Disaster: Day of Crisis (Wii) Review
The development of Disaster: Day of Crisis has been a very strange one. The game was first announced in a whole batch of games when the Wii itself was first announced, with the original piece of footage debuting at E3 2006. Along with Project H.A.M.M.E.R, these two games looked to appeal to a more mature audience while still utilising the “everybody can play” control schemes of the Wii. And now, a whole two years later, Disaster has finally seen a release, albeit only in PAL territories and Japan. So, after hearing little to nothing about the game, does Disaster hold up – or is the game a disaster in itself?
Disaster: Day of Crisis opens with the protagonist and our character, Raymond Bryce. Ray is a former US Marine and International Rescue Team member, who has a very caring and philanthropic view on life. Ray tries to save almost everyone and up until now, has saved everyone that has fallen into trouble. However, in the game’s prologue, players will discover that Ray cannot save everyone and that he will question his own abilities. Fast forward a few years, and disaster hits Blue Ridge City and hundreds of citizens are in danger at the several natural catastrophes that are occuring, with Ray being contracted by the FBI to not only save the civilians, but also to stop SURGE, a former military organisation who’ve gone rogue. SURGE have used the natural disasters as a cover to steal several nuclear warheads and has made demands to the White House that, if not met, will result in SURGE detonating the nukes. Ray reluctantly accepts the offer, as one of the hostages that SURGE has taken is someone who is very dear to him, and thus Ray must overcome his personal demons and issues to save the day.
The story itself is very hollywood movie-esque, with a lot of clichés and archetypes occurring within Disaster: Day of Crisis. I wouldn’t be surprised if you guessed what happened with the plot as it folds out, and it’s pretty easy to peg the characters and the kinds of personalities they’ll have before they even open their mouths. Overall, the game is incredibly cheesy in aspects but for some reason, I think this was the style that Monolith Soft were going for in telling their narrative.
The first thing you’ll notice when you first boot up Disaster is that the graphics are really nicely done. Ray’s character model is very nicely detailed, the characters themselves look somewhat life-like (especially in cutscenes) and the environments are really nicely rendered. The characters that you’ll be saving will be looking less, well, detailed than Ray which creates a kind of strange discrepancy that makes you wonder if the characters both exist in the same world, but for the most part the characters models for the generic NPCs do their part. But, enough about character models, what’s arguably more important is the world they inhabite – and that’s where Disaster really captures something.
The environments you’ll be exploring in Disaster are pretty standard things you’d expect in a disaster themed game/movie. First, you have the city, which is where most of the action happens. Buildings fall, dust and rubble scatter throughout the environment dynamically, and fire spreads like it should (for the most part). The fact that all of this happens in real time during gameplay without any significant slowdown is a really big feat. Then, you have a forest covered in ash from a recent volcanic eruption. The ash slowly floats to the ground, covering the grass and the environment around you, turning a lush and green forest into something horribly oppressive. The art team working on this game really did a great job in making you feel like what you’re wading through has seen better days – that’s what makes the atmosphere of Disaster so good.
It’s all well and good to have a really nice looking game, but how does Disaster play? And therein lies one of the hardest questions – it plays like a lot of genres. In fact, I kind of wish Nintendo marketed it with a whole bunch of accessories to provide the ultimate experience (provided you could be bothered switching accessories). You see, Disaster has a mix of adventure/platforming, first person shooting and driving segments. I must admit at one point of the game I was switching between my Wii Wheel, my Nyko Perfect Shot and the Wiimote itself to make the experience feel a little bit more authentic. Basically, when you play as Ray yourself, you’ll move around dilapidated environments in search of survivors – when you do find them, you’ll engage in a quick time event that utilises the Wii’s controls in order to save them. These events can include bandaging, washing wounds, as well as some more intense processes like CPR. These are the crux of the gameplay, and you’ll be rewarded points for completing these events in a timely fashion. More on them later.
Between these sections of gameplay, you’ll also have driving missions which use a Mario Kart style of control, albeit a little bit stiffer (and consequently more frustrating) but hey, any game that lets me attempt to out drive a tsunami is more than welcome to have a little bit of a shortcoming in the control department. Speaking of controls, these are probably put to their best use with the shooting segments – in which Ray must take down assorted kinds of SURGE members. These shooting segments are very fun to play and make the overall gameplay of the game really appealing. Ray can also hide during these segments, making the game feel very much like an arcade shooter akin to Time Crisis or Ninja Assault.
Completing the shooting segments also yields points to spend. Monolith Soft is a company who have traditionally produced RPGs, and I was reminded of this when I completed levels in Disaster. At the end of each level, you have a lobby in which you can upgrade Ray’s stats in order to increase his stamina, his health bar and other attributes that will no doubt assist you during gameplay. In addition, you can spend points earnt during shooting segments on weapon upgrades as well as brand new weapons. This is a very nice touch but I can’t help but feel it’s really out of place in a game like this. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it just didn’t feel right. Either way, it is a nice way to learn about allocating resources efficiently, one of the main motifs of the game. What is a decent game though, without an engaging soundtrack? Disaster: Day of Crisis is modeled after movies that are very similar to Day After Tomorrow or perhaps even Twister. The soundtrack is booming, makes you feel alive and really helps you to feel motivated to save these people and persevere in the end. It sounds really corny, I know, but that’s the whole appeal of Disaster, it’s exceedingly entertaining, filled with cliche’d dialogue (which, by the way, is mostly voiced and has had some good effort put into it.) and it melds everything you’d expect in a game together to make a really fun experience.
The soundtrack and sound effects really help to add to that. Disaster really isn’t a long game, and it won’t have you going on for ages. There are secret weapons to unlock upon completion of shooting range-style mini games, but there’s not a whole lot to do once you’ve completed the game. Xbox 360 gamers will really enjoy Disaster’s “achievement” like system and may see reason to replay the game in order to gain all of them. What’s perhaps the best thing about Disaster is that although it is short, you won’t really get bored throughout the game. That’s perhaps the best thing about Disaster, it’s an engaging experience that might even leave you reluctant to put your Wii remote down.
All in all, Disaster: Day of Crisis is a very competent action adventure title that offers a lot of things for the player to do that they won’t find anywhere else. Where else in a video game will you find yourself running away from fire tornadoes, diving into a hurricane, driving away from a tsunami or perhaps even sprinting away from volcanic flow? No where – and that’s why Disaster is such a unique and enjoyable experience. Most gamers should have a lot of fun with Disaster, and some casual gamers should too, but all in all, I can recommend it to those core gamers that Nintendo of America’s president has obviously forgotten about. A brilliant game regardless, just a shame that everyone may not experience it.
