That's true, but it still doesn't change the fact that a significant number of Wii games don't look as good as last generation's gamecube, PS2 and Xbox games. There are noteable exceptions of course, but a lot of devs don't seem to put enough resources behind their Wii projects.

That said, Mario Galaxy was more gorgeous than anything I saw last generation ... maybe excluding Wind Waker.

Usually Nintendo's the one to really push their own hardware. I'd like to see a new Nintendo project that really ups the ante. Wii Fit and Wii Music certainly fulfill a specific purpose, but their development was probably demanding in a different way. I want to see Nintendo make something new in the spirit of Galaxy.

Not excusing those. I just think it's BS that this game was somehow obligated to push the Wii, just because they think they know the system better than the damn developers.

As I've moved through this game I have seen some commendable things and some uneven edges. Some of the character models are nice, some not so much. The removal of Otis calling is great, and I like the more streamlined mission system. The button layout is a little bizarre with things like opening doors being an obvious example. The sound is terrible, from voice acting to weapons, but that was to be expected since it is the same in the original. Finally multiple saves is really nice and a total dumb omission from the 360 version. The missing camera is totally lame, and the textures are mostly trash. In the end if you are a fan of the genre this is certainly worth a rent, or wait until it is $20. All in all not bad not good 66/100 so far. Sadly I this game had a lot of potential had it not been a straight port.

Although if it had been reworked to a style that would look better on the Wii, some would have still complained, for whatever reason.

I do think the graphics could look better, but this is when developers are starting to try with the Wii instead of just throwing stuff at it. Could latter efforts of this scale look better? Yes, but there is no guarantee it would look significantly better, just that this is likely the beginning.

The point is that this was about getting the potential of the Wii unlocked. The same reason Rogue Squadron II only pushed half to a third as many polygons as III.

Yeah I totally agree that there is a lot more to be used. I mean compare some of the recent nice looking games to a lot of the ugly games in the first year or so. I'm not saying that there weren't good looking games, but the percentage has gone up significantly. I expect that to continue.

The thing is that they got a quarter of the enemy count of the 360 version in this game (you don't see all at once, but neither do you on the 360 version). I remember people bashed the Wii for being too weak to have significant AI. At the very least, this proves them wrong.

I would say it is significantly less than a quarter... but one thing they did well was having them fade in and out, yes there is a small delay, but it gives the impressions of a lot more zombies than there actually are on screen. For instance when you turn the camera zombies will "pop-in" a millisecond later. This is a clever way to deal with a hardware limitation. I would venture that feature is the biggest innovation in the game and one that could be put to good use in others.

"I would say it is significantly less than a quarter"

The full zombie count in the 360 version was only in certain sections, like the tunnels. That is likely true for this version.

I'll just chuck my impressions here, then.

I got it for $30. Haven't finished it yet (I'm about halfway through), but so far I have to say it's "alright." Not great, and certainly not as fun as the original, but I don't completely regret spending the $30. A few more details:

It's still mindless fun mowing down the zombies, and there are usually enough around to make the slaughter fun (for the record, I'm just under 5,000 kills). They also seem to get more aggressive as the game goes on: they were statutes in the beginning, but more and more of them started becoming "Active" as time went on. It's still not 100%, but perhaps that will change as I get further?

The graphics suck, but I've never been one to mind those. I enjoy the new mission format, although I do wish there were more opportunities to just dick around without having any pressure to try and S-rank.

I was disappointed that they removed some of the psychopaths, as those were my favorite part of the original. They tried to add in zombie versions of the removed bosses, to add some variety, but it's a poor substitute, I'm afraid.

I'm also confused about the sudden presence of red rope in many parts, which prevent you from going through certain routes. Mind you, they don't actually cut off access to any parts of the mall, they just channel you down certain lanes.

The guns are more accesible and fun to use in this game, and you never really run low on ammo. However, they don't really make up for the inability to store multiple melee weapons, which to me was a large part of the original's charm. What's worse is that there's no way to tell how worn out your current melee weapon has become: it could be 100 hits away from disintegrating, or just 1.

The difficulty has dropped, but I think that's a good thing, as the original forced you to spend the first playthrough or two just levelling up, if you wanted to have any chance at getting the complete ending.

The books you can hold on to are near useless so far: they teach new techniques, but most of them are worthless. I'm hoping this will change soon. But then, the abilities in the original that you gained for levelling up were also pretty worthless, so that's par.

Overall, much of what changed is for the worse, but not THAT much for the worse. You'rre better off sticking to the original, if you have it, but if you haven't, or if you're willing to make allowances, this game can be enjoyable enough. The curious should at least rent it.

Oh, and I hate those f***in poodles.

Seeing this a lot. Not everyone is liking it, but those who thought it would be one of the worst games ever are finding it's nowhere near as bad as they thought, even if they aren't that impressed.