Definition of Vertigo are the followings: a dizzying sensation of tilting within stable surroundings or of being in tilting or spinning surroundings. And after we played this game for awhile, the game faithfully delivers that; but not always in a good way.
The main goal is to control the futuristic orb called “Xorb”, from the elite Xorb racing corp. A picture usually is better than thousand words, so here they are.
For the main part of the game—Career mode and Arcade mode— it’s a simple gameplay system; you have to start from point A to point B with time limit. And between the starting point to the goal line, there are checkpoints that you have to pass by. Sounds simple, right? Indeed, the gameplay is just that simple as well. Too simple for some of you. If you’re a bit conservative about the puzzle games, you won’t see many problems. But let’s say you’re more of a experimental gamer (as I am), and skip the few checkpoints to reach the goal quicker and faster, then you’ll quickly notice that the game won’t allow you to do so. The game itself can be categorized as a ‘racing’ genre, so not much problem there but some of us wished that there were more freedom to the gameplay.
The other game mode that caught our attention was the Bowling mode. Since Wii Sports, bowling has become on of the popular video game sports, and you’ll find them in Vertigo as well. There weren’t enough extra features or elements to caught our attention in long-term though. Nothing too much exciting, just a plain bowling fun. Multiplayer mode has vs. modes, including the battle mode. No one could actually figure out how to enjoy the battle mode, but it’s there.
If we made this title sound too generic and boring, here’s the kicker; this game supports Wii Balance Board. The result? Well, we all ended up playing with Wiimote with motion sensor capability instead of using WBB. And with the title’s not-so-real physics engine, you would more likely to be frustrated than having fun on WBB.
The graphic of the Vertigo Wii version isn’t much different as the physics engine. Even though PC version looks a bit better than the Wii version, we’ve seen a better design and graphics from Wii before so we just can’t blame the Wii’s hardware limitation on this one. We also witnessed a weird invisible effect surrounding the Xorb time to time. And sometimes the camera angle just doesn’t satisfy the purpose.
We have learned that the way to enjoy this title is not to believe in your sense of physics, but rather get used to the controls and the environment of Vertigo game itself. I don’t know if it’s a good news or a bad news, but individual gamers have their own references so we won’t say much more on the subject of “fun” in this game.
If you’re one of the serious gamer who’s into the puzzle solving genre with Wiimote love, you might enjoy this. Budget priced games are always welcome (around $20), but if you’re looking for a higher quality such as Super Monkey Ball series, you might want to check them out first before this title.
Our Score: 6.5 / 10
Maybe this simple yet quick fun may worth your $20 or less. Maybe.
