Darts, it’s a funny old game. Well, it is really, a British institution which is enjoying somewhat of a revival in recent times, with burly Englishmen hurling spiky bits of metal at a colour coded target with high precision in the way that only burly Englishmen would.

It’s also a game that, in my somewhat professional opinion, has never really made the transition to the videogame world really successfully, with previous attempts either being too difficult, too easy, or just not really capturing the spirit of the game very well at all.

So it’s certainly very brave of Rebellion and Oxygen Games to step up to the oche on this one (hey, I had to get that pun in here somewhere) and attempt to bring the world of darts to the one platform where it may well just have a chance of working – the Nintendo Wii.

In fact, working is one thing that this game does remarkably well – the controls are very intuitive, and some might even say realistic (well, as realistic as not actually throwing a huge square plastic dart can be). I played PDC 2008 and I can honestly say that it was one of the most frustrating experiences of my gaming career, but 2009 is very much a pick-up-and-play experience and a huge improvement over its predecessor.

The game does have some depth for those who really like to get their teeth into these things – PDC 2009 offers different weights of dart, affecting the player’s throwing style, different levels of difficulty, a comprehensive party game mode, and realistic playing styles from the real-life players featured in the game (all the pros are here – from Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, to Raymond van Barneveld, James ‘The Machine’ Wade and Wayne ‘Hawaii 501’ Mardle).

That means that, over the course of the game’s career mode, the pros will actually perform on a very similar level to their real-life counterparts, which certainly adds something of a challenge and never feels like they’re simply “cheating”, a frustrating tendency of many games these days. If you don’t fancy playing as one of the professionals, the game’s player creation feature is on hand with a bevy of options for creating your very own on-screen avatar.

One thing that I should mention are the graphics – while the Wii will never compete with the likes of the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, the player models are highly detailed and the intro sequences well animated. The game’s many environments are well modelled and realistic, and feature surroundings ranging from genuine PDC tournament locations to the local pub.

Another great touch is the excellent commentary from legendary darts commentator Sid Waddell, which always brings a smile to my face. Add to this professional caller Russ Bray’s scoring, including his trademark “onnnneee hundred and eiiiigghghtttyyyy” if you’re lucky enough to get the triple 20 three times in a row, and you’ve got the full darts experience.

To be honest I’ve never really mastered the game of darts, usually hitting the surrounding wall, skirting board, or a small child instead of the actual board itself, but I managed to improve my technique to a pretty good level in PDC 2009 pretty quickly. It definitely helps that less coordinated players can turn on different levels of assisted aiming, meaning that pros and beginners can play alongside each other without too much trouble.

In summary, I appreciate that PDC 2009 won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but even non-darts fans should find something to enjoy in the multiplayer games, excellent graphics, and top-notch controls. Sure, there’s no explosions, no sex and no violence, but if what you’re after is a good old fashioned game of darts, without the danger of low-flying sharp metal objects, then PDC 2009 is definitely a title you should add to your game collection.

8/10

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