No, that’s not a typo. That’s an example of the high-quality writing you get for free here at the “MAG.” This post is regarding the Wii version of the game Wipeout, so I just juxtaposed the two words to come up with the title. Get it? Clever, eh?!
If there ever was a television show taylor-made for a video game, it’s ABC’s Wipeout. There are a plethora of zany obstacles, even zanier contestants, ridiculously sick (in a good way) falls and collisions, and timed platform-style events. The hosts keep it fresh with humorous commentary and animations, which will keep you laughing in between the horrific wipeouts of the not-ready-for-primetime contestants! Unfortunately, though, like most television/movie conversions, Wipeout for the Wii falls well short of capturing the entertainment magic of its small screen cousin.
It’s apparent that the developers rushed the delivery of this game to cash in on the summertime popularity of the TV show. Although the game resembles the show, it falls well short of mimicking it. First, there are only 4 contestants that compete throughout all of the events – no one is ever eliminated. Secondly, the various obstacle courses in the show are broken down into segments, so instead of completing the whole course against the clock, each player completes a portion until all 4 are done, and then the game moves to the next segment of the course, while the time is accumulated. That isn’t such a big deal, and it keeps the action moving for all players, except for the fact that when a player wipes out, there is no “swimming” to the next part of the course; instead the player gets 3 tries, and if or she doesn’t successfully navigate the obstacle, 45 seconds is added to their overall time. With the Wiimotion controls, it would make sense to have the characters swim, like they do in the show. The better you mimick a stroke (heck, even just waggle the Wiimote!), the quicker you swim to the next obstacle. Without this, the result is that a player who misses a couple of obstacles during any of the courses is basically out of the running for first (or even second or third) place due to the accumulated time. It limits the ability for someone to “come back” after a few mistakes on the course, which consequently limits the fun for everyone.
You can pick from 18 total small, medium, or large characters to compete, plus 5 additional unlockable characters (including the hosts). There are different outfits available for each. The characters are zany enough, but it would be nice to have at least twice that number to choose from, and it would be nice if there was a little more variety between their abilities on the course. Every character is rated only in two areas: strength and speed. I think balance and jumping should be added to give the gameplay more variety, and allow for a little more strategy regarding each character’s approach to the obstacles. And, at the very least, let us use our Mii’s!
The controls take minimal advantage of the Wii’s motion sensors. Basically, you use the nunchuk to move, and the Wiimote to jump and duck. You shake the Wiimote to get up if you fall down (but not off the obstacle), or to climb up if you’re just hanging on. Finally, when you are not participating in the event, you get to “throw” (it’s more like “shoot”) objects at the competitors by aiming and pressing the “B” button. That’s it. The controls are skittish, inconsistent, and pretty limited. You won’t need to stand up to play – it feels like playing a game on any other system.
Be aware that there are some programming bugs in the game. On a few occasions, the game “hung up” because it couldn’t discern the winner of an event (usually a computer-controlled character gets “stuck” in a weird spot, and subsequently can win or be eliminated in a multiplayer competition, so the event never ends – until you restart your Wii, that is!). Others have reported some freezing / lock-up issues as well. Also, the synchronization of the audio to the characters when they’re talking is way off. It looks like a Godzilla movie most times when the hosts and Jill are offering their thoughts on the competition. And, the commentary is repetitive and occasionally ill-timed. The limited number of characters, the way the courses are broken up, the wonky controls, the bugs, and some obvious morphing / collision detection problems when characters make contact with the obstacles are clear evidence of a rush-job by the developer.
The game isn’t all bad, though. Traversing the obstacles is fun and occasionally challenging. The “dizzy” effect on your player after going round-and-round in one of the spinning obstacles is humorous and well done. And, the game uses a ragdoll physics engine, so the characters on the screen certainly collide and tumble with a lot of variety. The morphing and collision detection problems mitigate that effect, though.
The bottom line is that I was very excited to get this game and virtually wipe out dozens of times myself. However, the implementation is poor, and the excitement went away very quickly when I realized how different the game is from the show, and how limited the controls are. I would say it’s worth a rental if you’re a hardcore fan of the show, or maybe for kids 8 and under, but don’t expect it to entertain you or your older kids for very long. The novelty wears off in just a couple of hours, and if you’re like me, you’ll be wondering how on earth this promising game came out so wrong.