Software:Disaster: Day of Crisis

Short description: 2008 video game

Disaster: Day of Crisis
European box art
Developer(s)	Monolith Soft
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Keiichi Ono Azusa Tajima Genki Yokota
Producer(s)	Tadashi Nomura Hitoshi Yamagami
Writer(s)	Keiichi Ono
Composer(s)	Yoshihiro Ike
Engine	Havok
Platform(s)	Wii
Release	JP: September 25, 2008 EU: October 24, 2008 AU: November 13, 2008
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, survival, light gun shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player

Disaster: Day of Crisis is a 2008 action-adventure light gun shooter developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Wii. In it, the player must survive various natural disasters while battling terrorists and rescuing civilians. According to Nintendo, the game features "cutting-edge physics and gripping visuals" to recreate the sheer terror of major catastrophes.

Gameplay

In Disaster, players control Raymond Bryce from a third-person point of view during cinematic adventure sections, taking on puzzles and navigating hazards that can hurt or kill him. In these sections, several quick time events and minigames are based around the motion controls of the Remote and Nunchuk. For example, the player can perform actions such as pressing buttons in rhythm to perform CPR, moving heavy objects and running from flood waters and lava flows by quickly moving the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and driving a car by holding the Wii Remote on its side and tilting it left or right. The player also encounters a mysterious man with a fedora and cane who offers unique shooting range tickets.

Disaster's core combat is primarily played out as a rail shooter, utilizing the Wii Remote's pointer function to target enemies. The player can hold up to three weapons of their choice, along with one mandatory pistol with unlimited ammo cache; they can swap freely between weapons using the Direction Pad. Shooting Range tickets can also grant unique weapons to Raymond if their challenge criteria are met. During the combat sequences, the player can duck, take cover if available, and shoot more accurately by using Zoom Mode to concentrate for double damage. Taking cover makes Raymond invulnerable to damage at the cost of being unable to shoot, and has no general penalty outside of losing stamina in drawn-out battles. Taking too long without proper self care may result in HP consumption in place of Stamina Consumption until Raymond is fed properly.

Players must maintain Raymond's survival stats, such as stamina, heartrate and lung clarity, which are depleted by strenuous activities or exposure to smoke and poisonous fumes. To keep Raymond healthy, food and snacks, which replenish stamina, and taking in rhythmic, well-timed breaths of fresh air are essential for survival. Rescuing survivors involves bringing them to safety or completing a first aid minigame before their stamina meter depletes and they die. Successfully rescuing enough survivors will extend Raymond's maximum health by one unit.

During the game, players can improve Raymond's skills, including his strength, accuracy with firearms, and mental concentration, by collecting "Survival Points" (SP) earned by rescuing civilians, while "Battle Points" (BP) earned from killing SURGE members can be used to purchase and upgrade Raymond's weapons and equipment.

The game has 23 stages, each of which can be replayed to obtain a higher score. The game also includes a shooting range, "stamina challenges", unlockable weapons and costumes, and a more difficult "Real Disaster Mode".

Plot

Raymond Bryce, who served as a Marine during the Gulf War, and Steve Hewitt are members of the International Rescue Team (IRT). One day, they are performing a rescue mission near the dormant South American volcano of Mt. Aguilas. When Aguilas unexpectedly erupts, Steve sacrifices himself to let Raymond escape, giving him an antique compass and making him promise to give it to his sister Lisa. Raymond subsequently resigns and is recruited by FBI agent Olson into the Crisis Management Division (CMD).

One year later, Olson tasks Raymond, who is still ridden with guilt from Steve's death, with combating SURGE, a military organization led by Colonel Haynes which was believed to be wiped out during the eruption of Mt. Aguilas. They have kidnapped seismologist Dr. Davis and his assistant Lisa Hewitt and made demands to the U.S. President Lewis, threatening to detonate stolen nuclear warheads as retaliation for the previous US administration's support of the tyrannical South American government they seek to overthrow. Raymond accompanies Blue Ridge City Special Response Team (SRT) officers as they raid an abandoned office building SURGE is using as a hideout, hoping to rescue Lisa to redeem himself for Steve's death. Raymond finds that Gordon, SURGE's third in-command and training instructor, is holding the kidnapped victims captive. A firefight between the two ensues amidst an earthquake, concluding with Gordon evacuating the building with Davis and Lisa in tow and heading to Mt. Rosalia. Raymond also evacuates the building, and briefly loses the pursuing soldiers in a high-speed chase.

Raymond assists Blue Ridge mayor Townsend in rescuing a man from the rubble, who tells him to go to an evacuation zone at West Park. However, upon arriving, Raymond finds himself and many others trapped as the fires approach. He manages to open an escape route, but witnesses Townsend seemingly die in the fire.

Ray wounds Gordon in a battle on a bridge, leaving the latter for dead as a tsunami swamps the area and taking the nuclear detonator. He manages to outrun the tsunami, but SURGE pilot Gregory pursues him on-foot. Both of them are caught in a second tsunami, but survive. Raymond is able to put Gregory down, but the current carries him away and he loses consciousness, awakening at the mountainside park and learning that Townsend survived.

