Onslaught review

The single-player campaign is split into 13 straightforward missions, all of which fall into expected territory: eliminate all the bugs, defend the base, beat the boss, etc. While the arcade-leaning action (complete with a combo/scoring system and timed missions) packs a challenge, the whole campaign can be knocked out in two hours or less.

Online play via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection helps to some extent, offering four-player co-op play through the story missions, as well as score-based competition. Finding opponents and getting into a match is a relatively painless affair, but the lack of a true deathmatch mode (or anything else) seems like a missed opportunity. Then again, finding any action game with Wi-Fi support on Wii these days remains a task, let alone a $10 WiiWare title.

As long as you're not expecting thrills or surprises, Onslaught's by-the-numbers bug blasting serves as a fair placeholder until something bigger and better (The Conduit, perhaps?) comes along. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement, but for shooter-starved WiiWare fans in this case, something may be better than nothing.

Feb 27, 2009