When you say Monster Hunter in the Western hemisphere, people usually give you a rather blank stare as if you're talking nonsense. This is because Capcom's creature harvesting simulation has mostly appeared on the unpopular PSP format. Not only was the chosen console under appreciated, the controls made the experience cumbersome and the fact that Monster Hunter is designed from the ground up to be a multiplayer also led to problems as the PSP titles didn't have an online infrastructure. But all this looks set to change with Monster Hunter Tri.

This is the first Monster Hunter game to be released away from a Sony platform (the first two "proper" games in the series were on the PS2, both had online, but a PS2 network adapter was hard to come by), and Nintendo have got fully behind the release with a huge advertising campaign prior to release. It's also the first Monster Hunter since the PlayStation 2 ones to feature a proper online infrastructure, meaning no need to gather all your mates around at one place to go ahunting. There's more to support its release too, Nintendo have included the ability to use Wii Speak in the game, which as far as I'm aware hasn't been done since Animal Crossing City Folk and they've redesigned the Classic Controller, all of which you can buy together in a mega bundle if you so wish.

So then onto the game itself, the first thing that strikes you about Monster Hunter Tri is just how gorgeous it looks. The share amount of detail that is on each of the creatures is astounding even without taking the hardware into account. It wouldn't be a great looking XBox 360 game, but it wouldn't be an awful looking one either. Everything from the landscapes, to the creatures to the way your clothing moves and weapons such as the Switch Axe change form is a joy to behold. Each individual creature has their own set of animations which all appear incredibly natural and are distinct enough for you to spot opportunities that require you to either defend yourself or open up an opportunity to attack, something thats incredibly noticeable when it comes to the bigger beasts.

As previously mentioned, Nintendo have seen fit to redesign the classic controller, rebranded as the Classic Controller Pro, and it appears to be that this is the best control system to use (although I personally prefer the original Classic Controller, I'll leave the comparisons between the two to a different article) as using the Wii remote and nunchuck system is rather clumsy and cumbersome, needing you to change the way the remote is pointing to perform different attacks. It sounds like it makes sense, but in practice and in the heat of battle it leads to more problems than either of the other two optional controllers do. But its all about personal taste so I'd reccomend giving any control system available to you a good going over. The same applies to choosing a weapon set as they all control in a drastically different manner. Some, such as the Sword and Shield, are quick and versatile, even allowing you to use items whilst in a guarded position, but are also much weaker. Whilst stronger weapons are slow aand cumbersome and require forward thinking in order to make sure you don't leave yourself too open to attack. This gives the game a suprising amount of technical depth, especially when playing online, which can lead to some great moments where one of you uses the Sword and Shield to fly in with some quick attacks, whilst two others sit back using the lance or bowgun to deliver long range attacks with another guy supporting with something more heavy duty. Its this kind of experience that makes the online portion of the game the key sector, although every single thing you do in the single player mode is designed in a manner to make the online more accessible and vice versa.

Online has been hyped for this particular game, mainly because it does away with the rather poor Nintendo Friend Codes system, although the system put in place for you to make friends and organise games still isn't perfect. You still have to swap codes/names and you can't swap details when in quests, only when you're in the city. There's no mass lobby, ala Phantasy Star Online either. You pick a game to play in and are limited to being able to interact with upto 3 other people whilst there, no pre-arrangement before creating a game unfortunately. Still, it all works fairly well and once you get questing all the porrly implemented organisational systems take a back seat and the hunting makes for the most compelling online Wii experience on offer thus far. The only thing that lets it down is that the Wii Speak is fairly useless, but keyboard chat (via the use of a USB keyboard) more than suffices and is infact essential.

Monster Hunter Tri then is an essential title for anyone that owns a Wii or anyone that wants a compelling online role playing experience but doesn't want to commit to something like World of Warcraft. Suprisingly its still incredibly enjoyable in single player and the option to play two player splitscreen is also there. the first of a slew of must have Wii titles in 2010 then.

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Its that time of year again, the one that has football fans going mad and those who couldn't give a toss hiding inside with everything turned off. Yes it only comes around once every four years (technically twice if you count the European Championships), but its International Football time, this time round its the World Cup in South Africa and EA Sports unsuprisingly have a game out on every platform to cover it.


