‘Deal or No Deal’ Review (Wii)

Wed, Jan 28, 2009

The most exciting financial decision you'll make in "Deal or No Deal" for Wii is the one printed on the back of your store receipt.

Under pressure from friends, family, a mysterious Banker and host Howie Mandel, contestants gamble away a one-in-26 chance at $1,000,000 by opening metal briefcases: that's the premise that made TV show "Deal or No Deal" a worldwide sensation.

"Deal or No Deal" for the Wii has none of that suspense, of course. There's no real money to be lost, and should you do poorly, you can play over and over as many times as you like. That's the nature of a video game, and it's hard to fault developer Black Lantern studios for not stuffing a real $20 bill into each and every copy.

But if they had, then perhaps -- just perhaps -- it would be fair for them to charge $30 for the game content therein.

Featuring an attractive, family-friendly appearance for its characters and the voice of real-life host Howie Mandel, "Deal" looks like a quality licensed title at first glance. But even during the course of a single session, the lack of variety begins to bore.

Where the TV show showcases 26 attractive models who send flirtatious looks at the camera, the game displays 26 bobble-headed Barbies with the exact same features and expression -- but different hair. Where the TV show introduces the contestant's family and has them assist in finagling funds, here it's just your Mii who expresses mock indecision before happily pointing at the next briefcase with the same tired animation. And where the TV show features running commentary by host Howie Mandel to ratchet up the pressure, here it's just a tiny collection of preset, flavorless soundbytes repeated over and over again.

When The Banker's offer went from $270,000 to a mere $180, for instance, Howie informed our contestant simply: "The offer went down."

Without any of the atmosphere that makes the show a pleasure to watch, "Deal" is pretty much the same point-and-click game of chance you can find on NBC's website, and a variety of minigames and spins on the basic formula do little to change this. The game's one true novelty, a mode where you can play as The Banker, might pique a dedicated fan's curiosity at first -- but after they find out that the game artificially restricts the deals that you can offer and that contestants will jump for joy even after accepting a $95 Deal, it's questionable whether even they will remain entertained.

If you've already fallen victim to "Deal or No Deal" on Wii, take this case back to the store, and accept whatever The Cashier offers you for it.

Black Lantern, Deal or No Deal, game show, Howie Mandel, Reality TV, Zoo Games

This post was written by:

Sean Hollister - who has written 825 posts on GameCyte.

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4 Comments For This Post

Marie Kare Says:
January 28th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
hahah! your Mii is AWESOME!
Brendon Lindsey Says:
January 29th, 2009 at 12:27 am
Sean, you made...a bad deal.
Solarian Knight Says:
January 29th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
That game is just fraught with issues. I particularly like the podium that magically holds four contestants and cases at once. I also like the fact that the contestants and their cases magically teleport from scene to scene. For instance, a scene might show one contestant accepting the banker's offer, then (s)he is instantly replaced by the next contestant before the same scene is reset and repeated. All this from a game that is supposed to only have one contestant.

That's just some of the technical stuff... Sean has summed up the uninspiring and boring gameplay rather nicely.
Andrew Sydow Says:
August 16th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
The accuracy of this game compared to the actual game show is pathetic. The offers at the beginning of the game on the Wii typically range from $40000-$60000 where as in the real game on TV the initial offers are NEVER over 25,000 and that would be an extremely good first round. Then, when a case is picked that contains an amount less than the banker's offer, I have had the offer go down on me. On the television show, it would never do that.

Looks like I made....a bad deal.

GameCyte