I can't keep it short, unlike this charming and re- playable arcade shooter. Enthusiasm = details.
1. an addictive and re-playable shooter which is magnified
greatly by two player co-op. Single player is even great to
come back to every once in a while if you have no one to
play with
2. Formidable enemy A.I. with the exception of bosses and
the sometimes mind numbing inaccuracy of enemies
attempts to hurt you with projectiles
3. Easy control scheme which is also quickly memorized
4. well executed game play mechanics from a developers
stand point, which translate nicely into user friendliness.
The SOMEWHAT limited variation of strategy
will NOT bother most people considering the
level of gratification provided by the mere act of killing
zombies and avoiding their attacks with slick looking dodge
` moves
5. Starts out easy and gives you plenty of time to manifest your
personal learning curve, which will come out to be about
20-30 minutes for most people
6. normal mode offers leisure and casual challenge
combining for a reasonably relaxing and stress free time
7. hard mode offers viable challenge, one level in particular
being one of the most prodigious I've ever personally been
exposed to
8. A cast of dynamite fem fatales as the playable characters
make you feel like an irresistibly charming bad ass
9. Each character does have their own unique melee attack
when you are attacked up close by a zombie
10. A well written and long drawn out story that also boasts a lot
of quirk and charm. The presentation in it's entirety weaves
3 or 4 categories of animated entertainment seamlessly
into one quality subject matter, and
is a true credit to the producers (umbrella term, I'm referring
to everyone involved in the game)
11. Has a quaint and somehow ominously soothing soundtrack that
manages to capture 99.9% of the game's scenarios, along with
meshing well with the story of the cut scenes
12. No cd, no cartridge. Just click on the window it's on in your
Wii and you're already playing. "Plug and play"
convenience
is an underrated aspect of quality that should be mentioned
for this game, and any other one available on Wii Ware
because you can't LOSE the game unless you lose your
Wii. You also can't scratch the game, or damage it in any
other way. How many of you have ever LOST a gaming
console?
.....................................................Exactly.
Cons: 1. No online mode. This game would easily be a 9.5 under
this particular rating system if you could play with other
people online. I can't figure out why they didn't include
it, but then again Nintendo is just now getting into online
console gaming even though it's been around since the year 2000.
I certainly would be willing to pay an additional 1000,
maybe even 2000 points (cough cough, pretty please) to
download and add that
feature if Nintendo or the 3rd party cared to provide it.
It's also a game that wouldn't require mics and head pieces
to tap into the maximum amount of fun factor that online
co-op would obviously provide. Seeing a great game
fail to catalyse (if you will) itself with it's own
potentially strongest feature by simply leaving it out is a
curious and disappointing discrepancy.
2. The game is very short even considering it's genre, except
when you attempt every level on hard mode because it will
take longer to clear each area. The replayability factor that
will resonate with
most players will make this con null and void though.
3. Generally speaking, there aren't many weapons to choose
from, but the guns that are there are fun to use. If there was
a shotgun in the game I wouldn't even mention this con.
4. If you don't play co-op with someone once in a while, the
replay value will go stale on you eventually... just a fair
warning
2 things to start. This could potentially be the best game you ever
spend 10 bucks on, especially if you have a friend who's also partial to the genre
whom you can play co-op with. It's game's like this that make feel sorry for anyone
who doesn't own a Wii. I had 1400 Wii points collecting dust for a few months. I
took a chance on this game, and I glad I did. If you already have 1000 Wii points
and don't know wtf to spend them on, then hesitate no further. Obviously it may not
be worth it to you if you aren't into arcade shooters, but I'm not, and this game
slammed me with a lightning charged jump kick to the side of my skull and the aftershock
tingled my soul to it's very core. I said it about Skyward Sword, and I'll say it
again. Quality over quantity. Nintendo's console's provide excellent games in
seemingly perfectly timed intervals.
Here's the concept. It's House of the Dead in 3rd person view, but you have the
ability to move left and right, and the game doesn't automatically shift you to
another area based on a script. Instead, you get to clear one specific area of
zombies and other monsters with the camera never changing unless you drag it as you
move side to side. The objective is to use various guns and explosives to clear 100%
of the zombies in the area, usually within a time limit as well. If there is no time
limit the level will be complete when you reach the 100% mark. The percent will go up
the more enemies you kill, but it doesn't necessarily reflect the amount of enemies
in the area, just the amount that you have to kill in order to complete your objective.
Not only can you switch between more brutal weapons that have limited ammo and an
automatic that has unlimited ammo, but you'll have to dodge incoming projectile
attacks at the same time (although you can also shoot them out of the sky to avoid
them and earn extra points.) Most people will find themselves moving the entire time
that they are trying to mow down zombies, which is usually a forced strategy. You
have the ability to use a side flip to dodge an attack that is JUST about to drop
on top of you as it also moves you in the direction you pressed the control stick
in. Most of the time you'll only have to use the flip dodge once or twice in a row
in very sporadic windows, but attempt the game in hard mode and it will become
you're best friend. Those who enjoy the challenge of hard mode will find it to be a
very comforting mechanic to be used quite frequently. If you get grabbed by a zombie
after letting it get too close to you, you can shake the remote a few times to perform
a melee attack and bash them into the ground providing an instant kill. Melee attacks
are also unique to the character you are playing as.
As you are shooting and dodging, you'll also be inclined to shoot down various
structures in wonderland, some of which will provide power ups that you'll need to
manually collect as they appear on the bottom of the screen near your character's
feet. Power ups include ammo for the flame thrower and more powerful machine gun,
along with explosive satchels which are like grenades that explode on impact and
instantly kill any enemy in it's blast radius. You can carry 10 satchels at a time
and they are fired off with the A button, while the trigger button (B) is used to
shoot. some of the structures will also provide death traps for big groups of zombies
as you watch the wall you just destroyed collapse and instantly kill any of them
that happen to be below it. Most of these structures are things like castle walls or
large trees, as well as even houses and other buildings. You'll also reveal deeper
views of the area in front of you as you destroy structures which can sometimes
create pockets of better vantage points for enemies who might be giving you a hard
time. Depth perception is surprisingly easy to gauge which is a credit to the
designers of the level layouts. There are also many explosive devices scattered
throughout each level which are devastating to the horde should you decide to shoot
them at the right moments.
The environments actually play up the oddly quaint and soothingly ominous atmosphere
that the game somehow provides, as well as the relaxing soundtrack and imaginative
but strange storyline, capped off with bad ass anime' fem fatales as the playable
characters. Not to mention the sense of irony of a zombie story taking place in
wonderland. All of these elements combined make up for a very unexpectedly outstanding
presentation and a thick sense of appreciation for the art that went behind the
combinations and integrations of different story genres. I'm actually sort of stunned
by how well the producers (umbrella term) weaved like 4 different categories of animated
entertainment into one very unique subject matter.
This exuberantly compliments the experience of the game as a whole, along with the
already solid game play mechanics which leave the game re-playable and irresistible
in spite of the limited variations of strategy, which typically boils down to shifting
, shooting, and dodging while you keep your eye open for power ups. Don't get me wrong,
there are a handful of variegated options for disposing of the game's plethora of
unique enemies, which include typical looking zombies along with skeletons, crows,
goblins... even undead suites of armor straight out of a bugs bunny cartoon. It's
just that the strategies that you personally develop for yourself in each stage will
get old relatively fast. The 5-6 methods for eliminating enemies are all gratifying,
but somewhat repetitive even after an hour or two of playing the game. All of the enemies
do have unique weaknesses, attackes, and tendencies to help spice up the variety a little bit.
Most of the boss fights are imaginative and fun, but painfully easy even made even
worse when playing co-op with a friend. The default automatic machine gun that the
game gives you from the beginning is surprisingly devastating if you're accurate and
get head shots, and this goes same for any enemy that you use it on. It's a good
thing that there is very limited ammo for the more powerful guns, and a hard mode
that is actually a challenge otherwise the game would be 6-7 out of 10.
To sum up, here are a handful of off beat reasons why I would recommend this game to you:
If you have an affinity for the dead.
If you find gratification in RELENTLESSLY and REPEATEDLY shooting the crap out of zombies,
other netherworldy creatures, and destroying many many random structures. To a
degree, you sort of get one of the glaring undertones of game play provided by the
Rampage series (those who are familiar with that game will know what I mean after playing this one)
as a 3rd degree of game play satisfaction.
If you can appreciate (and everyone should quite frankly) a weird but quality story blended
together with an impressive array of genre representation, all of which compliments one hell
of a unique presentation package, made even better by intense and endearing characters,
quirky support roles, endearing and entertaining dialogue, and a soundtrack that
deserves special mention, which in itself is baffling because it's somehow not
overshadowed by all of the other QUALITY aspects of the game as a whole.
If you have a Mad Hatter complex. I'm sure you are a rare breed, but I'm also sure that
you're out there somewhere.
Read the pros and cons section above if you didn't because I structured them to coincide
with the detail of the review and can be read before or after while maintaining the
same rythm.
Zombie Panic in Wonderland deserves special acknowledgement for it's uniqueness and
innovative blend of genres concerning the story and presentation, but the quality
execution of the core game play mechanics along with their gratification for MOST
gamers (as I would personally project) will keep a majority of people entertained
for a significant period of time. If you like arcade shooters and have a friend to
play this with then you should really make downloading this game a priority for your
gaming needs if you have them. Most other people will still be doing themselves a
service if they get this one, especially considering it's outrageously cheap price
which only tilts the scale further in it's own favor when you weigh the level of
quality that you will be receiving, and add it to your total. Don't get me wrong,
it's not a perfect game. Lack of online mode makes the overall financial value of
the game suffer significantly, but not devastatingly. Also if you don't have someone
to play with on a FAIRLY regular basis then the value of the game will become stale
after a while like I mentioned earlier. Personally those are my only real complaints,
and if my goal wasn't to be objective I'd give the game a 9.4 in a heartbeat.
As it stands, it's honestly a solid 8.6 when playing with a friend, and about a flat
8 when you're playing by yourself. Think of the 12 to 4 pro to con ratio. It's
basically a 1 in 3 chance that you will like this game if you're a gamer. It's a
critically underrated game that I'm proud to have in my collection.