Wirehead is stupid.....so stupid it's funny.
Written: Feb 13 '04 (Updated Mar 14 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A b-movie that's good for a chuckle.
Cons: If you don't like the movie, there's no reason to play.
The Bottom Line: Worth buying if it's dirt cheap. If you enjoy FMV games, you'll probably have fun with this one. Funny game with replay value up the wahzoo.
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| dogeymon's Full Review: Wirehead for Sega CD |
Ok, in case you're a new collector of the Sega CD, you should know that it was best known for it's crop of all-FMV (Full Motion Video) games which were basically tantamount to just watching a stupid b-movie and being able to choose the direction the movie goes by pressing up,down,left, and right (and maybe a button or two).
Wirehead is nothing new. It breathes absolutely no air into this aged, and tired genre. But that's not to say that it's not fun, exactly. Even though it's just another FMV game that follows in the footsteps of Dragon's Lair, it was kinda fun playing. Really, the only reason I liked this game (kinda) was that it's funny. Sometimes, I just fell over laughing. And everyone in it was on some NBC or UPN pilot. And Ned Hubbard (Wirehead) is the neighbor from 'The Hogan Family'. Remember that show? With the guy...ah forget it.
Anyways, people hated Dragon's Lair because it was so hard to control and you could barely figure out when to press the buttons. With Wirehead, the choices of control are placed on the screen so you can know. But even so, the framing of the film makes it hard to realize where you'll land after your choice of direction. I'm skateboarding down the side walk and the choices of direction are left, right, and up. You'd naturally think "up" means "forward", but no. It means I fly off my skateboard straight up into the air! Ya see how funny this game is?? LOL! The worse thing about games like this is continually dying because you don't know which button to push. But the beautiful thing about this game is that your death sequences are so funny that it's often fun to die. It's hard for me to win sometimes because I want to see all the death sequences first. I'm still playing through to see em' all. Sometimes, I wish there was a cheat menu where I could go and just watch every scene from the game. But yeah. The story is really stupid. So stupid that it's funny. You apparently got into some "accident" (the only word ever used to describe whatever it is that happened to you) and someone named Dr. Ito programmed a chip into you head and put an antennae on your ear so that you could be controlled by remote. The game opens up with your children making you flip around with your remote control in front of the mailwoman. The look on the mailwoman's face is priceless!
The game really begins when the package the maillady drops off is actually a video tape of Dr. Ito telling you he's been kidnapped, how his nurse was killed and some thugs are on their way to kill you. Not much is revealed about anything, which is how you love it anyways. Let it all unfold, that's what I say.
The doorbell rings and sure enough, two henchmen are coming to catch you off guard and kidnap you. You then gain control of the game from here and basically, you must escape and find out what the freak is going on. From then you choose which pathway to take, when to throw a punch here or there, but mainly it's all about what direction to push.
First of all what's funny and cute about this game is that your presence in the game (as the player at home) is made aware to the people in the game. Dr. Ito makes light of it by saying, "I'll be getting in contact with you pretty soon. In the meantime, I've got someone watching over you with my controller." HAAHAA!
Ned Hubbard will go wherever you make him and the most fun you'll have with this game is when there comes a choice of what object to use. In your dramatic escape from the house, you come outside and see before you a skateboard, a girl's pink bicycle, and the family station wagon. Clearly, you're going to laugh just thinking of seeing him make a desperate break for his life on a little pink bicycle, so you're going to gladly die again and again just to see him do the stupidest things. And if he dies, he looks in the camera at you and gives you these ugly glares.
The rest of the game literally unfolds into an amazingly funny story and this game could actually pass for a funny TV film if you ask me. The ending is equally hilarious as the rest of the game and completing the game gives you a funny commentary on all the weird choices you made during the game. Unfortunately there's only one ending so replaying the game won't matter. But all the replay value, like I said, is in seeing the different paths you could take to get there.
Sega CD had it's fair share of FMV games that were sorta fun, but this one is just funny. There's virtually no gameplay in this title, but there's lots of imagination. I swear, this script is something I could have dreamt up after eating a bad Tai meal. Only buy this game if it's cheap (and believe me, it WILL be!). It's really stupid. So stupid...it's funny.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dogeymon
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Location: San Mateo, CA (USA)
Reviews written: 111
Trusted by: 10 members
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Choose your words with care, and I won't get riled!
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