Dead Rising Wii: Woeful Controls - Terrible Idea

[JayVe]

According to Luke Plunkett of Kotaku, the upcoming Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop for Wii is a "terrible, terrible idea (http://kotaku.com/5061464/dead-rising-wii-is-a-terrible-terrible-idea)." The title reportedly suffers from "woeful controls" and few zombies.

You know how many zombies I saw on-screen at one time? Six. Six zombies. And that's not in a room, or a store, that's across the massive concourse at the start of the game. Yet they still shamble. There's no urgency, there's no danger. There's no fun. To compensate, Capcom have added a few new enemies: killer poodles and killer parrots. They're vaguely ridiculous, and do very little to make up for the lack of more shambling corpses.

What's worse, the controls are woeful. To pick up a dropped item, you don't press a button. You press the Z button and the A button. They're on opposite sides of opposite controllers. It's stupid. The Wii Remote aiming controls are woefully twitchy. and to switch weapons you need to us the d-pad while aiming. Meaning you can't use the Wii Remote at that time, requiring you to aim with the nunchuk while reaching with your other hand. It's messy. It doesnt work.

Ouch

[Johan]

:inserts image of GCx2+ductape:

Some games work, some don't. A game with zombies needs either lots of zombies, or enclosed/tight spaces to make the few that are there more significant, I would think. Sounds like on the Wii, you get neither.

[AboveAvgCharles]

Well, honestly, Dead Rising always seemed like one of the least suitable games to be ported over to the Wii, and as the list of features that were cut from the game lengthened and was replaced by the addition of zombie poodles, I kind of had a feeling this wasn't going to end well.

[danhoo]

Bleh, why is it that so many games seem to do terrible Wii controls? Nintendo needs to do some sort of "controller design consulting/acceptance" program or something.

[quidmonkey]

Blarg Blarg Bullshit

http://nymeria87.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/facepalm1.jpg

He also mentions he saw 10 zombies on screen at once (because it's been in question how many the Wii can handle on screen simultaneously), but Capcom says it will be able to display 100 by the time the game ships. The Wii version of the game also has a new mission structure and save system, likely meaning far less frustration than was found in the Xbox 360 version.

Via 1up (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3169418) - There's even a video showing about 10 zombies onscreen at once.

[JayVe]

Bleh, why is it that so many games seem to do terrible Wii controls? Nintendo needs to do some sort of "controller design consulting/acceptance" program or something.

Or, just let the free market sort it out. It took a while for people to really get a handle on how to do 3D controls well with lots of early 3D games having convoluted controls or terrible cameras. Hell, we STILL get games with poor camera controls even after all this time. If Capcom makes an awful Wii port, people won't buy it. Okami's controls worked quite well, as did Resident Evil's, so there is hope.

[danhoo]

Or, just let the free market sort it out. It took a while for people to really get a handle on how to do 3D controls well with lots of early 3D games having convoluted controls or terrible cameras. Hell, we STILL get games with poor camera controls even after all this time. If Capcom makes an awful Wii port, people won't buy it. Okami's controls worked quite well, as did Resident Evil's, so there is hope.

Very good point Kam.

I was vaguely interested in this game, but if the controls are as bad as described, I will definitely pass.

[Lutheran]

I would wait for other reviews to pour in before making a final decision danhoo. This one from Kotaku sounds suspect at best.

[Variable Gear]

Bleh, why is it that so many games seem to do terrible Wii controls? Nintendo needs to do some sort of "controller design consulting/acceptance" program or something.
It's similar to the reason that many DS games are difficult to control. Wii and DS games need to be built from the ground up with each systems control mechanism and technical specs in mind. Ports suck in general, but they suck even worse when the game suffers in the transition.

[Dukefrukem]

well it can't be as bad as the controls for Lair.

[Doctor Setebos]

I was never interested in this game in the first place.

Capcom, if you're so positively itching to port games over from the 360 to the Wii, there are better alternatives.

[pomeroy]

Waitaminute...

Zombie poodles?

Ok, then. GG Capcom.

[King3567]

I thought this was a dumb idea from the get go. Dead Rising doesn't deserve this.

[KingGorilla]

well it can't be as bad as the controls for Lair.

There are many Wii games that are much, much worse.

[Dukefrukem]

There are many Wii games that are much, much worse.

That's hard to imagine. I actually tried playing Lair again after not having played it for months after i bought it on launch... I had to put it back down.

[JayVe]

Here we go. Wii Fanboy has up a Wii/360 comparison shot (http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/10/15/a-few-dead-rising/) of the infamous maintenance tunnel. The good: Looks like there are more than 6 zombies on the Wii screen. The bad: There are about 600 (meaning a LOT) on the 360.

Click for screen shots (http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/photos/dead-rising/1098748/)

[TheFlyingOrc]

Here we go. Wii Fanboy has up a Wii/360 comparison shot (http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/10/15/a-few-dead-rising/) of the infamous maintenance tunnel. The good: Looks like there are more than 6 zombies on the Wii screen. The bad: There are about 600 (meaning a LOT) on the 360.

Click for screen shots (http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/photos/dead-rising/1098748/)

I'm just confused. Pikmin had more little scripts running at a time than these Dead Rising screens.

[Xerxes]

well it can't be as bad as the controls for Lair.

Which controls? Original Sixxaxxis or the patched controller version?

Why bother with a wii version?