Disaster: DOC was first announced at E3 2007... about a year and a half ago. A few months later, Nintendo said it was still being worked. After that, nothing. Many people who saw the game for the first time were about to give it up. Then, in October 2008, almost out of the blue, it was announced to be released the following month. I really liked the look of it, but decided to wait for a while... well, 3 months. I was pleased to receive this for my birthday last week (it arrived after my birthday) and fired it up. And I'm pleased to report a very good effort.

The game starts out where Raymond Bryce (the main character) and his buddy Steve Barret are out on a rescue mission to a volcano called Mt. Aquilas. The volcano erupts and a rock hits the copter and sends it crashing. This also separates Ray and Steve. This puts you in the prologue mission where you learn the basics of the game. Eventually, you are reunited with Steve. He gives Ray a compass that his sister gave to him when they were young, requesting Ray give the compass to her in case he dies. A landslide hits and Steve is dangling over some hot lava. Despite Ray's efforts, Steve decides to save Ray's life by sacrificing his own.

Rumors that Disneyland rides were getting more unsafe were becoming true.

A year passes and Ray has quit the Rescue Forces and still hasn't seen Steve's sister, Lisa, purely because he's convinced that Lisa will blame him for Steve's passing. Natural disasters are starting to happen and a military unit known as SURGE are threatening the president to blow up parts of the nation with nuclear warheads. An earthquake hits Blue Ridge City, SURGE kidnap Lisa and Prof. Davies and Ray sets out to rescue the country.

Roughly translated, that means "Carnival Games 2? Good Lord, no!"

As far as controls go, they're more than basic. The game makes full use of the Wii's motion controls but unlike most games to do this, they actually work. It tries to be realistic (and succeeds) like for example, you can't jump over fires and have to run through them. This of course sets Ray on fire, but by shaking the remote and nunchuk, you can beat out that fire. Throughout almost all the levels, there are civilians to rescue. They have to be rescued in a number of ways. Like aiming the remote at a dirty or burned spot and holding down B to spray water, turning the control stick round and round to wrap a bandage, rapidly tapping A and lifting the remote and nunchuk to remove a heavy object that's trapped their foot or raising the remote up and down to get their heart beating.

It's not just about rescuing people though, because you will be drawn into shootouts (that remind me a lot of Time Crisis except without some random dude shouting "ACTION") and, as you would expect, you aim with the remote and press B to fire. Reloading is done by lowering the Nunchuk controller and you can shoot barrels and boxes in the background to receive health, ammo or stamina.

But, as with all good games, there are drawbacks. Graphically, it isn't the best game around. Yes, yes, we know the Wii isn't about graphics, but they still could have put in more effort. My biggest complaint however is the driving sections. You remove the nunchuk and hold the remote on its side and steer. It's pretty good to start off with but as you move on, the cars you drive get more difficult to handle, particularly the last driving section where you have to chase a SURGE van through the city. Let me tell you, you will most likely end up cursing a lot for that level.

See? That's what happens when you leave the kitchen faucet running, you loony.

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