Die Hard web game designed for the Wii @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on June 18, 2007

News: Yippie Ki Wii Mr. Falcon!

Live Free or Die will bring Bruce Willis back to role that made him famous next week as John McClane has to take on another group of terrorists bent on ruining his day.

To prepare for the return of the world's greatest action hero, the moviemakers have added a few Die Hard-inspired web games to the Live Free or Die Hard website. This, in and of itself, isn't really eventful. But one of the games, John McClane's Bare Knuckle Brawl, was designed to work with the Wii. If you want to check it out, use your Wii Browser and head directly to LiveFreeOrDieHard.com/brawlgame as the Live Free or Die Hard main site is incompatible with the Wii.

Developed by Arkadium, John McClane's Bare Knuckle Brawl is a Wii Sports: Boxing-like experience where players get to go mano-a-mano with a bunch of terrorist scum. The game is controlled via the mouse (on a PC) or with the Wiimote when using the Wii. The graphics are nice (especially on my widescreen TV) and the control (which takes some getting used to) is pretty good.

While not as polished as Wii Sports: Boxing (and it's a Flash game, so that's to be expected), John McClane's Bare Knuckle Brawl is a fun way to kill a few minutes at your desk or in between sessions of Super Paper Mario.

But the most important thing it does is show developers that the Wii can be a good home to the kind of small, time-waster games that Wii fans eat up. I hope other developers follow Arkadium's lead and make more of this bite-sized gaming goodness compatible with the Wii.

Live Free or Die Hard hits theaters on June 27. Yippie Ki Yay!