Here we tackle the Wii one, or as its more commonly known the "poorer cousin". Largely regarded as the Christopher Wreh to the "bigger consoles" George Weah, its hard not to jump in expecting the worst. Thats not to say previous FIFA's on the Wii have been bad, and to judge them to other versions on different systems would be unfair as they're pretty different games. The focus here is on fun, regardless of wether you play it in local multiplayer, online or in single player, its more of an Arcade title compared to the simulation efforts of the PS3 and XBox 360 versions.

With this in mind, the method of play fits perfectly. The game has three simple actions, A passes the ball, B performs a lob pass and a shake of the Wii remote takes a shot on goal. The former have power bars attached to their actions, the latter doesn't appear to follow suit meaning your attacking player will administer the correct amount of power for the shot you've taken. This makes things instant and fun, allowing anyone to pick up a set of controllers and score 40 yard screamers. However, there's a strong feeling that you don't have full control over whats going on. The players feel too light and there's a delay between button presses and remote shaking on occassion. This is most notable online and can be rather frustrating when a delay causes you to lose the ball in the dying moments of a match whilst in a goal scoring position. The tackling too feels clumsy and you're punished far too often for performing slide tackles than is really necessary.

Graphically its an odd one too. Previous Wii FIFA titles have gone down a more detailed Mii route. World Cup 2010 tries to go half way between cartoony visuals and realistic looking players and doesn't quite pull it off. Its not the over brightness of the colours that are the problem here I might add, its that it all looks a little flat and unappealing. Another big issue is the sound, one thing in particular, the horns that African fans are famous for blowing make an appearance here, and why not, its all part and parcel of the culture of the World Cup. However it would be nice to be able to switch them off as the noise (similar to that of an angry wasps nest) can be highly irritating and especially annoying. The option is there, but you have to unlock the ability to turn this noise off, something I see as a big mistake.

Game modes wise, theres a few different things to do, the normal quick play, tournament, road to World Cup and online matches are there. As is a new take on the Challenge Mode that tasks you with certain challenges in order to unlock players for your custom team, which you can then stick onto your Wii Remote and take to a friends to compete against their team. As I said previously, there seems to be more of a focus on multiplayer fun and if you can ignore the niggle of slightly delayed controls from time to time (and it doesn't happen all that often if I'm being honest), you can have a fair amount of fun in multiplayer on this Wii release of FIFA 2010 World Cup South Africa.

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You've seen the film (well, I've seen the film), now play the game!

I will admit I came to Onechanbara with low expectations, and I dare say that approaching it in any other manner may be a mistake. To its credit though, as a budget game, Onechanbara is surprisingly competent. Think of it like a supermarket value brand game, you get everything you would from the name brand, but every single corner has been cut.

The graphics are probably the main example of this, with admirably chunky character models and reasonably busy environments. The core characters have lots of paraphernalia, belts, hats, and jewellery, which do flesh out the characters a bit, adding detail. The problem is that everything is incredibly grainy, expected jaggies aside. The textures on the landscape and buildings are nothing to write home about, possibly better than I was expecting, but the more detail there is the worse it looks.

Gameplay takes its cue from the likes of Devil May Cry, and while the system’s not as deep, chaining combos is rewarded. There’s a certain amount of technique to the game too, timing attacks correctly is of benefit, and certain enemies are only susceptible to certain techniques. Each character also has a secondary move set, these vary in usefulness, and certainly don’t suit all occasions. Main character Aya’s secondary move set sees her using two swords, which is more fun than her single sword for combo building, but the wrong choice later in the game.

Controlling attacks by shaking the remote/nunchuck does of course have its problems. Compared to simple button presses timing is far less precise, it’s easy to get caught in combos, and throw in unwanted strikes. That all being said, the same game without the use of the Wii remote would be far less enjoyable.

As gimmicky as it may seem, waving the remote around does add something to the game. It’s also surprisingly competent at recognising motions. Indeed I can’t think of too many games that are better at this, particularly given the speed it moves at. Admittedly most attacks require nothing more than a shake, maybe an upwards motion rather than a downwards. But there are others, such as Aya’s dual sword attack where she rips an opponent in half, to do this you simply put the nunchuck and remote together, then pull apart. It’s nothing particularly special, but considering the tone of the rest of the game it is certainly commendable.

The combat stays relatively interesting throughout, helped perversely by the game not helping you out enough. Information is either given hours before you need it, or hours after you’ve worked it out. There are a few different enemy types, but aside from having to make use of kicks to break guards, there’s not much to test you. What you will find is that exploiting the gameplay mechanics, such as the rampage mode, becomes increasingly tempting, if only because you understand it by the end of the game.

