DEMO: Lead the Meerkats (Wii Ware)

Lead the Meerkats for Wii (Wii Ware)

Courtesy nintendo.com

Genre: Strategy/Adventure

Full Game Price: $10.00

No. of Players: 1

In 5 words: opaque, superficial, ponderous, incomplete, strategic

The latest demo for the Wii, Lead the Meerkats, is a top-down real-time strategy game where you lead a pack of meerkats on a quest for redemption. Having been thrown out by a rogue pack of meerkats, it is your responsibility to build up your pack and take back what is rightfully yours.

Courtesy leadthemeerkats.com

Gameplay consists of expanding your burrow to increase your territorial influence, gathering food to help baby meerkats be born and grow, and fighting off predators to protect your pack. Using the Wii remote and nunchuk, you guide your meerkats across the map searching for new objectives. Each day is a turn, and after each day, the game rates your performance.

Featuring clever touches like naming rights for individual meerkats and also the pack, Lead the Meerkats starts out interestingly enough, but gets old quickly. The use of the Wii's motion controls is repetitive, somewhat ponderous, and not innovative, and the tutorial provided by the demo is pretty opaque. The graphics are too small and during the night and early morning, it is difficult to see anything. In addition, the music is unremarkable.

Lead the Meerkats may be a good game, but the demo didn't convince me of the fact. When the demo ended (after the 3rd day), I felt like I knew relatively little about the title. Consequently, I cannot recommend it, especially at the $10.00 price point.

Demo Gamer Stats:
Age range: 8+
Demo length: 15-20 minutes
Demo worth playing? I'm not sure this was worth my time, but if you like nature-themed games and strategy games, you might want to check it out.
Full game worth buying? I really can't recommend Lead the Meerkats, not based solely on the demo.

I am anxiously awaiting the launch of Nintendo's eShop, and I hope Nintendo starts releasing more quality demos next month. Played Lead the Meerkats? Agree/disagree with my analysis? Sound off in the comments!

--Demo Gamer