While others litter retail shelves with plastic tennis rackets, crossbows, and the occasional "what were they thinking?" attachments for the Nintendo Wii, Nyko has worked hard to offer sincere replacements and options for the money.  One of the company's greatest advantages over its competition is the sheer variety of different peripherals and options available, which means genre-specific bundles are quite the snap.  Chief among those is a nifty starter setup called the Wand Action Pak that includes a Wand Remote, the new Pistol Grip shell, and of course batteries and blue rubber remote jacket.  While on the surface it may seem like just another toss-away bundle, Nyko's assembled quite a package that should make fans of light-gun shooter action very happy indeed.

The Wand itself functions like the original Wii remote but benefits in responsive control and grip, if only at cost of style.  Check out our full review of the controller right HERE.  The real focus of the Action Pak is of course the bundled Pistol Grip attachment, which utilizes Nyko's own Trans-Port Technology and allows for a purely digital connection when connected to the Wand controller.  This allows for A and B button mapping on the fly, and unlike other offerings offers considerable improvement and much-needed flexibility for shooting games where it counts.  The digital connection (via the connector port) means this isn't just another plastic shell, and best of all looks like a gun.  Take that, Nintendo Zapper!

The majority of my time with the Action Pak was spent with two of my favorite arcade shooters: Ghost Squad and The House of the Dead Returns (interestingly, both by Sega).  When connected properly, the Pistol Grip operated without a hitch and never showed any motion sensing problems, definitely an improvement over most other peripherals I've used prior.  Hordes of zombies fell like never before, and it wasn't long before I was scoring higher than ever before.  The singular nature of the Pistol Grip will make potential John Woo-style, double-pistol action easier than ever and with so many light-gun games slated for release, I can't wait to give it a try.

Embarrassingly enough we did have issues with the initial setup as a fellow editor and I banged our heads together just trying to fit the Wand in the shell (think of the monkeys in 2001: A Space Odyssey), and the lack of any descriptions or labels when activating and/or switching the primary (A or B-Trigger) firing buttons turned the first experiences with the device a game of trial and error.  New owners will definitely want to read and follow the instructions to avoid similar embarrassment.

A major flaw is the exclusivity of the Trans-Port Technology, which only works between Nyko's Wii products (namely the Wand and anything else that may come), it's quite a shame since the pistol grip is a brilliant device that really does enhance the console's considerable light-gun gaming experience.  Of course, this is probably a moot point as the Pistol Grip is only bundled with the Wand Action Pak, anyway.

There's certainly no shortage of uninspired, plastic garbage for the Wii console taking up space, but Nyko's Wand Action Pak isn't one of them.  Although it may only cater to a very select group of gamers, it does this well and without much hassle and definitely enhances the experience for light-gun games.  The overall improvements in "function over form" aesthetics do help alleviate some annoyances of most other shells, but the lack of labels on the Pistol Grip and required use of the Nyko Wand compromises some of the usefulness gun shell provides.  Still, if you're willing to overlook the small quips the Action Pak is promising addition to your collection if digital precision if what you're after.