I honestly tried to like this game...
the premise was all there, the game ideas were also there, however
where the game failed to make an impression was with the gameplay
that unfortunately bombed out and to compound the situation, the
annoying voice-overs and clichéd and sometimes downgrading
commentary was a little too much, even for this seasoned Wii
veteran.
Originally this game was to be released
by the once great gaming company called Acclaim, however Codemasters
came to the rescue and decided to release this title on the Wii
which may have worked. The idea of Emergency Mayhem is pick one of
three emergency people, a policeman, a fireman and an ambulance
driver and patrol an almost Grand Theft-like city, ensuring that you
cut down the mayhem of this city. By completing more missions, you
unlock districts in the city and needless to say, this is quite a
difficult task as you are timed.
Before starting, the player must first
select their emergency person and then patrol the streets in order to
reduce the mayhem, this is seen by various icons in the streets, a
fire icon is obviously for a fireman and can only be attempted by
him. Pedestrians are running around the streets, it's true chaos and
also has a Crazy Taxi feel to it as you can even knock pedestrians
over. While you're driving around the city and as soon as you drive
over once of these icon, the mini-games come into play.
Once you have found a relevant icon,
the game turns to one of 70 different mini-games where you must use
the intuitive Wii control system to successfully complete the
mission. For instant as an ambulance officer, you need to help the
Boost Bar man look alike to remove a fly from his mouth, or as a
fireman, you must rotate the wii controller around and around again
to turn off a water leak. Some of the games are quite innovative but
most of the time they are definitely frustrating due to the player
being timed. The control system
while driving around the city is perfect, it's the mini-games that
unfortunately make this a totally frustrating and sometimes
unplayable game.
The multiplayer aspect of the title is
fun as you are not racing against a crazy stop watch while being
abused by the female voice of how bad you are. And with that said,
at least half of the games are quite entertaining but as a solo
effort, it is 3extremley difficult to play... quite difficult.
Needless to say, the multiplayer aspect of the title is the saving
grace.
Graphically the title is rather
impressive on the Nintendo Wii that has a Crazy Taxi like Grand Theft
Auto feel to it with over the top animations and quite a colourful
palette. Match that with some great lighting and special effects and
this title is perfect in that department. The music suits the game
perfectly as do the sound effects but female voice over is truly
annoying.
In conclusion, Emergency Mayhem
unfortunately misses the mark and is quite a frustrating title that
I would only recommend if you are a patient person or a gun at the
Nintendo Wii. Interesting and challenging are its best points. It
should be called Crazy Emergency Mayhem!
