Chaotic: Shadow Warriors (Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi)
common sense media says
Strategy game spin-off of popular trading card game.
parents & educators say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Chaotic: Shadow Warriors is a fantasy strategy game based on the popular children’s trading card game (which has an online counterpart
for Windows PCs). Kids who have played the physical or PC version of the
game will likely crave this one as well. It’s more graphic than its
browser-based predecessor, with a fully three-dimensional world to
explore that’s filled with snarling, growling monsters that have pointy
teeth and are covered in spikes, but these creatures don’t actually
make contact with each other when fighting. Instead, waves of colorful
energy cross the screen, causing characters to yelp in pain or fall
down and disappear. The narrative and all its characters are quite
shallow, and there are no underlying morals to be extracted, which
means kids will be playing this game for its tactical action and little
else.
Educational value:
Not applicable.
Positive role models:
Players take the role of a teen who commands armies of monsters in battle against enemy armies. He seems like a nice enough kid, but he’s given little back-story or character, and seems more interested in scanning more monsters so that he can add them to his collection than the reasons why the monsters are battling in the first place.
Ease of play:
The strategy rule system is highly complex, and the tutorials move along quickly. That said, the difficulty level ramps up very gradually, allowing players to experiment and figure out for themselves what works. It’s no cakewalk, but kids disposed to trading card-style tactics should be able to pick things up fairly quickly.
Violence:
Monsters do battle by attacking one another with magic. Waves of light rush over characters, causing them to grunt or shriek. They fall to the ground and disappear when defeated. Also, our avatar, a young teen, carries an energy gun he uses to zap bugs and other creatures that attack him as he wanders the world.
Sex:
Not applicable.
Language:
Our hero says such things as "push off!" when angry.
Consumerism:
This game is an offshoot of the trading card game Chaotic, and will likely be coveted by its players. It could be looked at as a way to cross promote.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
Not applicable.
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