Emergency Mayhem

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Rescue-worker game, with flawed controls.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that in this game you can become a cop, fireman, or EMT. In those positions, you will witness or cause some violence, including running over pedestrians and criminals, shooting monkeys, and blowing things up. The game can be frustrating because both the controls and onscreen directions thwart you much of the time.

  • You are suppose to be the good guy, but you do things that counteract that role model.
  • You can run over pedestrians and criminals, shoot monkeys, and blow things up.
  • Not applicable.

What's it about?

When you read the packaging of EMERGENCY MAYHEM, you'll think, "What a fine idea!" It appears to be a mission-based game full of driving and saving lives where you get to play as a cop, a fireman, or an EMT in eight different environments. You work to save lives or even fix a signal light as a cop. Unfortunately the controls and onscreen directions make this Wii game a disaster that's just not ready for prime time. And that's strange because this game, in which you try to stop mayhem on the mean streets of Crisis City, has been in development for about four years.


Is it any good?

 

Here's why it isn't very good. You'll use the nunchuk to steer through various city precincts, but moving any vehicle in reverse is a real problem. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Even more upsetting is an arrow that's supposed to help you to get to your next mission. It doesn't work. If GPS devices were like this directional system, you'd be driving into houses and buildings constantly. These poor controls makes you want to stop playing before you're an hour into the game.

If you're up to dealing with frustrating control system, you'll have four kinds of driving missions to deal with: delivery of goods to a certain place; timed, where you must achieve something (like getting a fly out of someone's stomach) in a specific period of time; delicate, in which crashing into other cars is a big no-no; and special, which asks you to crash into a criminal's car to damage the vehicle. Along the way, you'll also meet cute, but crazed monkeys and penguins you'll have to round up. The sad thing is that with a little more fine tuning, the game could have been a little gem. As it stands now, though, the only mayhem you'll encounter here is the one permeating your mind as you try to make sense of a game full of flaws.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about what the police, fire department, and EMT crews do to help cities and towns stay safe and healthy. Did playing this game make you want to join the police force, the fire department, or become an EMT?


This review was written by Harold Goldberg

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This review was written by Harold Goldberg
Platforms:Nintendo Wii
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Action/Adventure
Developer:Codemasters
Release date:April 15, 2008
Price:$39.99
ESRB rating:T for Cartoon Violence and Comic Mischief

This review was written by Harold Goldberg

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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