PDC World Championship Darts 2009

PDC World Championship Darts 2009 - (Wii)
Developer: in-house
Format: Wii
Genre: Sport


We hit the bullseye with the best darts game on Wii



The era of sticky pub carpets, a haze of cheap cigarette smoke and the constant sound of frothy pints being pulled. The traditional atmosphere of the 'good old days' darts tournament has been replaced by a more professional, more refined incarnation - the same could be said for the virtual version too.

PDC World Championship Darts 2009 pretty much picks up the action from where PDC 2008 left off. Last year's version was the first attempt to bring the darts franchise to the motion-sensitive confines of the Wii - and the results were mixed. Visually it failed to impress - even by Wii standards - and the all important throwing action - key to a motion-based darts game, didn't hit the bullseye; to pardon the pun.

Thankfully, developers Rebellion Studios has gone back to the drawing board before returning to the virtual oche, delivering what we consider to be the most 'realistic' darts game available. If you can consider any darts game realistic without actually launching an arrow at a target.

The trick has been to rework the throwing mechanics and to adjust the virtual weight of the darts. Players point the Wii Remote at the screen in order to target the desired area on the dart board, they then quickly hold down either the A or B button and then replicate a throwing action with the remote, releasing the button when they wish the dart to be thrown.

It takes some practice - especially with a jittery aiming reticule; but once the smooth and straight throwing action of an actual darts player is reproduced, progress is made. We wouldn't say the control is intuitive - a Wii Remote inevitably weighs about the same as a few dozen darts, but there is a logic to the control system, it's not just 'chuck and hope'.

There's a full career plus obligatory exhibition mode with over a dozen recognisable PDC darts pros to test your skills against. But the real fun comes in the form of multiplayer. Up to eight players can aim for the treble 20 in a host of mini games that gives this title a considerably longer shelf life.

So what we're presented with is a better looking, better handling version of last year's efforts; with some decent multiplayer to match. In an un-crowded field, this game goes top of the pile for darts titles, not the biggest achievement in gaming - but one of note, nonetheless.