Spyborgs (Wii)

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Spyborgs is a two-player coop brawler for the Wii

A year ago, at Captivate 08, Spyborgs, the Wii exclusive brawler, was a puzzling mix of Saturday morning television commercials and mini-games. Now, at Captivate 09, Capcom's mega showcase event in Monaco, Spyborgs looks very different. It's dumped the commercials and mini-games and focused in on the action, and it's all the better for it.

Spyborgs is being developed by Bionic Games, a Los Angeles studio made up of former Insomniac developers who worked on the Ratchet & Clank and Resistance titles. It looks, for all intents and purposes, like Final Fight might if it had been updated for the Wii and spliced with one of those kids cartoon shows imported from the US. The Spyborgs are a crack team of cybernetically enhanced super agents, three strong, who go up against a former team mate gone rogue. The art style has readjusted itself so it's sitting on the grittier side of the Pixar fence, and its combat system is an uncomplicated fusion of combos and finishers.

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On show at Captivate 09 was a short level set in some kind of enemy-controlled factory that eventually finished in a spectacular boss fight. Of the three characters in the game, two were playable: the nimble sexpot Clandestine and the gorilla robot Bouncer. It comes as some relief to discover that basic attacks don't involve waggling. Instead, the B button light attacks, the C button heavy attacks, Z blocks and A jumps. Each character has contextual finishers, only available once a gauge is full, that change depending on the enemy they're up against. To do them, you need to hold block, wait for the enemy to flash, then flick the Wii Remote to juggle them, then follow the on-screen motion prompt to do the finisher. Bouncer's finisher, for example, sees him chuck his hapless victim into the air then jump, grab them and come crashing down piledriver style. The finishers are massively satisfying, and feel meaty.

This being a Capcom game, expect huge boss battles.

The basic attacks and finishers will be enough to get you through the game, but more discerning gamers, and Capcom insists Spyborgs is a game as much for hardcore Wii owners as it is for more typical Wii owners, will want to indulge in the game's coolest feature: cooperative attacks. Here, holding block then waggling the Nunchuck will "ask" your team mate to agree to a team attack. To answer yes, all they have to do it follow an on-screen motion prompt. Then the action switches to what looks like the Holodeck in default mode. The game then asks both players to flick the Wii Remote and the Nunchuck in a direction - if successful, the team attack will trigger. Clandestine might chuck the enemy into the air and Bouncer finishes them off with a heavy attack. There will be loads of these in the final game, unlocked as you gain experience. The satisfaction that comes with pulling off a team attack is what's best about Spyborgs. It's what will keep players interested as they soldier through.

There are lots of crates to destroy. And by lots, I mean tons. This shouldn't surprise anyone: crates are of course a hallmark of the Ratchet & Clank series. But what's interesting is that you're able to pull objects into the world with the Wii Remote like a fishing rod. Holding A allows you to "paint" the environment with the pointer, revealing hidden objects and power ups with a Predator-style view called Spy Vision, then reel them in, allowing you to interact with them. So, for example, you might see a platform in the distance with some enemies lying in wait on it. Paint it, reveal a dynamite crate then pull it into the world to set it off, doing damage to the enemies before you reach them. Clever.

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