The Strike Hands-On Impressions

Guns, guitars, chainsaws, and bongos. What do all these things have in common? Scattered as that list may seem, each exists as a video game peripheral in some form or fashion. Now, thanks to an upcoming fishing sim dubbed Bass Pro Shops' The Strike , you can add "fishing rod" to this list of household objects-turned-controllers. Not long ago, we cast a few lines with the Xbox 360 version of the game to see how this peripheral works.

The controller itself is an interesting piece of hardware. It's got a handle, flexible rubber wand, reel, and most of the buttons you'd find on the regular 360 controller. But most importantly, it's got an accelerometer inside to handle motion control. That feature is a big part of getting the right cast, because a gauge on screen will prompt you to pull back, push forward, and let go with enough precision to land where all the fish are. Do it wrong and you'll have to cast all over again.

After casting your line, it's a matter of waiting for a fish to come along and give your lure a bite. When that happens, you need to start turning the reel to pull it in. Two key considerations are how tight your line is (too tight and it'll snap; too loose and the fish will get away) and how much energy the fish has left in his system. In our experience, this involved a lot of hurried twisting quickly followed by letting the string go slack, then repeating several times over until the fish was too wiped out to fight any longer.

The Strike offers a total of 10 real-world lakes, including Table Rock Lake and Lake Wylie. In addition, it sports the official Bass Pro Shops license, so you can expect to see a number of licensed boats and a gaggle of realistic lures and baits. You can put all your gear to the test in either a career mode where you progress by earning reputation points, or in quick trips to the lake where you can either fish at your own leisure or accept challenges from NPC boaters.

If you're itching to get your hands on the fishing rod peripheral, you can expect to see The Strike in stores this September. The game and controller will come bundled together for $69.99, but you can also buy the game itself for $39.99.