who takes way to many hits to kill. Most of the boss battles are fairly easy with a couple of exceptions but even these once worked out could be simple alas making a play through game much shorter to what is already a short game.
The fact you can not shoot and run at the same time brings some elements of fear but again this is taken away by the fact you have a partner covering your ass. The only time you truly feel vulnerable is if your partner runs of without you and you run into a spot of bother! Later in the game it will split you from your side kick but usually you can make it back to join them quickly or help them from a far!
I have yet to play Mercenaries and I will be going through this game again as Sheva who is played over the left shoulder.
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