Would you like to have a part in a B movie?
After some months of incertainty regarding the European release of Disaster, which was exclusively available in Japan for a while, it hit the European market out of the blue in late 2008. It was hardly noticed by major gaming outlets, much like straight-to-DVD films would be ignored by most cinematic critics. That's not to say that's a great loss, though, seeing as the interesting concept of surviving a series of natural and humanitarian disasters fails to fulfill its true potential in this confusing game.
It's clear from the start that Disaster relies heavily on dialogue and plot development, especially for a game published by Nintendo, who are normally the masters of minimalism and prefer to leave most things to the imagination of the player. Little is left to the imagination, however, when, in the prologue chapter, a volcano erupts and you (protagonist Raymond Bryce) and your buddy Steve Hewitt have to run for your lives to avoid being turned into funny-shaped rocks. Of course Steve dies (you let him slip out of your hand, you tool), and while Raymond survives, he is so disappointed with his inability to save Steve that he decides to leave the rescue team of which he and his buddy were a part.
The story continues about a year later, and soon enough all hell breaks loose as Steve's sister is kidnapped by some paramilitary group, and a series of natural disasters hits the city you reside in. The rest of the game is, in the spirit of its arcade-like gameplay, divided into chapters, 23 in total, which basically swap between fighting and surviving sequences. A big portion of the game will have you shoot the terrorists you're persuing in on-rail shooting sequences, while in other chapters you will have to run away from erupting volcanoes, hurricanes, and even tsunamis. There are also some driving stages, which you control by holding the Wiimote sideways as if it were a wheel. While it sounds gimmicky, the controls are actually very tight and enjoyable.
This game puts a large emphasis on its use of motion controls in just about every way you can imagine, but not all of the implementations are as interesting. In fact, while the shooting sequences are nothing short of brilliant, most of the other controls are misplaced novelties rather than valuable gameplay enhancements. Even some running sequences have you resort to the horribly outdated remote waggling that has made the Wii's motion controls somewhat controversial over the years. Then there are other parts where you will have to press the Wiimote and Nunchuck down rhytmically to give someone CPR. During the game, you will encounter a lot of people who are in need of some sort of first aid, and while saving them you'll be confronted with equally original but questionable control methods. All of these gameplay elements are all a bit random and can occasionally make the game feel like a minigame collection knit together by a story, rather than a consistent action-adventure experience.
That being said, the thing that holds this game together and makes it interesting is indeed the story. While, or perhaps because all of its characters are archetypes, the voice acting is over the top, and some of the action is just nonsensical, the plot will grab your interest early in the game. Disaster seems to be fully aware of the fact that it's one big cheesefest, and it does everything to make sure its players feel like they're playing a part in a B-movie. This is remarkable, seeing as it's a Japanese game, and the developers seem to be very well aware of the stereotypes that plague Western movies and games, making for some awkward hybrid between hardcore Japanese action and ridiculous Western melodrama. Even the characters themselves seem to be American-Japanese hybrids, but that's probably because Japanese people still don't seem to know exactly what Westeners look like (any anime will attest to that).
It's just too bad that Disaster couldn't have been a bit less gimmicky gameplay-wise, and a bit more polished in technical areas. The art design is completely unremarkable, and the graphics are PS2-worthy at best. Even the sound effects are strange, as the noise that is heard when Raymond is walking sounds more like coconut shells being banged together like in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Real music is usually absent, although there are some bombastic tunes and a rather well-composed title track that is used sporadically. All of these elements inevitably 'condemn' Disaster: Day of Crisis to the 'niche' category, the library of which is rather large on the Wii. It is therefore doubtful whether Americans will ever get to play Disaster, and while they're definitely not missing out big, they are passing up on an awkward title that truly cannot be compared to any other game out there.