Unexpected Disaster

When you think of Nintendo, you probably think of ‘family-friendly software’, such as installments in the Wii series. Take for the instance the Brain training series. Regardless of the quality, entries in these series have managed to sell over a million units worldwide, despite being aimed at a completely new audience. After realizing the success of their ‘anyone can pick up and play’ games, they made more and more software until eventually, the gaming industry became polluted with casual games. With that in mind, one can wonder if Disaster: Day of Crisis has been downgraded to appeal to expanded audiences or if it will able to satisfy hardcore gamers.

When Disaster: Day of Crisis was first unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2006 alongside of the Wii, most people’s eyes were on the showstoppers of the event - Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Wii Sports. In the dark with Disaster were Excite Truck and Project H.A.M.M.E.R., all of which were scheduled to be released alongside Wii. Unfortunately though, disaster hit Project H.A.M.M.E.R. and Disaster, leaving Excite Truck and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as the only titles ready for launch.

Then for the next year, both titles vanished off of the face of the planet, leaving many to believe that they were cancelled. At a press conference held by Nintendo in October 2007, Disaster was shown, disproving the rumor of it being cancelled. However though, Project H.A.M.M.E.R. was not presence, and still hasn’t appeared since its announcement over two years ago.

Now after two years in development, or at least we assume it was, Disaster is ready to launch in both Europe and Japan in 2008, but at the moment, it’s unknown whether or not the game will be ready for a North American release this year. What we do know, however, is that Disaster puts players to the test as they try to survive a variety of natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions.

Ray of Hope

In Disaster, players take control of Raymond Bryce, a retired US marine and former operative of the International Rescue Team. He gets called back into action to deal with a threat from an ex-military terrorist group named SURGE. Headed by former elite specialists Colonel Hayes, Raymond must survive countless natural disasters in order prevent nuclear warfare – and all in just 24 hours!

However things only get worse from here. After the death of his best friend in the line of duty, Raymond discovers that SURGE has abducted a seismologist and his assistant in order to predict the happening of an earthquake, which will act as a major diversion as they take possession of nuclear weapons. Just when you think that things couldn’t get much worse for Raymond, it does. He later discovers that the seismologist’s assistant, Lisa, is actually the daughter of his lost friend. Now things are aligned for Raymond as he has the perfect chance of redemption that he’s been waiting anxiously for.