Protöthea

Posted 4 years ago By - Brian Edey

Protothea is a very interesting concept which fails in every regard on some level and that is actually more frustrating then fun in the end. But I am still very interested in the actual game because it does seem to be more like a potential game concept with a possible future in a new game then what it is now. The concept has promise, so much so it should give budding Wii Ware developers some ideas on what to do, but it will also give them ideas on what not to do.

Protothea is a top down 360 degree shooter with ground and air weapons, using the Wiimote and Nunchuck controller you guide your ship through various levels. Taking what is a classic game type and trying to make it their own has interesting aspects and effects.


Gameplay
With a new control mechanic you take serious chances in having the game not catch on at all, in the case of Protothea the developers have taken a chance with a new control system and while it does not catch on, it actually feels very awkward and the controls make no sense. It is a game that would work so much better with the Wii Classic Controller, but there is no support for it, you can no adjust the control settings at all and even after several hours of frustrating gameplay the controls never become more natural.

Protothea would have potential for a game of this type if the developers would have changed a few features such as how close the action is on the screen, classic controller support and made the game with some sort of difficulty system that worked it would be a better game instead of something that is very frustrating.


Graphics
With the Wii certainly not even close to being as powerful as the other next generation of consoles we can not expect the graphics to be pushed as far as they can be on the PS3 or Xbox 360. But they should be better then we have here, clearly they are graphics we would see on an older console such as a N64 or Dreamcast at times. Except for the water in this game which is done fairly well, but again is not as good as we have seen in the past. For some reason the developers have zoomed in down on the action, with your ship and other ships taking up a large amount of your TV’s real estate, adding to a game that already has a skewed difficulty you are being fired upon by enemies off screen and you already have a limited area to move around in. It is almost like shooting fish in a barrel, but less fun.

The level design is generic and something we always imagine coming from a random level generator. The levels feel and look thrown together from beginning to end and while proper level design would not have saved the game, it would have helped it overall by adding some fun.

Audio
Overall the audio is basic and certainly boring; from the music to the sound effects it is uninspiring in everyway. With a sci-fi based music theme the music is not terrible, but with no emotion it does not have the drive of other action shooters and the sound effects follow the audio with a general bland sound that is nothing special in the end.


Value
There is no real value in this title because of the control, gameplay and difficulty issues. If a patch was released with a control upgrade for the classic controller and to fix other issues, I would say the game would be worth buying but not at the moment.

Bottom Line
Since you can not rent it, stay away unless you have Wii points to burn or get it as a gift.

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