Whacked!

Published by Microsoft Game Studios
Developed by Presto Studios
Platform: Xbox
Released - Out Now
Price : £39.99

With the emergence of Xbox Live it was always going to inevitable that titles would be appearing that would take advantage of it's incredible potential. NFL Fever 2003 and Ghost Recon are just two of the titles to take advantage of this new multiplayer phenomenon. However would you expect a crazy game show to be a big attraction for online gamers? Let's take a look at Whacked! and see exactly what it has to offer.

First off let's get any misunderstanding right out of the way. On the front of the box it says 'Game Show Gone Wrong'. This isn't your lunatic version of Family Fortunes or The Generation Game though. What it is, and I use this description because I can't think of any other, is a third person, 4 player, deathmatch game. Sure there are plenty of different modes but they all revolve around the same thing, wiping out the opposition and making sure that you don't get wiped out yourself.

There are 13 combat arenas for you to do battle in. These wacky arenas include the base of a Christmas tree, fighting around a kitchen sink and an artic pipeline to name but a few. There are also over 30 weapons, although initially these aren't available to you. Axes, pitchforks, sticky bombs and duck grenades are just some of the crazy weapons that could be yours in Whacked! There are also 10 power ups (7 good, 3 bad) that can be collected by running over a question mark. The power up is unknown to you before you get it so be careful. At least there's a 70% chance of it being advantageous.

Of course what good are weapons and power ups without decent game modes to fight in. Whacked! comes with 6 game variations and they are as follows:

• Combat - All out fighting but you have to collect stars too. The winner is the first to reach the required number of stars.
• Grab 'n' Run - The objective is to collect the trophy and keep hold of it for the required amount of time. Of course this isn't going to be easy.
• Dodgeball - Pick up the balls and hit your enemies whilst trying to avoid being hit. Once a player is hit so many times he/she is out.
• King of the Hill - In your arena certain parts of the floor will temporarily glow green. The objective is to stand on the green areas for the required amount of time whilst preventing your opponents from doing so.
• Fragfest - All out slaughter. The one with the most frags (kills) at the end of the time limit wins.
• Chicken - Avoid the flesh eating chickens. Killing them will release a star. You have to collect the required amount of stars to win.

One thing may have become clear to you having read the above game modes. Whacked! is a multiplayer game at heart. Sure it can be played as a single player game but it lacks substance and very quickly becomes stale. When played with three others who are in the same room the enjoyment is much better although in fairness it's not as enjoyable as Fuzion Frenzy.

Whacked! is not too hot for deaf gamers either as none of the speech is subtitled. At the beginning of a single player game you'll have the shows host, Van Tastic, rabbit on about the show and contestants and it's all a waste of time for deaf gamers. Between the single player games you'll see some crazy adverts that are not subtitled and during the games the speech from the characters is not subtitled either. It's as bad as it could be for a deaf gamer.

Whacked! is definitely a disappointment. Sure the game looks OK and I suppose in theory it's a game that could have worked but with no subtitling and a bland single player game, there is little to recommend it. I played the 4 player game on one Xbox and it was OK but personally on the Xbox I would go for Fuzion Frenzy. I don't have access to Xbox Live so I can't comment on that section of the game but it's hard to imagine it being much of an improvement.

Overall Game Rating: 4.0/10
A poor single player game and an OK multiplayer game but not suitable for deaf gamers.

Deaf Gamers comment:
No provision for deaf gamers.