Wiiiiiiiii!!!

I picked up one of those new Nintendo Wii's this week. Talk about an innovative system! The Wii Sports 5-in-1 game alone is worth it. Golf, Tennis, Baseball, Boxing, Bowling. I personally like golf & tennis the best. Very entertaining to see your actions duplicated exactly on the screen.


Then there's Red Steel - a launch title that's been much-hyped since the system release was announced. I can tell you this game walks the walk every step of the way. Not only are the controls intuitive, clean & responsive - the game has...unique features for AI. For example, not all, but most enemies will know when you have to reload. They'll tell their buddies, too. Nothing quite rattles you so much as facing down 3 or 4 guys with uzis & they rush you after firing your last shotgun blast. You can't take too many hits before you go down, either. Fortunately, health recovers automatically after a few seconds (This is great just because health items are an anathema to action in FPS games).


The mood of the game changes rapidly from calm to frantic when enemies appear onscreen. Not every one is an action hero & a small percent are just fodder. Most, however, are extremely coordinated with the others & do their best to flush you out of cover.


Duels are a major event in each level. You'll be confronted - often multiple times in a level - by various mid-level baddies intent on serving you up with tempura for dinner. The sword combat is smooth, allows for blocks, parries, dodges & counters. You can even cause damage to your opponent's weapon if your timing is good. Defeating an opponent gives you the option to kill or show mercy. Showing mercy gains respect...


The respect you have affects how your enemies respond to you. If it's high enough, then many low-level thugs will just cut & run (sort of like liberals, but better armed). This not only saves ammo, it also affords you more time in those timed parts of missions (those are rare).


Also, I have Need For Speed: Carbon. I'll get into that on a later post.


If you've been thinking about a Wii & aren't quite sure if it's worth the $$$, wonder no more - this system is easily worth the $250 price tag. Not only can you play it out of the box, but many companies are stepping up to use this new idea in gaming in just as creative ways.