Uh... yeah. When I heard that this game didn't even hit the top 50 in the UK charts and that it might eventually become hard/impossible to find I just had to get it. Why might you ask?

Outwardly I know what you are thinking, you think that it looks like a cacophany of disastrous design decisions, an embarrasing mish mash of gameplay styles that is doomed to end badly. Well, you would be wrong.... and right.

I have played around two hours of this game and I can't ever imagine being able to write a review of it. It's hard to decide on a feeling. I guess the game that you could most relate it to (not in terms of gameplay) would be Metal Gear Solid in that it feels like fragments of gameplay interspersed with awesome, over melomatic, hilariously over the top cutscenes. It has literally had me laugh out loud several times over so far. There are tons of little moments where the cheese is so intensely stinking that you can't help but laugh and enjoy it. It also has some ridiculous items, giant hamburgers, watermelon slices and joints of roasted meat sit in bins and post boxes waiting for you to break them open. It's like the items in Final Fight except applied to a serious real world game. The two are utterly at odds and yet in the midst of death and descruction, watching Ray munch down on a giant Hamburger can't help raise a giggle.

The story is fairly prepostourous, you have all manner of crazy OOT action, natural disasters hitting you at every turn along with terrorists shooting at you.

The gameplay is broken up into three main sections, the first is third person action, you generally run, platform, pick up items and rescue people. The rescuing is fun if basic, you hunt down people to rescue like special items as they give you an SP boost which you can use as points to improve various attributes of your character. I haven't had the chance to tinker around yet but it looks like it could yield results.

The driving sections use the wii remote to tilt and is actually quite responsive and fun. Crucially they dont overun, it almost feels like a very old style arcade game in that respect. The viewpoint inside the car is a little rough and coupled with some grainy murky visuals, make it hard to see upcoming obstacles unless you wait for the giant prompting sign.

Lastly the shooting sections are quite a bit slower and more technical than even something like RE UC. You can duck behind cover time crisis style, later on switch weapons and focus to cause more damage.

Visually the game is a mixed bag, but suprisingly, in general is quite pleasing on the eye (on an SDTV). It has some murky indistinct textures which will pop out like crap on a huge HD set but generally it varies between dreamcast looking parts, really good PS2 looking parts to Wii graphics not quite as good as the very best, but still very nice.

This area for instance is a huge cityscape, very well made, frame rate is smooth and it looks great, better than this pic.

The colours pop out at you and its cleaner. This is definetely one game that looks better in motion as the old cliches say.

But the early area like this looks pretty much like a dreamcast game but is not wholly offensive.

BTW the screens really do make it look worse than it is, you will suprised at how nice some sections can seem. There was this cutscene near the beggining, which you assume to be pre-made and then it drops you into the game and it looks pretty much identical. Yes there are blurry Dreamcast textures about and if you take the time to jam yourself up to them that is what you will see. But the overall effect when just moving about the enviroment isn't bad looking at all and great looking in the city so far. Cars dont even seem that blocky like in the pics.

But I guess what is enjoyable so far is that you are constantly jumping between absurd disaster, shooting, melodrama, driving, hilarity and rescuing. And it all happens so fast that it never becomes repetitive and boring. You just want to keep pressing on to see what's next. It really does feel like a cheesy summer blockbuster that you know isn't Citizen Kane, but yet you are still grinning nonetheless. Hope this pace keeps up.

I don't care, I want this game, so it better goddamn come to North America.

Sounds awesomely bad, thats good.

I want to try it, keep em coming GG.

Iga_Bobovic said:

False, I thought it would be so bad, that it would be good!

That's the thing though, it's not bad by any means. The cutscenes and story is pure cheese, but very well presented. It is like some prepostourous disaster movie of cheese in story. But the game isn't bad and nor is its presentation. And even the cheese isn't bad funny, but cheesy grin I-can't-believe-they-said-that cheese, that will have you grinning like a fool. Even at the beggining there is this section where you are running from an exploding Volcano and Ray is running towards the screen and you have to waggle like hell to run. And I was laughing my ASS off the whole section.

Yarcofin said:

I don't care, I want this game, so it better goddamn come to North America.

Chances aren't good, Reggie is trash talking it and it isn't selling well in Europe or Japan. I think they could advertise it, instead of repeating bloody Nintendogs ads non-stop. Which might help.

Ravenprose said:

Graphically, the game reminds me of Breakdown on the original Xbox. The gameplay is quite different, though. Unfortunately, Disaster just doesn't appeal to me. I'd rather have Breakdown 2 for Wii.

You'd be suprised actually at how good it can look on an SDTV once you hit the city sections. It's all been quite pleasing, the screens are a bad representation. Some character models are low res, it has a general soft look to it. But it runs at a good clip, has some clean colours, big effects and I mean BIG - buildings exploding, tsunamis gushing down the streets etc.

Oh yeah, one dichotomy I have noticed is that it seems on the one hand want to attract and be playable to anybody, a Wii game for all. But on the other hand, the menus and point system, character upgrades and weapon purchasing system is something that only a gamer could understand. It has this weapon purchase system which branches like a tree, almost like RE4 where you have to balance your purchases so on different playthroughs you can get different super weapons at the end. So that is going to encourage replayability.

