Spyborgs Review for Nintendo Wii

System: Wii	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Bionic Games	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Capcom	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Sep. 22, 2009	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1-2	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Teen	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

Although you can alternate between either of your chosen characters at any time while playing by yourself in order to take advantage of their particular strengths, it's not exactly the ideal way to play. That's because the game is more fun if you have a friend handy. At any point a second player can take control of your secondary character to help you cut a path through wave after wave of cybernetic enemies. Besides the obvious benefits of playing with a friend, having two players also alleviates some A.I. issues that can become pretty annoying. The major problem being that your A.I. teammate loves to get in your way. Whether standing in front of your gunfire, protecting your potential target, or charging in to attack the enemy you're beating up, preventing you from making contact, your teammate can become more of a hindrance than a help much of the time.

Spyborgs screenshot

Besides the constant melee combat, you'll also find tons of crates and destructible items to destroy. While most of these are immediately visible, some are seemingly cloaked and require you to point at them with the Wii-mote and perform a motion to make them fully appear. This can also get rather annoying after the hundredth time but fortunately, it's slightly less aggravating with the game's motion controls turned off, then requiring only two button presses. Destroying these items and crates will provide you with health, power-ups, team attack fuel, and red orbs. At the end of each level, you're able to spend these orbs on enhancements such as more health, damage increases, more attacks, and a quicker refilling team attack meter. These are some pretty basic upgrades and you won't necessarily even notice the difference after purchasing many of them.

While the gameplay doesn't do much to win you over, the game itself actually looks quite good. The members of the Spyborg Initiative all have a distinct look and their character models are fairly well detailed. The same can be said of the game's environments, although there isn't a ton of variety to be had. Sadly, that's the crux of most of this game's shortcomings; there is just too much repetition and not enough incentive to endure it. That and the concept of the game has been altered to the point where it doesn't really appeal to either of its potential audiences - in the end, it comes off as just a rather soulless brawler. Honestly, a game based on cyborg spies should be far more entertaining than what Spyborgs provides.

By Adam Brown
CCC Staff Contributor

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

4.0

Graphics
If Spyborgs gets one thing right it's the graphics. The game looks pretty good for a Wii title

2.9

Control
The motion controls in the game feel completely tacked on, although they can be turned off. Even so, button presses don't feel as responsive as they should be, and accurately aiming with Stringer's gun is next to impossible.

3.0

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The voice work is competently done, but the sound effects can eventually get a tad grating.

2.7

Play Value
The game itself is somewhat lengthy, but every level feels almost exactly the same as the last. Also, the recommended difficulty level is completely unforgiving, while lower settings are a bit too easy.

2.9

Overall Rating - Average
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Players jump between the identities of a team of five bionic superspies to combat a rogue squad of wacky, dysfunctional super villains.

Your favorite Saturday morning cartoon come to life: tone, visuals, and quick episodic-themed gameplay reminiscent of your favorite cartoons growing up!

Each character has a unique power to match their superspy skills, such as heavy firepower, bladed weapons, acrobatic skateboarding skills, pure robotic destruction, and more!