Fight Club: Sharp Shooter vs Wii Zapper [First Impressions]

Well, we've finally had some time to get our hands on the PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter and try it out a little bit. I've also been able to play a game with the Wii Zapper and instantly traded the thing off and replaced it with something that looks a little more like this:

All the same, I've been able to play a little with both. The Handgun attachment for the Wii is also designed for the older WiiMotion Plus controller so that makes things nice. So, I'll go ahead and compare all three. It should put a 2 against 1 battle.

Well, I'm going to tell you flat out that Wii Zapper feels absolutely horrible! I've used it with games like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles, Links Crossbow training that came with the Zapper, and even tried and epically failed with The Conduit. After I'd rid myself of that monstrosity and came across this little number just above, the difference was night and day and it felt much more natural, not to mention looked more realistic. So, I sent it through the same tests, except I got rid of Links Crossbow Training and replaced it with House of the Dead: Overkill instead. I had learned from a buddy, that since the nunchuk attachment hooks into the bottom of the unit, that you hold the nunchuk like a cop would a flashlight. It feels a little more natural and it steadies your arm, otherwise, your arm gets tired pretty quickly. In the end, I was pretty satisfied with it. It felt like the experience that it needed to be and I think the game held up really well. Playing the Conduit, just feels lame now. Its a game that needs this kind of attachment, but it doesn't and I really hope they decide to do The Conduit 2 using this layout instead.

The Wii Zapper, it just doesn't feel natural or intuitive. Its really hard to describe in words how clunky and lazy it feels and trying to whip your wrist to re-load in Resident Evil is just really crappy. The trigger just doesn't make the experience any better.

So, the Sharp Shooter looks like the Wii Zapper so it should feel the same right? Wrong! In the time that I've spent playing Killzone 3, that's not the case at all. In fact, the positioning of the Navigation Controller vs the Nunchuk changes the feel altogether. Its not as small as the Wii's Handgun attachment for sure, but Sony has something of equal value. This feels more like a military weapon and is really fitting for the game. The only times it does feel pretty weird, is when you're firing your handgun or you're doing motion controls such as setting a charge or turning a wheel to open a gate. Then it feels pretty out of place, but doesn't feel clunky or bad.

If you were to call it good there, then I'd say that the two are equally matched between the Wii Handgun and the Sharp Shooter (The Zapper belongs in a junk heap). However, what separates the two, is the functionality of the two motion controllers. The PlayStation Move is definitely much more precise and responds better than the Wiimote or Wiimotion Plus for that matter. The Move's ability to sense depth is also a plus as well as if you want to melee your enemy and cut his throat or jab your bayonet in his eye, you jab forward and it feels much more natural that way. Its also awesome since the Move plugs directly into the gun, that all the buttons along the side are easily accessible and also the reload feature is nice. You can either tilt the gun to reload, pop the bottom of the stock in a motion like your snapping in the clip, or you can pull back in a pump motion similar to a shotgun. It feels realistic and that's friggin awesome!

It took me a little while to get a feel for the Sharp Shooter. Its very responsive and requires tweaking of the control options and sensitivity to get it where you want. The gun actually replaces the right analog stick leaving you to move around and strafe with your Navigation Controller and then aim and turn where you want to go by aiming the gun. When you're going up or down several flights of stairs, you actually have to turn and look as you would if you were a Special Agent or a Marine going up a flight of stairs sure not to get shot in the back. Speaking of backs, it definitely takes its toll on your back. I found myself sitting down during cutscenes to let my back rest, though you can play the game sitting down if you'd like. I just found I'd much rather stand.

The Sharp Shooter felt most intuitive when you're on a rail-gun and the force feedback of the Move controller adds to the experience of recoil and feedback of the guns. A nice touch. The Wii has an extra speaker on the Wiimote, that was only used a little, but its nothing to really drool or sit in total awe over. To me, its nothing and wasn't used much at all anyway. Its a nice touch and unique to the Wii, but not anything to get excited over.

So, if you've got a Nintendo Wii, and you want a gun that's going to feel good for those shooters you like to play, I'd definitely avoid the Wii Zapper and go with the rifle or the Handgun attachments. Its feel good. But, I think the Sharp Shooter will give gamers the best experience because of the Moves precision, accuracy and the overall feel and immersive experience. Both are great to have and necessary and are important for games like this. It really changes the way you play an FPS game, and actually has captured to attention to play FPS games in this new way. I find it more fun, when I've always been very particular about my FPS games playing FPS' more like the Condemned Series. MAG even benefits, in terms of realism from the Sharp Shooter, though, you're having to react much quicker in multi-player and I don't think I'm quite good enough and so me personally, I'll stick to the Dualshock 3 for multi-player, but I'll always be using the Sharp Shooter for campaign until I'm past the learning curve. But having attachments like this definitely enhances the experience and gives you an even greater sense of immersion.

Winner: PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter