Target: Terror (Wii)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 1.5 stars Poor
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 3.0 (1.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Tom Shea
• Reviewed on: 05/07/2008
• Updated on: 05/08/2008
• Released on: 04/22/2008
• Originally published on GameSpot: Target: Terror (Wii) Review

Upon boot-up, Target: Terror appears to be a well-aged relic from the early '90s. Don't let the visual clues fool you, though. Despite an endless brigade of terrorists donning skintight leather pants and digitized graphics a notch below those of Lethal Enforcers, Target: Terror is actually from this century. The arcade version was released in 2004, and the home port is a brand-new, nearly full-priced Wii game. Though Target: Terror starts out firmly in so-bad-it's-good territory, some debilitating control issues combined with extremely straightforward level design make the task of exterminating terrorists more excruciating than it should be.

Harkening back to the days of simple light-gun shooters, Target: Terror does not allow any freedom in how you traverse levels. Don't expect the cover mechanics from Time Crisis to make an appearance or even the branching paths from House of the Dead III. Each level is a simple A-to-B affair, with the same enemy placement and scenery every time. Target: Terror doesn't even borrow the free-look feature from another Wii shooter, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. In that game, you could use the analog stick to nudge your view slightly, making it possible to take down targets and enemies hiding just offscreen. Target: Terror offers the same experience every time you play through, making it less likely you'll want to replay the levels.

The visuals are both the biggest strength and the most glaring weakness in Target: Terror. It's not often you see a game slap popular convention so blatantly in the face and offer a straight-up B-movie-caliber experience. The actors portraying the terrorists will cause even the most jaded gamer to crack a goofy grin. One recurring terrorist obviously doesn't have his heart in his cause, since he just sits lazily in an office chair, spraying bullets to and fro while barely acknowledging your presence. Another terrorist, wearing a gray hoodie that makes him look like football coach Bill Belichick's evil clone, reaches wildly for whatever body part you happen to shoot, not realizing multiple shots to the stomach would make such actions impossible. With a healthy assortment of terrorists leaping out at you and innocents wandering into view, Target: Terror is funny and enjoyable at first.

The biggest problem is that, despite the archaic graphics, Target: Terror slows down at seemingly random times. In a genre that requires extreme precision, these hiccups make what should be a simple, goofy game extremely frustrating. Though you can learn to work around the dropped frames whenever a barrel explodes (which will be often), other instances are not so easily predicted. For example, whenever a terrorist armed with a melee weapon rises up directly in front of you, the game will stutter just long enough to make a quick disposal more a matter of chance than skill.

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