There’re not that many beat ‘em up games on the Wii, but is Spyborgs better than the competition?
Title: Spyborgs Publisher: Capcom Developer: Bionic Games Genre: Beat ‘Em Up Players: 1-2 Rated: T for Teen
Picture the world 100 years from now. Is it a world covered in lollipops and candy canes, or is it a world ravaged by war? If you pictured the latter, than you should feel right at home in the universe of Spyborgs.
Set approximately 100 years in the future, Spyborgs will take you on an action packed ride as you follow four cybernetic soldiers who are trying to unravel the mystery behind the sudden disappearances of fellow Spyborg operatives.
Gameplay
The game is a pretty straight forward beat ‘em up title. You’ll run around each stage, pounding hordes of robots into the ground while slowly gaining experience points and leveling up your character.
At the start of the game, you’ll be thrust into the role of Stinger, a solider who lost his arm in combat and was offered a cybernetic implant to replace his injured limb when he agreed to join the defense organization known as the Spyborg Initiative. Now equipped with a cybernetic arm (complete with chain gun, missile launcher and sticky bombs), Stinger, along with his teammates Clandestine, Bouncer and Voxel, search for answers regarding the whereabouts of missing Spyborg operatives.
From this point forward in the game, you’ll be given the option to choose which character you would prefer to play as before the beginning of each stage. You can play as either Stinger, Clandestine or Bouncer. Voxel, the fourth teammate, is an unplayable character.
When playing by yourself, you’ll have the option to choose which character will accompany you in the game, but when playing with a friend, your buddy will have the option to choose which character they would prefer to play as.
Now each of the three playable characters has their own strengths and weaknesses. Stinger, the solider with a cybernetic arm, is the more well rounded character. He’s not too fast, yet he’s not too slow, and he has moderate strength when compared to the other two characters. Clandestine on the other hand is the speedy character. She’s technically the weakest of the three, but because of her martial arts training and her skills as a ninja, she’s quick on her feet and knows her way around a sword. Bouncer, the last playable character, is a gorilla! He’s a large combat machine created by Voxel, and although he’s slower than Stinger and Clandestine, he’s arguable the stronger of the two, using his gigantic fists to pulverize enemies.
When it comes down to choosing which character to play as, you’ll have to ask yourself, do you prefer speed, strength, or a character with a combination of the two.
The controls for the game are rather simple, as is the case with most beat ‘em up titles. For this game, you’ll need both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk in order to play. You’ll use the Control Stick to navigate your character on screen, you’ll use the A Button to perform jumps, the B Button to perform light attacks, the C Button for heavy attacks, the Z Button to guard and the + Button to switch between characters during gameplay.
In addition to using the face buttons to perform various offensive and defensive maneuvers, you’ll also use the Wii Pointer to utilize SpyVision, which is the ability to uncloak invisible objects, enemies and bosses you encounter throughout the game. For example, anytime in the game you point the Wii Remote directly at your television screen, a cursor will appear. And as you trek across each stage, you’ll spot faintly visible objects that have been cloaked by the enemy. When you notice one of these invisible objects or enemies, you’ll need to hover the cursor over the object, hold down the A Button and give the Wii Remote an upward jerk in order to reveal the hidden object. It may sound confusing, but the mechanics actually work pretty well once you get the hang of using SpyVision.
One of the highlights of Spyborgs is the ability to perform finishers that will instantly destroy an enemy that has the misfortune of crossing your path.
At any time in the game when you have a full Power Gauge, you can execute a finisher by simply standing near an enemy, holding down the Z Button and giving the Wii Remote an upward jerking motion. If executed properly, you’re character will initiate his or her finisher at which point a command prompt (such as swinging the Wii Remote like a sword) will appear on screen. Successfully matching the command will lead to the instant destruction of the enemy.
If your teammate is alive when you execute your finisher, both characters will team up to destroy the targeted enemy in what’s called a “Combo Finisher.”
In addition to the finishers, another equally awesome feature of Spyborgs are the boss battles, which also utilize command prompts just like the finishers. However, I’m sad to write that there are only three boss battles in the entire game, which is kind of disappointing because the boss fights are pretty cool. Especially the first boss battle, which just so happens to be a giant robot, the size of a skyscraper, who’ll have you dodging missiles, beams and cars he tosses in your direction.
