Help Wanted

Many kids dream of becoming doctors, fireman or police officers. They see what their parents and other adults are doing and aspire to accomplish those same things. It is unlikely, however, that you’ll hear a kid say, “I want to work in dry cleaning!” or “Doctor? Lawyer? No way. I want to join a haunted house crew!”

Help Wanted, a new party game for Nintendo Wii, takes all kinds of jobs and turns them into mini-games. If the job is uncommon or completely fictitious (I don’t think “superhero” is an occupation), the game welcomes it with open arms. If not, the Help Wanted will add a quirky element or two. As a dentist, you don’t pull heavily decayed teeth from men numbed up on Novocain – you pull teeth from patients who are fully aware of the pain you’re causing. They’ll cry, scream and put an end to your mission if you can’t wiggle it out with as little pain as possible.

But wait – there’s a time limit! The clock is always counting down, adding yet another obstacle for players to overcome. It’s nothing too harsh though; as you can probably tell by the family-friendly box art, Help Wanted is a very easygoing game.

For The Unemployed

Help Wanted’s content is divided into three modes: Employment Office (career mode), Job Battle (two-player) and Career Fair (practice mode). The Employment Office mode is where you’ll earn cash, unlock new jobs and work your way toward saving the world.

“Um…what!?”

Yes kids, you’re not playing Help Wanted solely for the purpose of cow-milking fun. You’re taking each job – and fighting hard for every extra dollar – to earn enough cash to buy a special device that will enable you to prevent a meteor from striking the Earth. Crazy? No question. But crazy is this game’s middle name.

The meteor’s impending doom isn’t anything like Armageddon or Deep Impact, so you don’t have much to worry about. There is, however, a counter that will frequently update players on how many days are left before the meteor is expected to strike. Various occurrences – such as being handed a magical flower – miraculously extend the number of days before the meteor will hit. This seems to happen automatically as you play through the game, regardless of your success rate.

Success is important though. Each job is highlighted with expected base and maximum payouts. If you’re really good, you’ll be able to gain a little extra dough, reducing the time it takes to buy new uniforms, which are needed to unlock new jobs. Time is of the essence – every job you play counts as one game day. Jobs are posted within the in-game Web site (not an actual Web site, since Help Wanted does not offer any online features). The game uses the standard six-day workweek format, so you won’t be able to find work on Sundays. If you choose to do something other than work during the workweek – such as buying a new uniform – you’ll lose an entire day. Thus, it’s best to make purchases on Sundays when there aren’t any other options.

Minimum Wage

During the week, bonus jobs may be offered. You might get the chance to be a superhero, which translates to a hack-n-slash experience with a Power Rangers lookalike. This is one of the more challenging mini-games, partially due to the cheap boss battle.

If being a superhero isn’t your thing, how about a snowboarding trip? All you have to do is hop on the board and make a special delivery … without soaring off a cliff! The result is a timing-based mini-game where you must quickly pull up on the Wii remote before the snowboarder reaches the cliff.

A younger James Cameron might have enjoyed the deep-sea diving gig, which drops you down into the ocean with a submarine and a claw. Tilt the Wii remote left or right to spin the submarine within this 360-degree underwater environment. Use the claw to snatch crabs and other crustaceans.

Like it or not, you won’t be gliding across snow or diving beneath the sea every day of your life. Most of the time you’ll be pushing a hospital patient (who’s resting uncomfortably in bed) through narrow corridors, trying desperately to get him to the ER before the time runs out. When you’re not doing that, you’ll be ironing wrinkles out of shirts. Or cleaning footprints off the top of an airliner (think back: Sonic had a stage where he walked on a plane. Could they be his footprints!?). Or delivering packages while trying to avoid dogs and sprinklers. Or flinging your arms around as a bodybuilder. Or…

Which is where Help Wanted will succeed with younger gamers but could fail with everyone else. The zany jobs are certainly different, and the newfangled take on dentistry, EMT, manicurist and other real professions is amusing. At the same time, the game is insanely repetitive, since you must play each job several times – or the same job many, many times – to earn enough cash to unlock the remaining stages. It’s a cycle that is unavoidably tiresome. Kids are less likely to be annoyed by this aspect, so here’s a word of advice to gaming parents: let little Timmy play through the career to unlock each job before joining him for a game.

Gameplay: 7.0
Fun comes from unlikely places in Help Wanted. Still, this is definitely a kids-only affair; parents won't be bored playing it with their kids, but that's about the only other demographic this game reaches.

Graphics: 5.0
The cutesy cartoon effects aren't awful, but they're no better than what party games were producing 10 years ago.

Sound: 2.0
Quirky music and sound effects can be good. These are just annoying.

Difficulty: Easy
The how-to-play descriptions aren't always clear, but the game itself is pretty easy.

Concept: 6.9
The quirky and over-the-top elements are cool. But these mini-games, no matter how unique in their unlikely presentations, are not that different from the motion-based mechanics of other Wii games.

Multiplayer: 7.1
Help Wanted could've benefited from a four-player option. The two-player battles are entertaining though, especially if you enjoy the single-player experience.

Overall: 7.0
Unusual mini-game entertainment built specifically for kids.

Source : http://xbox360.gamezone.com