09tarheel

User Score
7.9

Presentation - 6.0
Gameplay - 8.0
Value - 9.0

Water Warfare is Hudson’s second WiiWare First Person Shooter, and with the title they replace the typical violent setting with a much more family friendly atmosphere.

                Water Warfare can be controlled using either the Wii Remote and Nunchuck combo, or with the classic controller. Unlike first person shooter retail games such as Medal of Honor Heroes 2 or the recent The Conduit, you cannot customize the controls.  There is only one standard sensitivity for the aiming reticule and you are stuck using that setting.  Fortunately the setting works adequately, despite not being as responsive as you might like. 

                Water Warfare is made family friendly by using water instead of bullets like in most first person shooters, and having you “soak” instead of killing your opponents.  That said most any kind of gun you would expect in a first person shooter also has a water equivalent in Water Warfare.  Water rifles, pistols, shotguns, and machine guns are all here.  Standard first person shooter items like health packs and armor also have their equivalent in towels and raincoats.

                To start the game you must pick a player by choosing one of the predesigned players, or make your own from the limited number of customization options. The single player campaign mode consists of a tutorial mode, then four maps that include a playground, beach, plaza, and nature preserve.  Each map then has eight missions, which include things such as shooting down targets in a set time limit, running through check points faster than an opponent, or capturing the opposing teams treasure and bringing it back to your base.  The final mission of each stage is a boss fight and after beating the boss they become playable characters.

                The single player campaign mode is moderately enjoyable, with some of the missions being very fun and others quite dull.  While there are a total of 32 missions plus the tutorial mode, many of the missions will take less than a couple of minutes to complete.  So it is likely you will only get a couple of hours of play through this mode.

                Thankfully the game also allows you to play in a couple of other ways.  There is a match mode where you can play against one other player locally, and have up to four players including bots.  You are able to play in a variety of match types, six in all, which includes standard such as death match, or battle royal type modes.  Also included are a couple of more unique modes such as point rally, where you try to earn 100 points faster than the opposition by controlling a number of bases.  In match mode you are able to play on the same four maps that were open in single player.  The playground level and the plaza are the standouts of the four levels, by having a large number of environmental objects and buildings as well as being the most appealing visually with their more vibrant colors.

                Also included in Water Warfare is a surprisingly robust online game.  You can play in any one of the six game types that are available in the match mode, with up to seven other players in an online match.  You can assign the directions on the d-pad a predesigned message that you can use during matches.  You are also able to pick from a limited number of scripted responses in the lobby when waiting for a match to start.  If the match you are joining is already in progress  or if you lose early in a match you are added as a ghost and can run around the environment to view the action yourself while you are waiting.  After matches you are awarded points based on your performance. You can then check out the leader boards to see how you stack up. From my experience online lag was fairly minimal, usually only noticeable when a player disconnects.  As far as connecting to start a match I found that playing a standard match like battle royal works fairly quickly, but others like point rally take awhile to find the required number of players.

                Visually the game is very simple, utilizing a cartoon like art style.  There is a good use of colors in most of the stages which make the game more appealing, but technically the game is not impressive.  There is even less to speak of on the audio side with sound effects being fairly limited to noises from the guns, and the sound of you walking that does at least change when you walk in water.  Music wise, each map has one upbeat background song that does a good job of setting the mood, but is not particularly memorable.

                More responsive controls, a larger variety of maps to play on, and better visuals would all have been greatly appreciated.  But for eight dollars Water Warfare has an impressive amount of content.  You have an enjoyable, albeit short, campaign mode, a local multiplayer mode, and an online mode that is comparable to that of some retail Wii games.  If you are looking for a fun, light hearted first person shooter, you should consider downloading Water Warfare.