Water Warfare

Oh no, a game featuring kids running around shooting water at each other! Could Water Warfare be just like any other “family” title that has seemed to flood the Wii since its inception? Hudson releases a game that at first glance screams shovelware, but a closer look reveals much depth.

Let’s start off by explaining the gameplay. Personally, I don’t have too much experience in the FPS genre since I don’t have an affinity for massive amounts of violence in video games. When I heard about this title that was a FPS, yet with no blood, I had to give it a shot. Basically, the nunchuck is used to run around the field while the Wii remote works as the pointer to where you’re aiming the watergun. The trigger underneath the remote is used to shoot water, while the direction pad can be used to send pre-set messages. The buttons on top of the nunchuck are used to jump and pick up items. So the controls are simple enough for newcomers to get a hold of, but complex enough to satisfy the hardcore crowd if they give this a chance. From what I hear, Water Warfare controls in the same way Metroid Prime does, so Nintendo fans should feel right at home. Another thing to note, they’ve included the classic controller option, for those who don’t care for the nunchuck and remote setup.

There are enough areas to play in to keep people satisfied. Basically, there are four maps: playground, plaza, beach, and nature. They are separated into a small map and large map each, and the differences between the two are good enough that people will not find them repetitive to run around in. Personally, my favorite place has to be the playground because of all the different places to hide in. Either that or maybe I’m a sucker for playgrounds in real life. There’s something cool about doing battle on a playground pirate ship, but that’s just me probably. Nature has to be my least favorite, since the area seems more enclosed than the other maps, resulting in a more claustrophobic feeling. Nature is set up like an arena, so that there’s one small middle area surrounded by a steep circular enclosure that can be climbed up and where the one higher up has the advantage over the players down below (unless of course everyone stays on the higher part). During each match, there are items placed around the map in order to help you, such as different water guns, towels to dry off your shirt, umbrellas and raincoats to help with defense, and hammers. When someone shoots enough water on you to completely drench your shirt, you lose, or in FPS terms the other person gets a “kill.” So the towels are pretty handy, as well as the umbrella and raincoat. The hammers can possibly be seen as cheap, since they have the effect of stunning the enemy for a few seconds, allowing a second whack to be taken without enough time for the victim to get away. But this isn’t that big of a deal, and I’m sure beginners will appreciate the hammer.  The best player usually wins, even with these mentioned items, so it works out despite some flaws. The items are placed in different areas each time, so although there is room for cheapness in Water Warfare, it’s not so unfair that it makes it not enjoyable.

What really sets this game apart from all other WiiWare titles are the sheer amount of options one can try! Up to eight players can take their chance at drenching each other online. Battle Royal is the default multiplayer mode, and when going online it seems everyone flocks to this option since it’s on the first page. That’s a bit disappointing considering the other ways to play this game: Deathmatch, Treasure Chest (similar to capture the flag), Assault, Base, and Point Rally. Out of these, Deathmatch gave me the best time. Point Rally wasn’t really that exciting due to the fact you don’t need to shoot the other opponents to win, which takes away a lot of the fun. But at the same time, the more options the merrier! Not only is there online multiplayer play, but there is offline splitscreen (although only two players can play). That alone gives it something The Conduit doesn’t have.

Speaking of the online option, it runs well without too many problems for the most part. One thing that might be annoying, when trying to get in a random world match sometimes it makes you wait for the first match to be over before letting you join. Yet other times when an odd number of people exist, the game sets up the match anyway, with one team having more people on their side. I can’t stand waiting for other people to finish a game, I’d rather play immediately. So if the game sometimes sets up the team unevenly anyway, there doesn’t seem to be a need to force players to wait through a game. But this complaint admittedly is minor in the grand scope of things. A positive to waiting comes from watching who the better players are, so maybe it works out in the end. Also relating to online play, there are worldwide and national leaderboards, so the replay value Hudson has put into Water Warfare seems endless almost. The only thing that could have made online better is if players were allowed to communicate with each other through Wii Speak, but this could be said about a lot of Wii games. Yes, friend codes are a pain still, but that’s the fate Nintendo fans face with nearly every online Wii game as well. My best advice to get a community feeling out of Water Warfare is to join a Nintendo community with forums somewhere on the web, and ask people to exchange friend codes with. All the offline multiplayer options remain in play when going online, and I’m sure as the months go by and more people get this title that Battle Royal won’t be the only setup chosen. I’m ecstatic Hudson has crammed so many options into the online mode, and it’s impressed me enough to the point that they’ve set an almost impossible standard for all other WiiWare games to follow.

But does Water Warfare have a worthwhile single player offline mode? It does, sort of. The single player missions basically work as a tutorial, getting you ready to take on the real players online. In that respect, going through these missions is important, especially if one hasn’t had a lot of experience with the FPS genre. The missions teach you a lot of the essential mechanics, such as how to roll, snipe, dodge effectively, and sneak around the environment. Also, one gets a feel for the items in single player mode, and once every item has been tested, one can be ready to know what to expect from the items when playing online. A lot of the missions are straightforward and take no more than two or three tries to master, but a couple of them are overly difficult. This includes the mission where you are sneaking around the computer opponents without a gun. The hard part lies in the fact one look from anyone will cause you to have to start over. You have to study the radar very carefully and see what range of vision the other players have and the pattern they move in. Their patterns can be unpredictable and frustrating. Overall though, the fact that they included these offline missions remains a positive, but Water Warfare definitely will be bought for the online features.

The music isn’t too important for Water Warfare, nor does it sound like much work was put into it. But what’s there passes, although the repetitiveness becomes noticeable after a while. At least the few short songs that exist are catchy and light in nature, matching the environments. The sound effects match their counterparts pretty well, especially the water guns. When one uses a rifle, it really sounds like what a sniping gun would sound like. When the bazooka gets shot, a loud thump erupts, giving the feeling of incredible power in the attack. When I hear the bazooka sound and I don’t have an equivalent weapon, my immediate instinct is to run. The bottom line, the music and sound effects don’t get in the way of enjoying the game, and that’s all I ask for here.

Don’t let the kiddy visuals fool you (and by the way the graphics look just fine), Water Warfare may end up being the most underrated WiiWare title ever. I say this because I’ve actually read a couple reviews for this game, and I’m appalled at the notion that a no blood FPS title featuring kids with water guns has to be labeled as aimed for kids. I’m almost certain reviewers have been downgrading this game for the very fact there is no blood, although they don’t state the fact they are biased in that fashion directly. Water Warfare has the same exact kind of gameplay Call of Duty, The Conduit, and Onslaught has. There’s no reason why one can’t enjoy this title if they can enjoy those previously mentioned FPS titles. This game can and should be enjoyed by everyone. That means you!