Engadget just released their holiday gift guide for "son", which I suppose is more succinct than "gifts for a young male person you are probably related to although maybe not". Engadget's gift guides are usually great, but this year they give a recommendation to the Wii Zapper and Link's Crossbow Training. This is... well, I'm sure it's something a sufficiently young Wii gamer would have fun with.
Think I'm pointlessly being a jerk again? No, that's Sardius's job around here! Me, I have back-up from basically every review of Link's Crossbow Training ever. That's right, I'm going to be a jerk with evidence. Check behind the cut for a comprehensive list of reasons why the Wii Zapper with Link's Crossbow Training is probably waste of $20, unless you happen to be buying it for someone who's a huge Twilight Princess or light gun game enthusiast. The game has its moments but is way too short, and the Zapper itself is an egregious waste of plastic. Granted, I'm sure not being great isn't going to stop anyone from wanting the Wii Zapper just because it's new...
- From GameZone: "Another qualm I have with the gun -- which could just be a matter of taste -- is the location of the trigger. If you're right-handed, meaning you pull a trigger with your right-hand, you would expect your right-hand to be in the back on the trigger and your opposite hand to be in front, on the barrel, guiding the gun. The Wii Zapper is just the opposite. If you're right-handed, your right hand will be on the front of the gun pulling the trigger and guiding the aim. I'm normally right-handed when shooting, but when I got out the Wii Zapper, I automatically grabbed it left-handed, which is a testament to the confusing setup of the gun. In reality, though, the designers of the gun had to get the IR sensor in front, leaving little room for better design choices."
- From 1up: "It's odd: As a showpiece and introduction to the Wii Zapper, Link's Crossbow Training doesn't exactly inspire faith in the peripheral. As a stand-alone $20 experience, though, it's a surprisingly fun -- albeit limited -- shooter that's more interesting and more polished than the majority of Wii party games out there. Just open the box, throw the Zapper into the nearest drawer or mineshaft, and enjoy the game frustration-free with your Wii Remote/Nunchuk combo."
- From GameSpot: "It's tough to say that the Zapper makes the game better in any way--you can play just fine without it, and you won't really feel like you're holding a crossbow. This has nothing to do with the Zapper itself, but because of the way the Wii senses motion; you have to aim via a reticle that appears onscreen, not like you do with traditional light gun games like Duck Hunt or Time Crisis. There's an option to adjust the height and speed of the aiming cursor, but there's no way to align it. As a result, our gun always seemed to be aiming about three or four inches to the left of where the gun was actually pointed."
- From IGN: "The Wii Zapper isn't an exclusive controller shell. Games like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Ghost Squad and especially Medal of Honor Heroes 2 have all been designed to take advantage of the peripheral. The novelty of playing with the Zapper is entertaining for a short while. Ultimately, however, all of these games are better without it, and so is Link's Crossbow Training."
- From Gamers' Temple: "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."
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