There’s problems with the camera and the lock on system, and it’s quite easy to get yourself turned around on the simple maps, but really these are quite minor complaints. The game has a decent-ish length, especially if you’re willing to play as the other characters. Truth is the thought of revisiting the game so soon after completing it is not one I’m relishing, however I do intend to go back.

Ultimately that sums up Onechanbara, it’s more fun that you might expect, but it’s not really good enough to devote serious time to. It’s worth picking up as a curiosity on the Wii, but compared to the likes of Bayonetta on the PS3/360 it suffers badly, and not just because of its graphics.

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Dead Space, one of the games feature on my "Staff Picks" for last year, I found it an incredibly immersive third person action thriller with heavy survival horror leanings. It did everything it tried to do pretty much perfectly but it wasn't really very inventive, it borrowed heavily from other games and possibly far too heavy from films, but it worked incredibly well and deserves everyones attention. Dead Space Extraction is the prequel to last years XBox 360 and PS3 release. This time the tale of the possesion of the crew of the Ishimura and the mining colony has appeared on the Wii and is an entirely different game and overall experience.


Dead Space Extraction is EA and Visceral Games' addition to the light gun genre that has seen a new lease of life on Nintendo's system. It is also an answer to those critics who claim that the Wii is a kids console, as quite clearly this isn't well suited to a younger demographic. From the off you'll be dismembering various creatures and led through a rollercoaster ride (and once again a bit of a trek) of a game. The difference's here are that you aren't in control of any of the characters directly, you merely aim their weapon, which takes away a large chunk of the tension that Dead Space managed to force upon the player in an impressive manner thanks to its use of environmental sound. You never really feel a connection to the characters either, a fact not helped by the chopping and changing between them for the 10 chapters that are on offer here. So in all resepcts Dead Space Extraction kind of fails in every area that Dead Space seemed to excel in.

But it's not as bad as it seems. The use of the Wii-remote (and if you have one, Zapper attachment) gives you a new kind of immersion into the game. Taking out enemies is as simple as pointing and shooting, although sometimes they're a little fast or far away leading to accuracy issues, this is where your abilities from the original game come into play. You are still able to send out a sort of grappling beam to grab items (normally health packs, ammunition or audio/video/text diaries) and you can also send out balls of stasis to slow enemies, projectiles or items such as fans down, the game forces you to think tactically and whilst ammo isn't normally an issue on the default difficulty thanks to a weapon which you always carry with that has unlimited ammo, it isn't particularly powerful, with a creatures arm needing two accurate hits to remove one limb, so its a constant panic as to whether to use the other weapons and risk running out of ammo or over using your stasis and having to wait for it to recharge.

One area it takes a huge knock is in its atmosphere. The occasional whispers are still there, as are the odd moments of pipes and metal rattling as something runs along it, but these are never as common nor as fear inducing as in Dead Space, mainly because they're pretty much always a warning for an attack where as the original game would play with your sense and not always send anything at you. It also loses its impact of making you feel uncomfortable via its visuals, don't get me wrong, there's still odd stuff, mostly hillucinations but nothing compared to seeing a random crew member smash his own head against the wall or the babies in giant test tubes that were there before and it feels overall like they've toned some of that back because of the chosen platforms more family friendly reputation.

However, Dead Space Extraction is thoroughly entertaining from start to finish, there are moments of frustration where things aren't particularly clear or when certain creatures are just too small to hit with the control system the console has, but the overall experience is a postive one, even if short lived, but with the added challenges and the option to play co-operatively theres enough here to come back to if you so wish.

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It's been a while since we did an import review, even longer since we've done a Wii one I'd bet. Well with the Homebrew channel easily manageable and the pound creeping back to its old self, now's as good a time as any to take a look at ExciteBots on the Wii. Especially as it looks like it will never see a European release

Excite Truck was, in my opinion, an underrated gem of a game. Its rampant playability was ignored, and instead it was accused of a lack of depth and length. An unfair charge in my opinion, as completing the game and unlocking the reversed tracks was no mean feat. Anyway that’s the past, ExciteBots is the present, and as PAL gamers, it’s also some kind of parallel dimension that exists separate from our own.

