N+ Review: Emergency Mayhem (Wii)
By seaempty. Monday, 21. April 2008, 16:11:25
Emergency Mayhem is a collection of mini-games with a difference. A city is in crisis, and it’s up to you to make it safer for its inhabitants. There are over 30 mini-games to play, that use the Wii’s controls in a variety of ways. In between each game is a manic race against time through the crowded streets of Crisis City. N+ couldn’t resist a game that involved high-speed chases and monkeys, and so we hit the sirens and put the pedal to the metal.
Emergency Mayhem isn’t as crazy as it would have you believe. The game states that Crisis City’s in mayhem, but if that’s the case, then its inhabitants have a tendency to overreact. My idea of a crisis would be an earthquake, riots, blackouts, or threat of nuclear meltdown. In Crisis City, however, the locals panic if a fire hydrant’s leaking, or someone’s swallowed a fly. Who are you to argue with the taxpayers though, and as a member of the emergency services, it’s up to you to help right these wrongs.
Crisis City comprises of 4 boroughs, and you must drive around each as a policeman, fireman, and medic looking for problems. If you’ve ever played Crazy Taxi, you’ll find a number of similarities with the format. You can roam the boroughs in your vehicle pretty much unrestrained following onscreen directions to the nearest location of trouble. Once you have reached it, you will then be given a task to carry out. This may include driving to another destination in a set time or without taking damage, or playing a mini-game using the Wii Remote. If you successfully complete the task, the mayhem in the city decreases, and you eventually earn promotion. It sounds simple, but you’re up against the clock and only have a certain amount of time to reduce the mayhem in the city. You are rewarded with more time when you complete tasks, and can collect time tokens as you drive around the city.
Driving around the city is fun. The vehicles handle well, and there are lots of roads and routes to take as you go from task to task. There are shortcuts to discover, and plenty of other vehicles to avoid. At first you are restricted to each borough, but once you have successfully lowered the mayhem in each of them, you can drive around the whole of Crisis City. There’s not much difference in each vehicle, but getting around the city is a blast. The vehicles handle well, and weaving in and out of traffic with sirens blaring is certainly enjoyable. As you drive around the city looking for tasks, you also have to collect items, and pick up bonuses, so it's not just getting from A to B. The city environment is huge, and it'll take some time to explore and get familiarised with.
Emergency Mayhem is let down by the mini-games, however. Although there are over 30 to play, each seems to lack innovation and get boring very quickly. The Wii Remote is not used in any interesting ways, and each game involved either waving the remote, or pointing and clicking. Although you may not think there’s much more you can do with the remote, when you looks at games like Wario Ware: Smooth Moves it feels as if little effort has been placed in designing the mini-games. It doesn’t help that playing the games is often hindered by the responsiveness of the Wii Remote. Some of the games are clunky, and the actions needed to complete the task don’t seem to correspond to the instructions. Some are far too easy to complete, which wouldn’t be too much of a problem if it wasn’t for the frequency in which you have to do them. Each borough seems to have the same tasks, with some variation, but it quickly becomes boring to complete them.
The game does have various multiplayer modes, but as these are based around the mini-games, they won’t be fun for long. I was disappointed by the game because it does so much right. The graphics are great, and Crisis City’s bright design keeps your interest while you’re driving through the different districts. The driving sections are fun, and you can’t help feeling frustrated when you have to pull over and diffuse a bomb, or put out a fire for the umpteenth time. Whilst playing the game, I couldn’t help feeling that it was such a shame that all the good work put into the driving sections and city design is ruined by the mini-games. I can’t see, however, how you could improve Emergency Mayhem without drastically altering the concept. If you were a fan of Crazy Taxi, you'll probably enjoy this. As it's stuck in limbo between being a decent driving game and a poor collection of mini-games, however, there's not much here to warrant long-term interest.
N+ Summary
Game: Emergency Mayhem
Developed by: Codemasters
Genre: Driving/Party
Players: 1-4
Release Date: Out now
Rating: Pegi 12+
Supports WFC: No
Video available: N+ Video vault
N+ Points
N+ Driving around the city is fun
N+ Bright graphics
N+ Crisis City is well designed
N- Points
N- Poor, boring mini-games
N- Some of the Wii Remote actions are dubious
N- Repetitive
JudgmeN+: 6.5
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(12%)
By Spook81, # 21. April 2008, 16:50:56
By kawaiipikachu, # 22. April 2008, 00:19:09
By Wiidark, # 22. April 2008, 03:06:18
By -MK, # 22. April 2008, 18:58:35
looks nice to me .
By kawaiipikachu, # 22. April 2008, 23:45:58