A sports game? On my Wii? It’s more likely than you’d think. Memes aside, Summer Olympics is just what it sounds like — a collection of sports events that all take place at the Summer Olympics. Yet another title in the series of Crave Entertainment previews I’ve been bringing — this one developed by Conspiracy Entertainment, though.
The other title, also developed by Conspiracy Entertainment, is called Crash Time: Autobahn Pursuit. Get your chance to play as German police, pulling over criminals, writing speeding tickets, and all the other exciting parts of being a police officer!
Alright, let’s tackle these beasts after the jump.
With the Summer Olympics happening soon, what better time to capitalize on the events with a Wii game? What’s packed into Summer Olympics is a rather robust host of sports mini-games, ranging from discus to swimming, pole vaulting to archery — the list goes on. I want to say there’s 15-20 different events to run through here.
Now, remember that constant burning sensation you had in your arms whenever you popped in Wii Sports during those first few months of owning a Wii? Well, that feeling is back with a vengeance. As I went through Summer Olympics, trying out each of the different sports, my arms quickly grew tired from the frantic flailing that I was doing. But it was fun. One of the other journalists who was standing nearby picked up the second Wiimote and started going head-to-head with me in various events, and we had a good time.
Each sport’s controls range from simplistic to overly-complicated. The goal with most of the controls was to mimic the action itself, or at least assign something that represents the difficulty of the sport itself. With some sports, like archery, you hold the Wiimote and nunchuck up like a bow, and fire using the B button — something simple. Watching other journalists attempt the diving event was something else — you need to go through a complicated pattern-matching section, followed by some more timing events in order to pull off a decent score. The game doesn’t make it easy.
What I found the game to be was simple and fun. It was Wii Sports all over again. Of course, I got Wii Sports for free with my Wii, and Summer Olympics costs $30. The game is great for a party, but it’ll only end up being an afternoon of fun if you’re playing this on your own. The game is set to come out this summer, coinciding with the Olympics, naturally.
The other title we previewed was Crash Time: Autobahn Pursuit. As the title suggests, you’re pursuing people on the Autobahn as some police officers. The game is essentially a racing game with some pursuit missions — bump into the target car and get them to stop so you can arrest them.
I was not entranced by this game. Normally, I’m not a big fan of racing games, but I can appreciate the appeal of them. This game acted more as an exercise in frustration for me. In the game’s missions, besides meeting the various mission criteria (pulling a car over, getting through checkpoints, etc), you need to keep your car from getting too damaged. Alright, that’s an understandable mechanic — you can’t expect to keep your job if every car you come back with needs to go to the scrapyard. The thing is, the chases go on and off-road, through countryside and city, and through really f’ing tight off-ramps. They’re wider on the Garden State Parkway, which has a speed limit (although rarely followed).
If I get sick of those damned chase missions, then I can always just sit and play the standard racing feature — which doesn’t have online, just to mention. Only thing was, after I crashed once, I was never able to catch up. The PA who was demoing the game said that they would slow down, but even on easy, I never had them in sight again. Made the race become rather boring and tedious, just passing through traffic with no sense of urgency.
The game controlled just fine, and looked decent, but it didn’t engage me in any way. The game offers some tidbits that’ll titillate for about five minutes — letting you race in 18-wheelers, ambulances, and APCs. Cute, but doesn’t do too much for me. Chalk it up to me not playing racing games, but if you’re a diehard fan, be sure to check this out on Live before buying it.
