Not a bulls-eye, but not far off either

There are a few gun holders for the Wii (I call them holders because the Zapper only holds the Wiimote rather than being a self-contained controller like you find for other platforms). And of all the choices the Wii Zapper is definitely the oddest looking. It reminds me more of something out of a Space 1999 episode than anything resembling a gun. So I must admit I bought the Zapper because of the included game Link’s Crossbow Training, which is a spruced up target practice based on the Zelda games. But I’ve found it was a $20 worth spending.

The Zapper itself is nothing more than a few ounces of plastic, hardly worth $20 by itself. The Wiimote pops into a slot at the top and the Nunchuk slides into a slot at the end of the Zapper. The Nunchuk’s cable complicates things a bit. You have to slide off a panel on the Zapper and tuck the cable into it then replace the panel. The cable then comes out another hole to connect to the Wiimote and the slack awkwardly wraps around the Zapper’s handle. Not only is the end look inelegant, but it also makes you work harder when you want to change to game where the Zapper isn’t useful. This is definitely the one thing that really annoys me about the Zapper.

Game play with the Zapper varies by game. I’ve read a few reviews that call the trigger soft. In my experience using the Zapper with both the Link pack-in game and Medal of Honor 2 I found the trigger response to be related to the game itself. In Link the trigger was a hair late, but it felt fine in Medal of Honor.

One distraction I found in both games was the scope was a slightly off center. I don’t really know why this is since the Zapper is just a Wiimote holder, and there is no off center effect when holding just the Wiimote. Once you get into a game this has no real effect on game play though since you are using the scope on the screen and no anything on the Zapper itself.

You hold the Zapper like a machine gun, which adds to the realism when a machine gun is called for. But it is a bit bizarre when you are shooting a pistol in a game with a machine gun stance. It’s hard to fault the Zapper for this. If you had a 3rd party pistol form factor holder it would feel “wrong” when using a machine gun. I suppose of you are that much a stickler for realism get a whole catalog of different gun holders. For the casual gamer (which is probably the majority of Wii owners) the Zapper will do fine.

While the Zapper adds a bit to realism, in some games it might take away you’re your effectiveness. For example I found my speed and accuracy went down when using the Zapper in Link compared to just using the Wiimote by itself. I attribute this mostly to the single shot nature of the game combined with the time element. The Zapper was just added weight plus the ergonomics do not lend to quick target practice shooting in every direction. In contrast a game like Medal of Honor where time and accuracy are not as important the Zapper makes you feel like you are in the game vs. just using the Wiimote.

On balance, given the $20 price and the included Link game, the Zapper is a nice addition to a Wii peripheral collection. The game is worth $10 and the Zapper is worth $10. My guess is that is how Nintendo game up with the $20 price tag. So if you play “shooter” games go ahead and get the Zapper. If you don’t see yourself buying games like Medal of Honor or Resident Evil though save your money unless you really want to do some target practice.