ddrueckhammer
Jan 18, 2007, 10:59 PM
It took me a couple of weeks but I finally got around to playing these games enough to offer my opinion on them.
Rayman Raving Rabbids (7.8) - Rayman Raving Rabbids is a perfect example of why third-party developers need to bring their A game when they develop for a Nintendo system. The art direction, gameplay, and sound are top notch. However, because many of the mini games are repeated (how many times must you repeat the dancing game) the fun (at least for me) wears off quickly.
The basic premise of the game is that Rayman is kidnapped by the Rabbids and is thrown into a Roman style colliseum where you must entertain the rabbids by choosing a doorway to an mini game. Once you complete three mini games you can play the boss battle which consists of on-rails "plunger" shooting. When you beat the boss battle, you are awarded a plunger and thrown into your cell to await another day's games. Presumabley, after you collect enough plungers, you can use them to escape the evil Rabbids.
The mini-games are inventive, but as I said, repetitive. Especially, the boss battles; which, seem to be the same thing over and over again at different locales. Also, choosing which door to run through in the arena seems to slow down the game to me. Personally, I would like to just have the games thrown at me one after the other like Wario Ware. The multiplayer consists of the same games which you play in single player only with top/bottom split screen. I would probably rate Rayman higher if it didn't have so much competition. Wario Ware seems better to me with its quirkyness and speed. Also, I just don't think I need more than a couple of party games and with Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wario Ware, and Mario Party (soon) the market is saturated for me...The Wii is in much greater need of a 4 player split screen FPS IMO. Unless you just love party/mini games I would pass on this one and get Wario Ware or one of the other games in this genre that are out or at least rent it before you invest $50.
Madden '07 (8.9) - Madden '07 is a really great example of how the Wii's innovative controls can breath life into even tired old franchises. With the exception of kicking, the controls perform flawlessly. The game is like an old friend in that if you have ever played a Madden game before, you will already know how to play but the motion control make the game more immersive and ultimately more fun. The computer plays pretty good and it took me a game or two to beat it soundly. Two player great, but I wish there were a way to pick your plays without the other player seeing them on the screen. Perhaps, future DS integration could make this possible? Graphically, like most of the games out for the Wii, it doesn't look any better than any of the PS2/Xbox games. This is the biggest reason for holding out on Madden that I can find. Madden comes out ever year and '08, '09, '10 etc. will undoubtedly be much better (graphically at least). If you are on a budget you might keep this in mind; but otherwise, if you like sports games, I woudn't hesitate purchasing this one. I would like to describe all of the features of this game but I don't want to take the space, so let me just say that they are numerous and this game will give tons of replay value.
Call of Duty 3 (7.4) - Call of Duty 3, much like Red Steel, shows how much potential the Wii has for the FPS genre but falls short of its potential. Unlike Red Steel, the controls feel pretty good on Call of Duty 3. With either game I tried to keep the Wiimote still and moved around with the stick to aim more than aiming with the Wiimote but the controls are less wonky on CoD3. Unfortunately, much of the graphics on CoD 3 look like crap. I had to follow tracer fire many times to figure out where the enemies were shooting from because they were too pixelated and blended in too much for me to see them. Also, the smoke consists of big gray blobs that have little if any tranparacy. Also, where is the multiplayer? Even without online support from Nintendo, there could have been a split screen head-to-head option. Finally, for me it was Ok that CoD 2 was still set in the European theater of WWII because it was interesting and was just starting to get played out. A year later, however, the whole idea is just about played out. Why couldn't this game have been set in the Pacific or even better, a different war like Vietnam, WWI, or the American Civil War?
So if Activision cares, my suggestions would be to make the graphics twice as good (I'm pretty sure the Wii can handle it...), add online and split screen, tweak the controls just a little bit more, and make the campaign in the Pacific or some other war for the next Call of Duty and they will have a mega hit. I am ranking this game just slightly higher than Red Steel because even though the graphics are annoying, they don't affect the gameplay as radically as the wonky controls of Red Steel.
So far I would rank the Wii games I have played as follows:
Zelda (9.7)>Excite Truck(9.0)>Madden '07 (8.9)>Wii Sports (8.8)>Rayman Raving Rabbids (7.8)>Call of Duty 3 (7.4)>Red Steel (7.0)>NFS Carbon (7.0)
Also, I am having tons of fun with my VC purchases!
