The movie was the big bomb of the summer theater circuit. The game is a little better than the film, but not much.

Wild Wild West, the game, from SouthPeak Interactive, features really nice, highly detailed graphics that are just fun to sit back and look at. The cinematic introductions between parts of the game are nice the first time around, but like most intros, become annoying after the first few times and end up being skipped.

The game features two distinct types of play. One is the puzzle element, which is like many other games out there, especially those created by the likes of LucasArts and Sierra, where you look, pick up and use items together to solve problems. There’s nothing groundbreaking here. The problems are fairly simple to solve and maneuver through.

The second facet of the game has James West, the hero, shooting against the bad guys. Again, the graphics are great, but the controls are severely lacking. SouthPeak seemed to want to add some realism by making the guns have a little kickback, which translated into targeting being tedious with the mouse.

After firing, the gun moves from the kickback and your character swings his arms slightly. Any increase in realism is outweighed by a corresponding increase in annoyance.

Sorely missed is Will Smith as James West. The 3-D rendered character looks and sounds similar to Smith, but it’s obvious that it isn’t him. Games based on movies and shows need to have the real actors involved to make the game the most it can be. The sound-alike voice is OK, but lacks Smith’s pizzazz.

The game really looks nice, but besides that, there’s not a whole lot that makes Wild Wild West stand out.

If you were one of the few fans of the film, check it out. It does follow the movie loosely. But in terms of being a genuine adventure game, you’re better off snagging any of the LucasArts titles on the shelf.

SouthPeak Interactive
Requirements:Pentium-233.
3D hardware accelerator recommended,
Win 95/98,
32 MB RAM,
8x CD-ROM,
SVGA capable of 800×600,
PCI/AGP video card with 2MB
Rating: Teen
(animated violence, blood)
** of ****

Originally printed in the News & Observer and NandoNext.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 10th, 2000 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Game Reviews, Gaming, PC Game Review, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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