Wondercon 2016: All-Range Mode In ‘Star Fox Zero’ Needs An Overhaul
I’ve been lucky enough to try out Star Fox Zero a few times over its development, and my excitement only increased as time went on. With the game finally releasing this week as what could be the Wii U’s last big exclusive, (depending on if you want to believe that the next Zelda will be moved to the NX,) you would think that my hype would have reached its apex. It would have, until I played the Wondercon demo.
A lot is being said about the state of the game’s forced motion controls, which ask you to aim with the Wii U Game Pad’s gyro controls while steering with the left stick and pulling off maneuvers with the right. While I can definitely see why people would have trouble with this set up, which sounds like the gaming equivalent to patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time, I personally didn’t take long to adjust. What did become a problem however, is when the game switched to All-Range Mode, which is the term coined in Star Fox 64 for when the game switches from on rails dog fighting to being able to freely move in a 3D space. While I didn’t encounter too much of a problem while taking flight, this feature was something that I hoped would improve in previous demos, since Zero uses these sections as a chance to force first person cockpit view onto the Game Pad, while the TV shifts to a cinematic view that displays the entire battlefield, rather than focusing on what the player is doing. Once my time with the completed build ended though, I was beyond disappointed to learn that it got worse.
Wanting to experience the Landmaster for the first time, I tried out the desert stage, where more than just the control methods changed since the 64 days. Being forced to fly above obstacles while aiming with the game pad and keeping an eye on enemies through the big screen was confusing enough, but became close to second nature by the time the sequence was complete. Once the boss fight started and I had free range of motion however, and I had no idea how much more of a hindrance this would become. But when you take away the speed and mobility of the Arwing and plug in the awkward camera angles into the land stage, what should have been the climax of the stage ended up highlighting everything wrong with forcing your view into first person.
As the boss at the center of the stage bombarded me with smaller enemies and its own attacks while pulling me towards the center, I rarely had any clue as to what was going on. All I knew was my health was sinking, I was getting trounced by attacks, and I had no idea where any of it was coming from. By the time I turned the insanely slow tank around to take aim, I would ram into the boss for more damage because of its quick sand. Avoiding it would have been simple, except the cockpit view made it hard to tell how close I was to the middle. If you’re thinking the TV view will give you some semblance of an idea what was going on, think again! Because every time I looked up at it, the view was panned out with the main monster in the center, capturing every bit of the chaos so well that I had no idea where my tank was. Who thought this was a good idea!? To make it so you can’t see what you’re doing, and have the freedom of changing your view stripped from you for the sake of some stubborn vision of what the game should be?
Maybe all of this is for nothing. Maybe the final game will be better! But all I know is after crashing and burning, I’m finding myself far less excited about Fox McCloud’s long awaited return. Keep an eye out for our full review in the coming days and see if we have a change of heart.