The most notable change for this sequel is that the trucks have now been replaced by a collection of animal themed transformer things. Initially this seems merely cosmetic, perhaps an attempt to skew younger, but the more you play the more you realise the shift runs deeper. The racing of the first game was far from the be all and end all, with crashes, drifts, jumps, and rings equally as important in your quest for stars. Here though the racing barely needs to exist.

Up until the mid-to-latter cups of the unlock able ‘Super Excite’ difficulty the game is a breeze. You’ll easily be scoring enough stars to progress to the next race, with only a handful of races requiring a redo to net yourself the S rank. For the first ¾of the game the A.I. poses few problems, so you’ll be raking in the 50 points awarded for a 1st place finish, but there’s also the sheer amount of points awarded just getting to the end.

The spinning trick is now far easier to pull off, there’s still plenty of jumps to hit for air, there are now bars dotted around the course that can net up to 10 stars, there’s weapons, on-track mini games such as bowling and football, and stars just floating around the track waiting to be picked up. If the total required to pass is 200 stars, you’ll likely reach that before crossing the finish line.

That’s not to say there is no skill involved, hitting the more interesting routes certainly requires practice. The yellow bars are a nightmare to get 5 stars on without practice, and losing control of your bot will likely cost you points and places. As you reach the later stages of the game however things do start to get much tougher. You’ll find yourself hitting restart to try to make the leap from A to S, knowing that clipping that 1 tree cost you glory.

ExciteBots isn’t just about the main game, there’s also a competent online mode in there too. It can take a while to start a game, you’ll likely have to watch the end of a race before entering the lobby, then wade through the various options it presents you with. The net code itself is very solid, I assume I’ve been playing against Americans given where the game’s been released, but I’ve had no disconnections or lag, even with a full 6 players. Although in real terms you’re essentially trying to outscore each other, and as such there are times where it feels the other racers might as well not be there.

There’s also a ‘Poker Mode’, here you race along the track with a near complete poker hand, picking up cards to make the best hand possible. It’s an interesting idea with a handful of tracks to play about in. It certainly gives you more to think about, but it’s no where near as fun as the main game.

ExciteBots graphics are smoother than its prequels, though not exactly a leap forward. The game seems to abandon frames as your spped picks up, the rate seems constant it’s just a trick to create the illusion of pace. Drifts are less common, and truck/bot smashes are less visceral, and there’s even some reused tracks from the first game. The option to create a custom sound track has been removed too, it’s hard to see why, but given how rarely this feature exists on the Wii perhaps it’s unfair to complain.

All in all though ExciteBots is a superb sequel. It differs in enough ways to warrant a purchase if you have its older brother, yet keeps the core the close enough that the aesthetic missteps can be forgiven. If you’re a fan of the original this is worth installing the Homebrew Channel for, if you’re Nintendo then there seems little reason why this can’t sell enough to warrant the trip to Europe.

Great exhilarating fun!

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Video Review: ExciteBots
By Ben / 2009-07-19 14:16:58

Consider this a bit of an experiment.

In what is very much a first attempt, below is Bitparades' first video review. The next one will likely be much better quality, both in terms of errors and visually.

There'll be an accompanying text review that goes into more detail early next week, till then enjoy

Show/hide video

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This is an companion review to Duane’s posted earlier in the week. It’s intention is not to review the whole game just the use of the new MotionPlus peripheral

The lack of tutorial is a fairly major blow to Grand Slam Tennis, initially at least, leading to frustration and confusion. There is the ball machine to play against, but it’s not representative of playing against a computer opponent, nor trying to pull off the shots under pressure. Through experience you learn that holding still, with the pointer facing the screen between points helps settle the MotionPlus device, although there are still occasional problems.

You’ll eventually learn that stroke play requires exaggerated movements. That if you want to hit across court, you’re going to need end your swing across your body. Hitting down the line on the forehand isn’t too difficult, although slicing out of play is common until you beat into yourself that you need control the tilt of the remote, or at least rise from low to high in order to get some top spin.

Volleying is much easier, although the game can ignore you switching hands, but generally it matches the angle you were trying for. It’s actually indicative of the root problem with the MotionPlus controls on Grand Slam Tennis. Having to recreate the full tennis motion is fine, good fun even, and not nearly as hard as you’d think given that there’s not actual ball to hit. The issue is that the game moves so quickly (quicker than a real game) that you don’t get the time to perform the action, so you soon resort to short jolts of the remote. This will work for the most part, but if you change from a forehand to a backhand shot the game simply wont/cant register it.