I am picking up Wario Ware and Elebits next week and will try to give my impressions of them once I decide how good or bad the are...
Rayman Raving Rabbids (7.8) - Rayman Raving Rabbids is a perfect example of why third-party developers need to bring their A game when they develop for a Nintendo system. The art direction, gameplay, and sound are top notch. However, because many of the mini games are repeated (how many times must you repeat the dancing game) the fun (at least for me) wears off quickly.
The basic premise of the game is that Rayman is kidnapped by the Rabbids and is thrown into a Roman style colliseum where you must entertain the rabbids by choosing a doorway to an mini game. Once you complete three mini games you can play the boss battle which consists of on-rails "plunger" shooting. When you beat the boss battle, you are awarded a plunger and thrown into your cell to await another day's games. Presumabley, after you collect enough plungers, you can use them to escape the evil Rabbids.
The mini-games are inventive, but as I said, repetitive. Especially, the boss battles; which, seem to be the same thing over and over again at different locales. Also, choosing which door to run through in the arena seems to slow down the game to me. Personally, I would like to just have the games thrown at me one after the other like Wario Ware. The multiplayer consists of the same games which you play in single player only with top/bottom split screen. I would probably rate Rayman higher if it didn't have so much competition. Wario Ware seems better to me with its quirkyness and speed. Also, I just don't think I need more than a couple of party games and with Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wario Ware, and Mario Party (soon) the market is saturated for me...The Wii is in much greater need of a 4 player split screen FPS IMO. Unless you just love party/mini games I would pass on this one and get Wario Ware or one of the other games in this genre that are out or at least rent it before you invest $50.
Madden '07 (8.9) - Madden '07 is a really great example of how the Wii's innovative controls can breath life into even tired old franchises. With the exception of kicking, the controls perform flawlessly. The game is like an old friend in that if you have ever played a Madden game before, you will already know how to play but the motion control make the game more immersive and ultimately more fun. The computer plays pretty good and it took me a game or two to beat it soundly. Two player great, but I wish there were a way to pick your plays without the other player seeing them on the screen. Perhaps, future DS integration could make this possible? Graphically, like most of the games out for the Wii, it doesn't look any better than any of the PS2/Xbox games. This is the biggest reason for holding out on Madden that I can find. Madden comes out ever year and '08, '09, '10 etc. will undoubtedly be much better (graphically at least). If you are on a budget you might keep this in mind; but otherwise, if you like sports games, I woudn't hesitate purchasing this one. I would like to describe all of the features of this game but I don't want to take the space, so let me just say that they are numerous and this game will give tons of replay value.
Call of Duty 3 (7.4) - Call of Duty 3, much like Red Steel, shows how much potential the Wii has for the FPS genre but falls short of its potential. Unlike Red Steel, the controls feel pretty good on Call of Duty 3. With either game I tried to keep the Wiimote still and moved around with the stick to aim more than aiming with the Wiimote but the controls are less wonky on CoD3. Unfortunately, much of the graphics on CoD 3 look like crap. I had to follow tracer fire many times to figure out where the enemies were shooting from because they were too pixelated and blended in too much for me to see them. Also, the smoke consists of big gray blobs that have little if any tranparacy. Also, where is the multiplayer? Even without online support from Nintendo, there could have been a split screen head-to-head option. Finally, for me it was Ok that CoD 2 was still set in the European theater of WWII because it was interesting and was just starting to get played out. A year later, however, the whole idea is just about played out. Why couldn't this game have been set in the Pacific or even better, a different war like Vietnam, WWI, or the American Civil War?
So if Activision cares, my suggestions would be to make the graphics twice as good (I'm pretty sure the Wii can handle it...), add online and split screen, tweak the controls just a little bit more, and make the campaign in the Pacific or some other war for the next Call of Duty and they will have a mega hit. I am ranking this game just slightly higher than Red Steel because even though the graphics are annoying, they don't affect the gameplay as radically as the wonky controls of Red Steel.
So far I would rank the Wii games I have played as follows:
Zelda (9.7)>Excite Truck(9.0)>Madden '07 (8.9)>Wii Sports (8.8)>Rayman Raving Rabbids (7.8)>Call of Duty 3 (7.4)>Red Steel (7.0)>NFS Carbon (7.0)
Also, I am having tons of fun with my VC purchases!
I am picking up Wario Ware and Elebits next week and will try to give my impressions of them once I decide how good or bad the are...
