E3 Impressions: Crave
Crave Entertainment, publisher of games such as Bad Boys: Miami Takedown, Sudokuro and Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko, had three Wii titles on display at their both this year. While many games at E3 opted for rather extravagent scenarios involving guns, blades, or abusing zoo animals (wait for my THQ impressions for more information on that), Crave’s offerings this year opt for more realistic situations, such as fighting enormous fires or competing in the Olympics.
The first offering was a title called Real Heroes: Firefighters, unrelated to the arcade game from Sega. This title, as you would expect, puts you in the role of a firefighter, using the Wii Remote not only as the nozzle of your fire hose, but as other items as well, such as a power saw. Stepping up to the system, the rep realized that the previous demonstrater had inadvertently let a fire burn completely out of control, and an entire backyard was covered in flames; the flame effect is passable but not spectacular, and the rep told me that they were more concerned with creating an enjoyable game than a top-notch fire animation. While the rep decided the backyard was a lost cause, I picked up the hose and started spraying, and before too long the situation was defused, impressing the Crave employees. This anecdote isn’t too relevant to the gameplay, but I’m proud of it nonetheless.
The Wii pointer controls work quite well, and dousing fires is straightforward and satisfying; you can use a direct stream or a spray depending on the situation, and you’ll need strategy to get the job done properly, in the later stages at least. Firefighting, though, is actually not the bulk of the game, I was told; you’ll be taking on other tasks as well. In my demo, in addition to putting out fires, I had to rescue chinchillas and cut a new door into a wall to let someone escape. The saw puzzles are present through much of the game, and apparently I was given a highly difficult one, as some poor soul burned to death due to my slow cutting skills. I found the saw controls pretty hard to work with, though perhaps that was intentional, as I nearly got the man out in time. Overall, the game controls quite well, and the firefighting mechanic is enjoyable; so far it looks like this game will be a good one once it hits shelves.
The next game I played was World Championship Athletics, which I probably should have taken more notes on. This title boils down to a minigame collection, with the face of an Olympic-level athletic competition, though the minigames do generally work well. Archery in particular is enjoyable; similar to Wii Sports Resort, you’ll use your Wii Remote to carefully aim, taking wind and distance into account, and try to get the best score you can mamage. Swimming, the second event I played, is a little less interesting, and involves an imitation of whatever stroke the swimmer is doing at the time; it controls well enough, but I can’t see myself playing it for a long time. The same goes with the Triple Jump event, which I played using the Wii Balance Board; I had to shift my weight with proper timing, as well as time the pumping of my fists, and overall it ended up being more frustratingly difficult than entertaining. This is not a title I’m majorly looking forward to.
Another title published by Crave a few years back was Pinball Hall of Fame, and it’s back for another helping with Pinball Hall of Fame: the Gottlieb Collection. This game includes 12 pinball tables modeled after real-life tables created through history; you’ll start out with a few available for play anytime, and the more you complete specific goals on specific tables (i.e. reach a certain score), the more credits you will obtain, which can be used to make other tables free to play. The pool tables I saw were somewhat basic, all things considered, though I was told about one that had a second layer underneath, which intrigued me. Basically, if you are a fan of pinball, this game allows you to play and tilt just as well as you would on a normal pinball table, though this one won’t continually eat your quarters. It’s pretty straightforward, but that’s not a bad thing.
That sums up all of Crave’s Nintendo offerings; all of the above titles should be available later this year, if I am remembering correctly. Stay tuned to this site for more of what I saw at E3, including offerings from Ignition, Capcom and Telltale Games.
