PDC World Championship Darts 2008 Hands-On

Phil "the power" Taylor is the most successful player that darts has ever known, and in smoke-free pubs around the country, amateurs love to step up to the oche to try to emulate his deadly accuracy. We got our hands on a preview build of the Wii version of the game to get a feeling for whether it's going to hit the bull's-eye.

PDC World Championship Darts 2008 builds on the 2007 version of the game by introducing new players, features, and platforms. The game features 16 licensed professional players (up from 10 last year), all of whom have been fully motion-captured so that they bring their individual styles into the game. A number of amateur players are also featured, primarily competition winners from a number of publications, including GameSpot UK.

The physics engine has also been upgraded to reflect the changes that a dart makes in flight. This is designed to allow 'stacking'--the system that professional players use to line up darts in order to achieve high scores, such as the maximum 180. The darts also have varying barrel weights, so you can choose a set that suits your technique. However, no matter how dodgy your throw, the dart won't bounce off the wire because that was felt to be a step too far toward realism.

You can jump straight in and play as one of the licensed players, or create your own and work your way up the rankings in career mode--you'll start off 64th in the world, so expect to play through a few tournaments before you're challenging Taylor for the number-one spot. In addition to the amateur and pro difficulty settings of the previous game, there is now a "master" mode, in which there is no onscreen guidance bar to help you and the sweet spot for releasing the dart is smaller.

We played through a game in amateur mode, during which the onscreen bar helps the player choose when to release. Using the Wii Remote, you aim at the area of the board that you want to hit, and then click "A" to lock on and draw the remote back. As you do so, your player's arm moves onscreen to roughly replicate your action. When you've gone as far back as you want to, you "throw" the remote forward and release 'A' when you want to release the dart. Movement to the left or right is picked up by the controller and will result in your dart veering off course. A gentle movement may result in your dart landing below where you aimed, whereas a fast action results in a satisfying thud as the dart hits the board.

Using the Wii Remote for the darts action felt logical (although you can choose to use the analogue stick on the Nunchuk controller), and we were soon hitting roughly the area on the board that we aimed at with most throws. Aiming for the double and treble sections using the Wii Remote could be bit hit and miss, but there didn't appear to be a time limit, so you can simply wait until you get the perfect spot before pressing the "A" button. We found that it took a bit of time to get the dart's flight straight, but that is a fairly realistic simulation of our real-life technique problems.

There is a practice mode for those seeking to emulate the pros by actually preparing for a game. The board is designed as a training board, so the trebles and doubles are thinner, which forces you to improve your aim. You can also work out techniques to counter problems in your throwing style. For example, you can set the target on the board slightly higher than you intend to hit if your darts have been hitting the board lower than you would like.

Mere Mortals has also made improvements to the 14 party games that come as part of the package (each of which can be played by up to four players; eight can take part in the tournaments within the main game, using one Wii Remote if necessary). The party games are now built using the same engine as the other modes, rather than the more limited graphical approach of the previous game in the series, and are set in what appears to be a rather empty bar. Playing party games such as "killer" means that you don't have to spend all your time just playing tournaments, and adds a very social element to the game.

PDC World Championship Darts 2008 will be available for the Wii, PC, and PlayStation 2 in Europe in January 2008.