Disaster: Day of Crisis has been confirmed for a European release of October 24 this year. Players will take control of Raymond Bruce, retired US marine and former International Rescue Team operative, who is called back into action to deal with the threat of SURGE, an ex-military terrorist unit led by an elite forces specialist named Colonel Hayes, and has to overcome personal tragedy and many devastating natural disasters to prevent nuclear warfare. Some people just have really bad days. More inside Wracked with guilt over the loss of his best friend in the line of duty, Ray finds out that SURGE has kidnapped a leading seismologist and his assistant to predict the arrival of an earthquake, which will act as a diversion for their plan to seize the nuclear weapons. Upon finding out that the assistant is his lost friend’s sister, Lisa, the mission becomes personal, offering Ray the chance for redemption he’s been craving.

Disaster: Day of Crisis is a single player action-adventure with a 23 stage story. Players will have to stop the threat of SURGE as well as face multiple natural disasters – and rescue helpless civilians along the way. Ray will face increasingly dangerous situations with shifts in gameplay from exploring a devastated city for survivors, to driving, swimming and shooting. The game features Quick Time Events controlled by the Wii Remote and Nunchuk and a points system – Survival Points and Battle Points – for improving Ray’s abilities and ensuring he has the skills to survive the disasters, take down SURGE and rescue Lisa. Points can be gained by rescuing survivors. These points can be distributed between 5 skills, including Strength (unarmed combat and lifting), Firearms (weapons handling) and Mental (Ray’s ability to concentrate his mind).

When fighting SURGE, the game switches to combat mode – similar to an on-rails shooter – where players use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to take down enemies with a variety of weapons such as Handguns, Shotguns and Automatics. These sections earn Battle Points, used for upgrading your current weapons or buying new ones.

Disaster: Day of Crisis is boasting replay value as well, with additional modes like Shooting Range and a Staminas Campaign as well as extra weapons and costumes. There is also an added difficulty, “”Real Disaster Mode””.

While the game is dated now for Europe, Nintendo Australia has previously said the game won’t be seen here until 2009. So since the game is in PAL, it looks like another import if you’re planning on playing it this year. Shame.