So far, I can't reccomend the game - not because I'm not enjoying it, I really, really am. But it is such a weird mish mash that I just couldn't tell if someone else would like it or not.

gamingeek said:

I described the three main gameplay styles earlier but there is much more to it. I think the only way to explain it is to again relate it to MGS1. There was one part in the game where you rappelled down the side of the building in a gameplay section. It was completely separate from the gameplay of the entire game as a whole and tailored just to service the story and throw a curve ball out. Disaster has sections like that but so far there have been around 10 of them and I am only a couple of hours in. They arent brilliant in gameplay but they are so varied and you move on so fast that they all sort of blend into one big pile of fun.

.

Just to expand upon this point. Sections I have witnessed first hand are:

• underwater swimming
• putting out a fire with gas canisters
• running from volcanoes
• 3rd person driving coming towards the screen with inverse controls
• starting a car with a fire about to burn you
• directing helicopter fire to destroy obstacles
• getting people to help you push a giant bus
• bandaging peoples wounds
• hosing down a burning building to save a kid and fireman

Played some more today, the game went from fun to great, great almost OMG consistent fun.

It throws together a series of events that goes like this:

First you leisurely drive up a mountain range which gives you time to toy around with the controls. Actually the vehicle sections uses physics for the handling and collisions (more about that later). You end up at a terrorist stronghold, which used to be an old factory. In front of this building a volcano goes off so you are making your way around the front, dodging things. Then you have a shootout and by now you've probaby upgraded your firearms skills and its become really fun. Then you break your way into the building, shoot some more guys. Then you have a boss fight that is reminiscent of the Ocelot boss fight in MGS1 except in gameplay terms much more fun. Then lava starts breaking through the walls and you have to navigate your way out of the building dodging troops at the same time.

Then you jump in a jeep and race down the mountain as the lava chases you. Then your car tips over and you are stuck on a mountain raining down with volcanic ash and it looks great. It's these sections where you finally appreciate the balance of the stamina and lung system. Your lungs are constantly filling with smoke so you have to make your way between safe spots and solve RE like puzzles at the same time. Ray eventually sucumbs to the smoke and is saved by a little girl who lives in a house on the mountain side.

You wake up in a large house with great visuals, almost RE4 quality although softer. The game has some great MGS style orchestrated music too, which can be quite emotive although you really need a DPL2 system to hear it properly.

You do some more RE like puzzle solving before breaking out in a jeep, going down the ash and debris ridden mountain. And its here when suddenly you fully appreciate the driving mechanics and think: wow, this is actually really cool. You see the game uses physics for the driving and normally it barely affects anything, the odd thing on the road you hit and either it goes flying or you go flying. But this driving section is different to any driving section I have played before. You are attempting to almost coast the jeep down a mountain full of trees, volcanic ash, lava, rivers and debris. Because it uses physics you have to judge momentum and your braking, accerleration, gravity and drift. It really feels like playing a scene in a movie where the car has gone off the mountain, the engine has cut out and you are dodging trees. But its very accurate and satisfying and having no time limit allows you to appreciate the controls, the tilt controls which are fun but loose normally, suddenly feel great and totally appropiate for the style.

Suddenly you start thinking that a 4X4 game in the first person where you navigate various disaster zones or rough terrain, would actually be really fun.

But then your jeep catches on fire and you escape. You are alone on the mountain with a little girl who you have to ferry between safe spots. Then.... the bear attacks! You shotgun this sucker and move on, do some more RE type puzzling and then face off with a helicopter on a broken bridge -think, a helicopter firing missiles at a bridge- you blow up the copter and move on, the girl gets caught in a river and you have to underwater swim to rescue here.

Each of these events virtually has their own gameplay style, it rattles along and you can't stop playing. It's great from this point. I can see myself replaying it almost the minute I finish the game. I just found out that in addition to the weapon tree purchase system you can change the atrributes of your weapons too, adding replayability with an almost light RPG like experience.

So many MGS references... are you saying this is what twin Snakes should've been?!

K. Now I have the first negative impressions of the game. I played the flood hit city level, like the movie Heavy Rain.

It looked like crap graphically, about the same or worse than Headhunter on the DC, or actually reminiscent of Splinter Cell 1.... on GC.

But it also screwed you over because you had to wade through water and couldn't run and the water was constantly sapping your stamina. It isn't hard, just annoying and mildly boring. Plus before you could jump and knew what ray could or couldn't latch onto. Here you have to experiment, some vehicles ray can latch onto, others not. Because of the incessent rain you often can't see where you are suppossed to be going and its a generally crappy level.

Thankfully its over in half and hour. Then back to awesomeness. Remember the church scene from Die Hard 2? Oh yeah. Remember The Rock scene where they are going to launch the missles? Oh yeah.

Boss fight, church flooding, girl cuffed to radiator, key underwater, kids about to be drowned on rooftop, shootout, new mechanics. Awesome.

Then they are going to blow up Miami. Sorry Dvader.

And you hit the streets in a gale/hurricane in a balls to the wall chase, with objects being blown into your path. I started using the mario kart wii wheel for the driving sections. Fun, a lot of fun.

Then the wind pushes your character back like in a real gale and you have to press on forward constantly. Game is fun, I want more. Could have been a lot better, awesome even, I see what people are saying.  But its still unrelenting fun. I have to refer back to the IGN UK review again, so far they got it spot on.

Nintendo should just release Disaster in North America as a budget title, say $30 USD. It may not be a big seller, but at that price, I'm sure they'd still make a fair profit.

I get to save my own life in that game, sweet!