Link Zapper Review

By Jason Nimer

Like every single other gamer in the universe, when the Nintendo Wii was announced, I immediately flipped out at the possibilities of some new "light gun" type games. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who used his lunch breaks to play Time Crisis, so Nintendo jumped on the bandwagon and got to work. Now, a year after the Wii hit shelves in North America, Nintendo has unveiled the Wii's first official peripheral, the Wii Zapper. It holds both the Wii-mote and nunchuk and a Tommy gun style plastic shell. The Zapper can be fairly fun to mess around with, but to be honest, there is no Wii game out there that can't be played as or more accurately without the Zapper.

The Zapper has perks and downfalls in about equal numbers. First, let's talk about the positive. The Wii Zapper just feels cool to play with, First off, games like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Ghost Squad were designed with this peripheral in mind, so having it can add both excitement and a feeling of realism to the games.

Another perk is that even though the Wii Zapper can be yours for the meager amount of $20, it actually comes with a brand new target practice game, Link's Crossbow Training. Admittedly, the game is about as much of a fully realized experience as Wii Play, but being back in charge of The Legend of Zelda's Link feels great, even if all you are doing is shooting stuff and going for high scores. The game will keep you occupied for an afternoon or so, but the $20 for both the Zapper and the game just can't be beat.

And speaking of games, Nintendo has released no less than three new stand-alone Wii Zapper games. Two of them, the aforementioned Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Ghost Squad, work really well with the Zapper in hand. The third game released with the Zapper in mind, Medal Of Honor 2 Heroes, actually suffers when played with the Zapper (feel free to check out reviews for all three of these games on this site). Also, if you are planning to use the Zapper for other games like Call of Duty 3 or Metroid, forget it. Older Wii games were not designed with this peripheral in mind, so like with Medal of Honor, suffer from the use of the Zapper.

In addition to the fact that some games work and some don't, the Zapper has a few other problems. First, assembly of the Zapper feels a bit more complicated than it should be. You'll need to pop open a cover, wind the cable connecting the Wii-mote and nunchuk through the Zapper's insides and finally click the pieces in place. I can't for the life of me figure out why they didn't make the Zapper into more of a handgun, with use of the nunchuk in a free hand, rather than on the Zapper itself. Besides, unless you are playing a gangster game from the 40's, no one has used a Tommy gun in many, many years. I, for one, would rather see the use of "curtains" as slang for death than this ancient weapon's comeback.

Another Zapper problem is the trigger. It is basically a piece of plastic that pushed the Wii-mote B button for you, simulating the pulling of a trigger. The problem is that the button sits fairly loosely and will sometimes miss the B button altogether. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it is extremely frustrating.

My last main complaint with the Zapper is that it you can't properly lock the Wii-mote into it if you are using the Nyko rechargeable Wii-mote kit. The charger requires you to place a somewhat thicker back cover on your Wii-mote (which has a comfortable grip surface and is actually much better than what you get with the Wii). If you leave this back on the Wii-mote, it won't properly click into place and stay there. The bruise under my right eye is a testament to that; the Wii-mote flew out and smacked my in the face while I was reloading in Medal of Honor 2 Heroes. I ended up buying a third Wii-mote and nunchuk set just to keep in the Zapper at all times. The battery switch, coupled with the Zapper's already more-complicated-than-it-should-be set up makes getting the extra stuff totally worth it.

The Zapper might have its problems and Link's Crossbow Training might be one of the shortest games in history, but for only $20, it fairly fun. Personally, I would like to see Nintendo redesign the Zapper as I described earlier and put out some games actually tailored to the peripheral, but for now, the Wii Zapper is a cheap, ok way to kill a few hours and look cool doing it. Don't kid yourself though; Time Crisis 4 just hit the PS3 and if you can afford one of those, that would be the place to go for a great light gun game. On the bright side, House of the Dead was just announced for the Wii and it sounds as though they're working with the Zapper in mind. The Wii Zapper may be no NES Zapper or Super Scope Six, but the potential is there. Hopefully some developers will step up and get some AAA Zapper games out there. Until then, this light gun is little more than a fun distraction.

Final Rating: