Twenty-six cases, a chance at $1
million, and all the suspense you could hope for really doesn’t save this game
at all. Deal or No Deal for the Nintendo Wii is almost identical to the
television game show except everyone seems to be in Mii form. There are 26 cases
with 26 ladies holding the cases. The player picks one case from the lot to
keep. Once he (or she) has a case, Howie Mandel will tell you how many cases you
have to choose to open. Once the case is open, you lose your chance at that
money. For example, if you open the case with $1 million inside, you will lose
your chance at that prize. Then, at the end of every “round,” the banker will
offer you an amount of money for your case and you can take it and leave, or you
can keep playing for a chance at more money. This is essentially the “Deal or No
Deal” part.
The Nintendo Wii takes use of the
Wii-mote with a point-and-click control scheme that does work well. It’s very
simple to use. You just point at the case you want to pick, and click A to open
the case. Its ease of use is a good thing about this game. The game also goes
through the same cinematic scenes every time you play a round of Deal or No
Deal. Howie says the same thing, and it gets quite annoying. The game does have
a ‘skip the scene’ option though, and this is definitely a necessity.
The graphics of the game were sub
par. Instead of giving a more realistic look to this game-show video-game, the
game instead uses Mii versions of everyone including Howie Mandel. Although
quite hilarious, I think the game would have been more pleasing if it had more
realistic graphics. The sound of the game is Ok. There isn’t much of a
soundtrack, and it doesn’t change from game to game. It is the same sounds and
sound effects every time you play a round.
The concept in the game is sub-par
as well. I believe the game could have been better with more modes, in which to
play Deal or No Deal. To the game’s credit, it did have a few different modes
such as Double or Nothing, Double Dollar Value, Higher Top Value, and a Million
Dollar Mission, which presented the $1 million prize multiple times. Even with
this, the game would have benefited more if it had added more modes to play the
game show in. Multiplayer for this game was awful. Most players would not enjoy
it at all. It had three mini-games, which you could play with up to four players
on. The mini-games are Push Your Luck, Sharp Shooter, and Black Jack. Push Your
Luck is a game that wasn’t fun at all; it lists six cases with a money amount
inside for each player, with one of the cases being empty. The players go until
they hit the empty case. Whichever player has the most money at the end wins the
round. Sharp Shooter was somewhat fun. A multitude of cases with a money amount
in them fly through the air for you to shoot at – very Duck Hunt like. The
person with more money at the end wins the round. Then, Black Jack is the same
just with money amounts and cases. There is also another mode you can play
inside the mini-games called Marathon, where you play all three mini-games with
another player and whoever has the most money total at the end wins. Overall, a
very dull multiplayer was put into Deal or No Deal, and there is absolutely no
online play.
If you intend to buy this game, you
will probably spend all your time playing the actual Game Show mode of the game
trying to get the coveted $1 million, and that’s fun. Otherwise, this game lacks
a good multiplayer and enough modes for it to stand out in Wii gaming.
Gameplay: 6.0
The only fun part in the game is actually playing the game show. Controls are
simple, and the quest to get $1 million dollars is fun. Otherwise, the game
needed more modes to make it interesting.
Graphics: 6.0
The graphics could have been better. The game took a “Mii” approach to the
graphics, and it would have been better with more realistic graphics.
Sound: 5.0
There wasn’t much variety in the sound. The main theme and sound effects were
good, but that’s pretty much all there was to the sound in this game.
Difficulty: Easy
Concept: 7.0
The concept of this game was almost there. It just needed more modes so players
would keep playing and enjoying the game.
Multiplayer: 4.0
Multiplayer was almost non-existent. There was no online capability, and it
consisted of only three mini-games.
Overall: 5.8
The bad aspects in the game just overtake all the good it tries to accomplish,
resulting in just an average game-show game.