There’s the question of who the game’s aiming at too. Duane’s already covered the use of the nunchuck, but the MotionPlus controls take easily as much work, possibly more. I grew to love the advanced controls, they add a whole other layer of depth and challenge to the game, however they are a massive stumbling block when you first pick up the game. It’s doubtful your average ‘casual’ gamer will progress beyond the easy settings with the advanced controls, in the same way should you have enough MotionPlus’s for a multiplayer game, unless you all have experience with it, new players are at a massive disadvantage.

There are occasions where it’s impossible to gauge the depth of the ball, meaning you gift points to your opponent because performing the correct action takes too long, conversely there are times where the game mistakes preparation for the shot itself. There could also be a bit more variety to things, but there’s enough against the computer and online that it’s not too big of a problem.

With MotionPlus Grand Slam Tennis really shines. Slicing a serve out wide before playing a drop shot to the opposite side feels like an achievement. When you win a tough match you feel like you earned it, physically and from a pride point of view. It takes a while to click and the lack of tutorial is a mistake hopefully EA and others will learn from, but it’s a game you get out what you put in. A very good first effort from EA.

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It's pretty obvious that the Wii's control system is perfect for the summer sport of Tennis, why else do you think Nintendo bundled Wii Sports (complete with its own tennis game) in with each and every console? The question remains though, is it worth buying a standalone tennis game when you have a free one already? Well, in all fairness it depends what you want from your tennis game.


Grand Slam Tennis is EA Sports' first attempt at a tennis game, and it imediatly faces stiff competition, not just from the already established and in every Wii owning home Wii Sports, but also from SEGA's Virtua Tennis 2009, a series thats been the go to for tennis sims for around a decade, and whilst I don't have the opportunity to compare the two, I will say that Grand Slam Tennis is definetly worth giving a chance as its a wonderfully fast, accurate and entertaining title.

The game itself comes either bundled with or without Wii Motion Plus, hopefully Ben will be able to comment on what the game is like with Wii Motion Plus as I do not have the required adaptor. Suprisingly the fact its seemingly designed with this attatchment in mind doesn't detract from the gameplay if you don't have it, the game still registers very accurately what you want to do with your racket, even if it can't quite work out the subtleties in any twists you perform in make the ball behave differently. It also gives you the option of using the nunchuck to move your character or leaving it to the computer, obviously the best choice to go with for those that want to take things seriously will be to add the nunchuck so they can begin moving to where they believe the ball will be returned to that little bit earlier, which could be vital when playing better AI opponents or against other players online, but even so the AI does a very good job of trying to make sure your player is in the correct spot to recieve the vast majority of shots, meaning the game is easily and instantly accessible to everyone who's played as little as 5 minutes of Wii Sports Tennis.

Visually, it's rather odd. EA Sports have gone for a sort of cartoonish realism, there's a correct sense of proportion to everything, but players and colours are more simplified than they are in SEGA's effort. Wether or not this has an overall effect on the gameplay or not I couldn't comment, but it does seem to be a style thats better suited to the hardware, both through the systems reputation and its capabilities.

Online is suprisingly good too, you're never more than a couple of button presses away from a match, either against friends or against random players from all over the world, its probably the best intergrated online system I've seen on the Wii thus far, and if all that doesn't make the package seem attractive to you, there's your normal EA career mode in there where you build up your own created player from the bottom ranks until they're a Grand Slam champion in all the major competitions, including the US Open and Wimbledon. Lastly, and for those of you with a bit of a Wii Fit obsession, EA Sports have included a calorie counter and "Get Fit!" system, that lets you plot how many calories you want to burn in any given period whilst playing the game, this makes the game that little bit more addictive, and considering I'm not really interested in the whole keep fit thing, I still find myself regularly checking just how many calories I've burned per match, how accurate it all is though I don't know.

Overall then, Grand Slam Tennis is suprisingly fun and addictive, brilliantly presented and has a bit of everything, including multiplayer minigames, for everyone

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It’s not right to describe Sonic & the Black Knight as a return to the mascots roots, what made those games great, but it’s fair to say that compared to the recent Unleashed it gets far fewer things wrong.

