I was looking forward to a few games in this lineup, particularly the Rabbids Go Home game. While that delivered exactly what I expected, I was somewhat disappointed by their other games that are trying to cater to the more seasoned gamer.
After sitting through the Ubisoft press conference, I was actually looking forward to giving Red Steel 2 a go. The problem was, I wasn’t exactly ready for it and the game nearly kicked my inexperienced ass. Then again it could be related to the control scheme, but I’ll let you be the judge.
When I grabbed the controller for the first time, the demonstrator had to keep nagging me to keep the Wii Remote pointed at the screen. This was an annoyance through the entire playthrough to be honest because I had my camera bag on my shoulder. Though players won’t have this, the constant need to keep the controller pointed forward is a nuisance.
As for the actual sword play, it does detect where you’re holding the controller, pretty closely to where it should be. Swinging was a problem for me, I’m sort of used to the whole waggle deal where you sort of move your arm to perform actions. The demonstrator was stressing to me that I needed to move more dramatically for a sword swing. When I did do this, I was able to cut enemies down to size, but that wasn’t often. Strangely the gun felt somewhat out of place in the game because you don’t need it, at least for the level I was on, to beat the bad guys. In fact I only pulled it out a few times just to tinker around with it.
The main character reminds me of Alucard from Hellsing with the red trench coat and I have to wonder if they were influenced at all by that. While the main character sports a unique look, the enemies are practically all the same besides the boss.
I was disappointed with this game, especially after my arms hurt from playing it for about 5 minutes. This could be attributed to my wild flailing toward the end. I’m not so sure however since you do need to keep the Wii Remote pointed forward. If they could make the controls a bit more user friendly I think they’d have something miles beyond the first game.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up (Wii)
This game was vaguely on my radar ever since I saw screenshots of the game which reminded me of the Super Smash Bros. series. Sadly it’s missing the depth of those fighting type games. When I picked up the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to control the action, it felt like a waste. This is probably due to the fact someone else was just using the Wii Remote itself to control their character. Speaking of characters, for this demo, the selection were the four turtles, Splinter, April, and Shredder. Unfortunately the only differences seemed to be how much tougher one character was to another. This is due to the fact that the game seemed like a glorified button masher. There were no ways to perform special moves that I saw, it was all a matter of attacking and blocking. Sometimes not even the blocking was happening.
I’ll say that the game has the graphics going for it at this point. Not much else because the gameplay was such a drag from the minor hype I had going into playing it.
Academy of Champions: Soccer (Wii)
I’m not much of a soccer fan, but Academy of Champions has me interested somewhat. In the game you’re a kid that’s been invited to the best Soccer Academy in the world. Pele, a legendary soccer player is the headmaster at the school and your goal is to put together a winning team. You’ll have 4 terms to do it in with time passing with each action you perform, whether it be practice or an actual match. Being able to customize your team is also something you’re able to do.
I will admit to skipping most of the story portions and caring mostly about playing soccer as the Rabbids. I love those crazy rabbits and they’re hilarious on the field passing the ball back and forth. The controls are simple, you use the Nunchuk stick to navigate while A & B on the Wii Remote are used for passing and kicking the ball toward the goal. Each team has a special ability that gets charged through playing. While I loved the Rabbids, Sam Fisher’s special attack of darkness while throwing on his goggles had me amused.
This is a title to keep an eye out for I think. Even if the character design bothers you, the soccer portions are fun, especially with the themed teams. The story mode in this case just seems like the cherry on the top of the cupcake.
Every time I see a Rabbids commercial for something, they manage to at least get a smile out of me. When I played Rabbids Go Home I can only remember myself grinning ear to ear however. If you haven’t seen photos taken of outside the LA Convention Center, then you might not know the goal of the Rabbids is to build a junk pile all the way back to their newly decided home, the moon. Sounds silly, but so is the execution of the game.
To collect materials for your pile, you’re in a shopping cart with another Rabbid. You’re going around through a different levels collecting items here and there, but also defending and attacking your way through enemies who are humans wearing special green suits that they seem to think will protect them from the Rabbids. Attack a few times and the enemy is taken care of.
Each Rabbid before the collection process can be customized to look freaky. In the creation mode, the character is shown inside the Wii Remote and will react to your movements of the controller. Shake it, and you’ll send the Rabbid bouncing off the walls involuntarily. The best part here though besides the reaction is the customization. I used an air tool that allowed me to plump up the eyes and ears, but I did so not evenly. This has hilarious results due to the fact one eye was so huge, you might mistake it for a Rabbid sized watermelon attached to its face.
I think I spent a good 15 minutes playing the game. It has an addictive quality and is great fun to play. If you like a bit of craziness in your life, Rabbids Go Home may turn out to be a good match.
Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage (Wii)
This game was at the tail end of my booth tour and I was running out of time. As such I was unable to play this as long as I’d have liked to. With that said, it’s Shaun White, back on the Wii. This time the crew want to go professional. There’s also more flexibility in where you go instead of being completely linear. Now you’re able to go where you want. Twenty five slopes will be available with eight characters being new to the game are in it.
The controls I felt were a bit more tuned than the last version. When I leaned around, the boarder tended more often than not to go that way. It’s a solid feeling, but there were times it wasn’t picking up my heavy leaning to one side. Aside from a few incidents, it was good.
I actually didn’t play much more than a few minutes of the previous game. In a brief comparison though, this is much better than the first in terms of content and open ended play. If you liked the first, you will want to at least check this out.