And finally, another enjoyable aspect with regards to Spyborgs’ gameplay is the game’s difficulty level. Unlike some games on the Wii, which can be a tad bit too easy to beat, Spyborgs can be a fairly challenging game to conquer. It’s nowhere near being the hardest game in the world to beat, but when compared to most games on the Wii, Spyborgs can be difficult. But don’t let that shy you away. One of the great features of the Spyborgs is its variety of difficulty settings, which make the game virtually accessible to anyone who picks up the controller. You can choose from four difficulty setting including Novice, Casual, Core and Adrenaline; each with it’s own gameplay style. For example, on the Novice difficulty, the game is purely about offensive maneuvers, which means you’ll never have to worry about defending yourself because the enemies deal very little damage and you’ll rarely die in game. Of course as you move up in the difficulty level, the enemies will become tougher and you’ll need to master both offensive and defensive attacks if you plan on beating the game.
Graphics
The weakest part of the game are the graphics. It’s certainly not the best looking game on the Wii, but it’s also not the worst looking on the system.
The character models look great, but some of the level designs look a little cheap. Even though the Wii is not as powerful as the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, the system can still produce better graphics than what’s being displayed in the game.
On top of that, the color in the game seems to be off balance, especially during cinematics. For some reason there seems to be a stark, and unattractive contrast between very dark colors and very bright colors. Yet during gameplay, the color tone balances out and the game becomes attractive once again.
These are not huge problems, but they can take away from the game a bit.
Sound
The music and sound effects in the game are each good. And for the most part the game’s soundtrack focuses on heavy rock, and there are traces of techno beats in some stages. I thoroughly enjoyed how the music level increased when enemies appeared on screen, and than returned to a normal level when the screen was cleared of any baddies. If you don’t enjoy rock music, or even techno, than the soundtrack may not be all that appealing to you, but if you do like either genre, than the game’s soundtrack can help act as an mini-adrenaline rush during intense battles.
Fun Factor
Simply put, Spyborgs is fun to play. There are not that many beat ‘em games on the Wii, and if you’ve been hankering for some fisticuff action on Nintendo’s console, then Spyborgs should satisfy your appetite.
Lasting Appealing
In order to help entice a replay, Spyborgs offers several different unlockables and bonus features.
For starters, once you’ve beaten the game for the very first time, you’ll unlock three new gameplay modes, which include Select Stage, Infinite Arena and Boss Rush. Select Stage lets you replay any stage you want in the game, Infinite Arena lets you battle against hordes and hordes of robots and in Boss Rush you can battle against each of the three bosses from the game, one right after another.
In addition to the new gameplay modes, chances are you may want to replay the campaign mode in order to unlock each medal in the game along with bonus “Movies,” which include early trailers for the game, mock TV commercials and lost songs.
And hey, after you’ve beaten the game, you have the option of replaying the game’s campaign mode while retaining the stats of each character from the previous play through. So if you want to continue to upgrade each character in the game, feel free to play through the game once more.
The 411
Spyborgs is a very good beat ‘em up title. The game has awesome boss battles, decent controls, it utilizes the Wii Remote effectively and it’s a challenging game to play (depending on what difficultly level you’re playing on). Although the graphics are not stellar, the game is still enjoyable to play and I recommend Spyborgs to anyone interested in a decent beat ‘em title for the Wii.
Graphics
7.0
The graphics are not perfect. Some levels look a tad cheap and the color balance is very unattractive during cinematics.
Gameplay
7.5
The controls are rather simple, but what else would you expect from a beat ‘em up title?
Sound
7.5
The heavy rock soundtrack fits well with the game, and I enjoy how the music level increases when enemies appear, and than decreases when all enemies onscreen have been destroyed.
Lasting Appeal
7.5
Chances are you will replay the game if you enjoyed it, and the game offers various unlockables for added replay value.
Fun Factor
8.0
The game is definitely fun to play. It’s almost non-stop action from beginning to end, and the boss battles are cool. However, the gameplay can become a bit repetitive and boring, but that’s not uncommon for this genre.
From this point forward in the game, you’ll be given the option to choose which character you would prefer to play as before the beginning of each stage. You can play as either Stinger, Clandestine or Bouncer. Voxel, the fourth teammate, is an unplayable character. 
And finally, another enjoyable aspect with regards to Spyborgs’ gameplay is the game’s difficulty level. Unlike some games on the Wii, which can be a tad bit too easy to beat, Spyborgs can be a fairly challenging game to conquer. It’s nowhere near being the hardest game in the world to beat, but when compared to most games on the Wii, Spyborgs can be difficult. But don’t let that shy you away. One of the great features of the Spyborgs is its variety of difficulty settings, which make the game virtually accessible to anyone who picks up the controller. You can choose from four difficulty setting including Novice, Casual, Core and Adrenaline; each with it’s own gameplay style. For example, on the Novice difficulty, the game is purely about offensive maneuvers, which means you’ll never have to worry about defending yourself because the enemies deal very little damage and you’ll rarely die in game. Of course as you move up in the difficulty level, the enemies will become tougher and you’ll need to master both offensive and defensive attacks if you plan on beating the game. 
Lasting Appealing
