First Impressions: STOP! H.A.M.M.E.R. time!
A killer army of robot automatons is tearing apart America. With the military helpless, humanity has one hope left to stop this menace. This savior is M-09, a half human cyborg who brandishes a very special tool---an enormous factory-made hammer. In Project H.A.M.M.E.R., the Nintendo Wii’s upcoming dark action game, you take control of M-09 in an effort to smash and pound your way through the mechanical horde.
Project H.A.M.M.E.R. showcases some broad action with the Wii remote. M-09 paces the game’s levels in third-person with the nunchuck attachment. A push of the nunchuck’s Z buttons will cause M-09 to and thrust forward or backward. The hand that holds the remote is the one used to interactively crack down on crime bots. Side to side motions cause M-09 to swing the hammer sideways in the corresponding direction. If you lift the remote up, M-09 will raise the hammer above his head and smash his weapon down. Holding this motion for longer periods of time increases the destructive power. Finally, holding the A button brings about an onslaught of flurries that should give a new meaning to the term “hammer time.”
The term gritty best describes Project H.A.M.M.E.R. The game features a rough-cut world where in the streets M-09 can just as easily destroy parked cars as pound the daylights out of robots. Additions such as sharpened textures, explosive particle effects, and exploding objects support the game’s apocalyptic tone. At this point the graphics look close to an original Xbox title, although it must be noted that the game is still in development.
