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Almost more of the same, but not quite

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: March 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Big Willy Unleashed is recognizable and comfortable as the third part of the Destroy All Humans franchise, but it's under new management. New developer Locomotive took over for Pandemic with this installment, and there are some changes.

The Wii control scheme is similar to Metroid Prime 3, but it doesn't work as seamlessly, in part because Metroid is first-person and Willy is third-person. When Crypto is too close to another object, the camera moves into a pseudo-first-person view that becomes hard to control. It's also hard to get Crypto shooting where you want him in a mass firefight -- he has to be pointing the right way, even if you can put the cursor on what you want to shoot. As with Metroid, you can't get too excited while playing -- move the Wiimote too far to the side and it loses sight of the sensor bar, and you lose control of the character. However, the controls aren't terrible -- especially considering it's obvious from early dialogue that the game was planned for the PS2 and ported to Wii later.

The graphics are disappointing compared to other Wii titles; they're on a par with the previous PS2 outing, although the Wii's superior hardware doesn't drop frames when things get busy the way the PS2 did.

The biggest disappointment, though, is the writing. The sarcasm, wit, and biting satire of the previous two games is oddly absent. There's a lot of puerile jokes about Big Willy, but relatively little skewering of the 70s. Worse, Crypto no longer has the ability to read minds -- so the joy of listening to all the twisted inner thoughts of the game's residents is gone. True, you can hear some remarks by wandering around wearing someone else's body, but they're relatively few and more repetitive than in the past. The result is a game that has the mechanics that made the series good, but it's missing the soul that made it excellent.

Instant Classic

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: February 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

** Update: I'm almost done with the game now, and I must admit that it seems more like a budget title. They definitely didn't put as much into this one as they did into the second game. The cities all seem smaller, and have a lot less to destroy. The enemies are absurdly repetitive (yes, much more so than before if you can believe it), and the new weapons aren't as exciting as the now missing meteor shower. I thought there would be a lot more to this game, but all I have left is collecting energy cells and I feel like I've barely done anything. This would be a great game for $30, but at $50 it's verging on being a rip-off. Just wait until the price goes down, because they will have to lower it if they want to sell a lot of copies.**

If you're already a Destroy All Humans fan hoping for the next fix, this is definitely it. If you're new to it, this is a great place to start. The plot, subplot, and characters are all pretty absurd as usual. The humor is more crude than ever, and the excessive violence comes in even more varieties. The AI (people) are stupid as ever, and still blurt out all kinds of funny one-liners. The music is all right, and the graphics are pretty nice for the most part, except for all of the humans which are blocky as usual.

You complete missions toward a greater objective, as well as self contained odd jobs. You have a nice array of weapons and "pyschokenetic" abilities, as well as a flying saucer and the new giant metal robot fast-food chain mascot that shoots lasers out of its eyes and vomits corrosive acid. When you're not completing a mission or odd job, you can just have fun wreaking havoc however you want, which might be the best part of the game.

The controls are fairly awkward at first, but well worth learning. Crypto, his saucer, and Big Willy all control differently. Crypto uses the control stick and pointer, and you aim his weapons by pointing at the screen. The saucer and Big Willy use the gyroscopic motion sensor in the remote, which takes getting used to. Big Willy is a cool edition to the game and more than just a gimmick. Ultimately, it shouldn't take you too long to get the controls down and when you do, you'll see how easy and convenient they really are.

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