Reviewed: January 3, 2008
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Manufacturer
ezGear
Type: Combat Kit
System: Nintendo Wii
Rating: 8.0
Features
MSRP: $39.99
The Nintendo Wii has always been about immersive gameplay whether you are throwing a bowling ball or swinging a tennis racket, golf club, or a mighty sword. Hardware manufacturers are going crazy releasing all sorts of accessories for the Wii, some useful, and some not so useful. But even when the game accessories don’t actually enhance the gameplay, they do create some added immersion for the gamer, at least in their mind.
ezGear’s new Combat Kit for the Wii is a classic example of an accessory, not only for the mind, but one that actually enhances your gameplay in a variety of Wii titles. While ezGear seems focused on promoting the Combat Kit for Zelda, I found the sword, knife, and shield attachments extremely beneficial in games like; Prince of Persia: Rival Swords, Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire, LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, and most recently, Soul Calibur: Legends.
The accessories are quite simple in design and functionality. There is a hard plastic hilt where you can snap in your Wii remote. An opening in the rear allows access to the B trigger. The nunchuk snaps firmly into the handle on the shield, although I found far less use for this particular item other than Zelda.
Again, most of the functionality is more in your mind than in actual gameplay, but when performing specific slashing and thrust moves it is far more intuitive to do so with an extension that goes beyond the tip of the remote. Just ask anybody who has played a Wii golf game with a golf club extension.
I only had a few quibbles with the construction and visual presentation. I would have preferred the actual blades of the knife and sword to be silver. Instead, they are a mix of bronze and black that make them look more wooden than metal. But that’s just my preference. And while I can certainly understand the need to make these “blades” out of foam, I thought they could have been a bit more rigid. The blades tend to flop around a bit during fast swipes and chops reducing the overall immersion factor. The shield was awesome!
Perhaps the best attribute of these accessories is just how fast and easy they are to attach and detach. It takes about 3-5 seconds to insert or remove the remote from the knife or sword hilt, making it great for games that don’t always require you to fight. You can play as normal until you enter a combat situation then simply snap your remote into the blade and swing away.
For $40, the Combat Kit may be a bit high-priced for casual gamers, but keep in mind that unlike a lot of other Wii accessories, this collection of accessories can be used in probably the largest library of games and in a variety of situations. Thanks to the quick insertion feature, you aren’t committed to long-term use.
In addition to adding a whole new level of immersion - nothing like playing Prince of Persia with a curved scimitar-style knife - the ezGear Combat Kit actually improves your gameplay in a growing list of combat-intensive games. I can’t emphasize enough how much of a difference the sword attachment makes in a game like Soul Calibur: Legends. Once you play it with a blade in your hand there is no going back.