Using Haynes' instructions from the stolen radio, Raymond travels to an old geothermal plant at Mt. Rosalia to exchange the detonator for Lisa's life, but their negotiations are interrupted when Mt. Rosalia erupts again. Raymond outruns the pyroclastic cloud, but is eventually caught inside it. He is rescued by a girl, Rosa, whom he decides to bring with him to keep her safe as he escapes.

After Raymond calls Agent Olson, he and Iris part ways as he pursues SURGE in Bainesville, a rural town flooded by an approaching hurricane. Raymond commandeers a boat towards the church, where SURGE is hiding. Meanwhile, Davis and Lisa unsuccessfully attempt to escape, with Evans killing the former.

Banks, a mercenary working with SURGE, confronts Raymond. He is able to drive him off, but is captured by SURGE. However, Haynes, whom Raymond had reminded of the organization's history and was persuaded into ordering the men to save the children, refuses to detonate the nuclear device set up in Miami and kills Banks and several of their mercenaries. He is subsequently betrayed by Major Evans, who wants to finish the mission, and presumed dead. Evans recaptures Lisa and escapes to Port Alex, where Raymond tracks them down amidst a hurricane before being overwhelmed. However, Olson's reinforcements arrive, forcing SURGE to retreat.

Raymond enters the ferry as it departs, and fights Major Evans amidst the hurricane. Refusing to back down, Evans remotely activates the nuclear warhead and throws it into the sea, but Haynes, who is revealed to be alive, kills him. Raymond locates the warhead and, with help from Haynes, disables it before it explodes. As the ferry sinks, Ray and Lisa escape on a lifeboat, while Haynes, accepting guilt for his actions, stays behind and dies. Olson later rescues Raymond and Lisa.

In a post-credits scene, Iris is reunited with her parents as Townsend and Lewis meet to rebuild society after the disasters. Raymond, who has rejoined the IRT after coming to terms with Steve's death, visits his grave with Lisa, with them asking for his guidance before departing. In an alternate ending, one month later, President Lewis receives word that an asteroid is on course toward Earth.

Development

Disaster: Day of Crisis was Monolith Soft's first game to be developed for the Wii, conceived after the developers decided to make a brand new game that plays to the strengths of the platform instead of porting the GameCube game Baten Kaitos Origins to it.

Release

Although initially there was little information about the game after its debut E3 2006 announcement, an interview with then-Nintendo of America marketing director Beth Llewelyn during E3 2007 revealed that Disaster was still in development.

The April 2008 issue of the Japanese video game magazine Famitsu later revealed the release date for Japan was to be July 3, 2008, but on May 17, 2008, Monolith announced that the release date for Disaster had been "postponed indefinitely" to "increase the quality of the finished product". However, on August 13, 2008, the website of the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification listed the game with an M rating, suggesting it was nearing completion. Nintendo also stated that the game was "still in development" on August 19, 2008.

Japanese TV spots later confirmed a release date of September 25, 2008 in Japan. The European Nintendo website also confirmed a European release for October 24, 2008.

The game's North American release was cancelled due to poor sales outside the country and the fact that Reggie Fils-Aimé, then-president of Nintendo America, hated the game, calling it laughable and overpriced.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 69/100 Review scores Publication Score Eurogamer 6/10 Famitsu 34/40 GamesMaster 73% GameSpot 5.5/10 IGN 8/10 NGamer 73% Nintendo Life ONM 82% PALGN 7.5/10 VideoGamer.com 5/10

Disaster: Day of Crisis received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Famitsu gave Disaster a score of 34 out of 40. Official Nintendo Magazine praised the presentation and the mix of gameplay styles; though they felt the enemy AI was "woeful", the game was described as "a really enjoyable arcade-style experience." Siliconera likened it to "a vapid, but fun to watch summer action movie". IGN claimed Disaster delivers fun in "huge, preposterous spades", and believed the mix of genres and gameplay mechanics to be "relentlessly unpredictable and gloriously compulsive". However, they also found problems with the game's pacing, increasingly repetitive combat and adventuring, and unbalanced driving sections, and felt that some players will be put off by the number of "abstract game mechanics wrestled into a single plot-driven narrative". Cubed³ called Disaster "completely mesmerising", despite an inconsistent visual quality and difficulty level, praising the intentionally cheesy dialogue, high level of interactivity and "rousing" soundtrack. N-Europe said that while the game can be "great fun" and "brilliantly atmospheric", it is held back by poor graphics and lacklustre physics, especially in the driving segments.

In contrast, GameSpot called the game "unfocused and scatterbrained", with "lackluster" graphics and sound. Eurogamer also found fault with the unfocused and confusing mix of genres and had control issues with the driving and adventuring sections, though they called the shooter segments "lots of fun" and the plot entertaining and "unwittingly hilarious beyond belief".

In its first week of sales in Japan, Disaster sold more than 13,000 copies. After its first month, it had sold 21,464 copies in Japan.

External links

• Disaster: Day of Crisis at MobyGames
• Japanese website
• UK website