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Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball
Publisher: Gamecock
Developer: Blazing Lizard
Genre: Sports
Release Date: September 3, 2008
Platforms: Xbox 360, Wii
Reviewer: Eric
Pirates and Ninjas are cool. Because of the Internet we have seen these two
groups fighting it out. With the huge popularity of these two groups fighting we
have seen comic books and even some animated films. Gamecock is hoping to cash
on this by releasing one of the most over hyped games on the Xbox 360.
Dodgeball became some what popular because of the movie of the same name. Some
of the odd ESPN’s will actually show dodgeball and let me tell you it isn’t fun
at all. To think that both Pirates and Ninjas could fight it out over dodgeball
seems pretty silly. Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball is by far the most hyped game
to hit the Xbox Live Market that does not seem to deliver at all.
Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball has teams of two, three, or four going against
another team. The goal of the game is to win. Instead of following the same old
rules of dodgeball players are given the opportunity to run where ever they
want. The only way to defeat your opponent is by throwing a ball at them. If you
can’t get a hold of a ball then you can use your weapon to stun your opponent.
For some odd reason only the ball will do damage, your sword or any other weapon
does nothing.
All of the traditional mechanics are here. Because of the lack of sides the game
feels more like a weird fighting game than a dodgeball match. If you can manage
to dodge every ball, which is quite simple most of the time, then you will find
yourself running around more than throwing balls. The computer seems to get the
upper hand when it comes to obtaining the ball.
If you hate pirates and ninjas then you can try out the robots and zombies. Well
now this makes the game so much better, right? Wrong. There is a story mode with
some boring text that really doesn’t help the games cause. You can tell real
hard that the developers were trying to be funny. All of the so called humor
seems to fall flat.
Playing the game can be quite hard. The camera angle never seems to be on your
side. It shows everything far away, which makes your characters look small on a
huge dodgeball court. It is nerve wrecking trying to figure out where you are
and sometimes where the ball is. The more players on the court seem to lag the
game too, which makes no sense because the game doesn’t really offer the best
visuals. Trying to play a four on four match will end up being more difficult
than you could imagine, it is just too damn hard to figure out what is going on.
My advice would have to be dodge the ball, don’t even try to be the hero and
throw the ball for a victory.
I should apologize with my rant on the no side’s aspect to the game. There are
three different game types and the one lets you go on your teams side for a few
seconds and then you have your typical dodgeball match. I sort of forgot about
this part of the game since the developers really want you to play their blend
of dodgeball. Whatever mode you pick you still have a health bar and the camera
is still set at a bad position.
Online play can be fun if you find some friends to play with. There are a few
slow downs, mainly if you try to play a four on four match. Good luck trying to
find anybody playing this game after a month, I do not see this game being the
next big Xbox Live game.
Final Verdict
Xbox Live games have been going up in price lately. Those games that are costing
more are well worth it. Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball is a cheaper game, but for
800 points I think you are getting ripped off. This game was supposed to be the
big game that made Gamecock popular. The only thing Gamecock has going for it
right now is a slew of real bad games that won’t change the gaming industry.
Rating
3 out of 10
Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball Trailer
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