Wii Nunchuck Problems
Pirates of the Caribbean Comes to Wii
There are more LEGO games available for the Wii than almost any other console, so it’s no great surprise that the latest LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean game has arrived on this console. But is this another great adventure, or an empty treasure chest that promises much and delivers nothing but disappointment?
The legions of Jack Sparrow fans will be overjoyed to see that all four movies are included in this game. You work your way through the movies, and the playability has been greatly enhanced with the comical cut scenes, which are infused with the wit and humor we have come to expect from LEGO. The sequences are lengthy, but brilliant and successfully mimic famous scenes. Most players of this game will be both charmed and entertained.
These cut scenes are excellent at setting the scene for each new level that you come across during this adventure, and there are certainly plenty of those. There are 5 levels for each movie, so 20 levels in all for the gamer to work their way through. Some of these stages are pretty ling, so even if you did a rushed play through, you are looking at around 10 hours.
The sad thing is that some of these hours of game play just aren’t as much fun as they should have been. The one thing that is blatantly obvious from the outset is that the developers have tried their best to portray the epic proportions of each movie. A series of set pieces and locations on a large scale should be ideal for a video game, but here it leads to problems in the game play.
There is so much emphasis on the backdrop that the camera often pans out to let you appreciate the grandeur, but this makes it very difficult at times to actually see what you are doing. This causes far too much confusion and frustration to arise far too often for it not become extremely annoying. The team dynamic of the game seems to have also been badly thought out.
You often find yourself running round with another half a dozen or so characters and wondering what the hell you are supposed to be doing. The AI is just a pain, as your supposed teammates get in your way and sometimes even cause your demise by pushing you off a cliff. In smaller areas this leads to absolute chaos, as there are just far too many characters on the screen at once.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that your progress is hampered by your teammates, the environment puzzles are often very obscure. Whether playing as a single player or as a co-op, there are a number of areas and puzzles that slow your progress for up to 20 minutes, even when a highly experienced gamer. So those with less experience will be very frustrated with illogical puzzles, barely perceptible exits and near impossible jumps.
There are though, moments of game play that are pure genius, and help to redeem the game. The nunchucks and Wii remote are intuitive, and some of the combat and platforming is smooth, and it’s a lot of fun solving the more logical puzzles. Overall, this game is could, should have been great, but could have been a lot worse.
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Arduino and Wii Nunchuck