Taking its cue from previous Wii outing Secret Rings, Black Knight is also based (loosely) on a classic tale. Gone is the Arabian theme, replaced with the swords and sorcery of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Sonic lands in this new world and is quickly tasked with recovering Calibur, a legendary sword, and saving everyone from the tyranny of the evil King Arthur. The plot takes a few twists and turns, and is actually pretty respectable considering how much it disregards its inspiration, Power Rangers ending aside.

The story is told primarily through semi-static images, accompanied with full voice cast. These are more animated than those of Secret Rings, but it’s still a shame that the superb CGI is again left by the wayside beyond the intro and outro. The rest of the graphics are superb, with nice touches such as blades of grass waving as you swing your sword. It’s impressive too just how quickly the game moves, with drops in frame-rate few and far between.

Gameplay too takes its cue from the previous Wii exclusive outing. Sonic is locked on a narrow path running into the screen, he can dodge from side to side and jump, targeting enemies. There are a few changes though, firstly control is no longer a matter of tilting the remote, instead you use the analogue stick on the nunchuck. The lock-on attack has changed too, it now requires a filled meter having become a special move called the ‘Soul Charge’.

Attacks are now performed using Sonic’s sword, i.e. a swing of the remote. Initially this may seem a little cumbersome, you’ll be reaching enemies and stopping to waggle, but you’ll soon begin to appreciate that your attack should begin before reaching your target, and that when timed right can lead to you blitzing through a horde of enemies. You can also block attacks by holding down the Z button, something encouraged early on but soon discarded.

Combat is in essence quite simple, but it’s staggeringly easy to take damage, even against weaker enemies. It’s never quite clear when you can and can’t attack certain enemies, while others require lightning reactions and an ice cool head ill fitting of the rest of the game. Much easier is just to jump over the trickier enemies, perhaps combining that with an attack. To its credit though, when the combat does click and you’re practically teleporting from enemy to enemy, taking each out in a single swing, it’s an exhilarating experience.

Black Knight still maintains some of the rpg elements of its predecessor, but it’s a more watered down affair. After a few levels you’ll be able to alter your play style (and later your character), each of these can be levelled up and potentially affect how you approach a level. You’ll also be able to equip a couple special items, and it’s here where things seem a bit lightweight. Rather than having a direct effect on Sonics abilities, the equipable items generally only make it easier to get other bonus items used in the multiplayer mode.

The upside to this watering down is that it’s no longer a 4 hour slog before Sonic becomes Sonic. From the off you’ll be able to perform just about every move in the game, although this does come at something of a trade off. The first half of Black Knight is far too easy, as previously mentioned you’ll still take damage, but not because of any discernable challenge. Indeed probably the hardest thing you’ll face is the Quick Time Events triggered when talking to a villager, and bar a couple of levels that’s entirely optional. Initially bosses can cause the odd headache, but this is more because you’re being fed information mid-fight, once you understand what’s being asked they pose little threat.

Almost certainly the biggest victim of the generous difficulty curve is the platforming, as for the first half of the game it’s non-existent. It’s startling and quickly becomes worryingly apparent, especially as that’s the one thing Unleashed got right. The real tragedy is that once the game remembers it’s supposed to have a bit of jumping about it’s brilliant. With the platforming also come the challenge, the sense of real exhilaration and achievement. The kind of one more try challenge of yore, apt given the theme, and why Black Knight is worth persevering with.

It’s this self betterment that’s key to Black Knights staying power, you likely aren’t considering the game for its multi-player, nor are you going to rush through again with the unlockable characters. While a handful of extra levels do open up once the final credits roll (incidentally the initial credits roughly mark the halfway point), it’s only really the knowledge that you could do a lot better, maybe even try the other styles, that will stop you from moving on. For most people that’s not enough, but that there are so many extras is commendable, certainly it shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Copy and paste the end of any recent Sonic game here, blah blah missed opportunity. Sonic and the Black Knight does a lot of things right, but doesn’t quite reach the heights it could have. Add an amendment to that though, Black Knight is as good a Sonic game as we’ve seen for a long time, it’s only crime is that for the initial few hours it’s a cake walk, perhaps ideal for younger players, whereas the later levels are superb fun and a real challenge. Unfortunately that means the game is aimed at two different markets and as such any recommendation to either is tempered, a shame as it is a very good game.

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I was going to fill this intro with some Overkill style swearing Madamn Fluffer, but thought better of it. My suggestion to you dear reader is that you drop an F-bomb every 4-Fluffin'-words, fun times for all.

While just about all light gun shooters are over-the-top ridiculous affairs, very few seem to actually realise this. Something like the recent Umbrella Chronicles Resident Evil game looks incredibly po-faced against Ghost Squad and its bizarre costumes. Overkill takes things a step further, offering a pastiche of the Grindhouse style of film, poking fun at 70’s exploitation films. Expect swearing, gore, and massive offence!

Set before the Curien mansion incident of the first House of the Dead, Overkill sees the then rookie agent G team up with the brash Detective Washington. Washington is seeking revenge against the evil Papa Caesar for murdering his father. Caesar has unleashed a horde of mutants into the New Orleans style town, a town that includes a hospital, a prison, a carnival, and a rather charming swamp. You, of course, have to blast your way through these monsters, only stopping to throw out the odd quip.

You start the game with a basic handgun, that can be improved as you earn money through the game. With more cash you can also buy increasingly powerful guns, these genuinely affect play too, and you’ll find yourself quickly settling on a preference. There’s also a combo system now, fill a clip without missing a shot and you’ll get a bonus, this bonus increases the longer you chain the attacks until you get an extra 1000 points for each kill.

It’s these aspects that add some longevity to Overkill, important as the alternate routes of the first 2 games are sidelined. Levels have a decent length but the zombie placements and patterns never change. The reason to go back, aside from the sheer joy of it, is to beat your score, collect skulls, and save civilians in an effort to boost your arsenal.

Once the game’s completed you are offered a bit more variety. You can add extra zombies, and play through the Directors Cut mode, a reworking of the levels you’ve just beat. The amount of extra content really is commendable, and while the decision to start you from scratch in terms of weapons and money might cause the odd grimace, it gives them a perceived value beyond just a one-time play through.

Graphically Overkill really holds its own, characters/mutants are all quite detailed, rooms are reasonably busy, and there’s some very good filter work going on. The game moves at a good speed too, something I was concerned about in previews, however it’s at something of a cost. It’s hard to say whether it’s down to the Wii being pushed or simply reading from the disc, but there are plenty of occasions where the frame rate will glitch. If this was just a matter of breaking immersion a little then it would hardly merit a mention, but you’ll miss shots, take damage, and fail to collect items. It sounds unforgivable, that it isn’t says a lot about how quickly you adapt and how much fun the game remains despite it. Once completed, earning enough money to afford new guns becomes a bit of a chore. When a new shotgun cost upwards of $6k, yet you’re only earning $250 per level you can expect a long wait for that new toy.

The graphics are also too dark, without a brightness option you’re sometimes reliant on your curser turning red and remote buzzing to pick off targets. Similarly civilians aren’t always distinguishable from mutants, they may not look identical, but with a limp in the darkness it’s hard to pick them out, unless again you rely on the curser colour. The music is definitely worth a mention, as a background to the action it works really well, but on the menus it’s equally well used. Generally the songs are packed with humour, and while not classics help maintain the spirit of the game even in the dry cut scenes.

This ‘sprit’ is what will likely make or break the game for people, Overkill is rarely as funny as it thinks it is, there’s a few laughs here and there, but really it’s more likeable for what it’s trying to do that what it manages to do. The cut scenes are too long, characters step on each others lines, and the perma-swearing does get a little old. But then that’s the point, Overkill has to carry on being over the top, and as such it has to one up itself right through the game. The bar is set high with the first boss and nothing gets close to matching its offence until the final level. If none of this clicks with you however then you may well feel that the game is not inventive enough for them to bear with it.

Certainly it’s true that while there are a good number of mutant types, there’s only a handful of attack patterns. Mutants might throw things, sprint towards you, or even explode in front of you, but that’s about it, taking damage is more due to bad reload timing of being overwhelmed than anything the enemy does. The bosses too lack the impact of the original games, their weak points are obvious and easy to hit, and I’m just not sure they’re as memorable as the ones from the early games.

Overkills ‘layout’ isn’t as good as the classic House of the Dead games, but it certainly offers something a little different from the at times two-dimensional feeling originals. Two player is superb, even if it doesn’t alter the difficulty accordingly. It’s certainly an entertaining way to kill half an hour or so as you blast through a couple of levels. Overkill is genuinely enjoyable, not perfect by any means, but arguably the best blaster on the Wii. For a cheap laugh it’s highly recommended, and even for solo play there’s enough here with the extra content and score challenge to be worthy of your time.

Dead good (sorry)

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