Since 9/11, we've heard a lot about whom the real heroes are in our society. They're the people who respond when you dial 911, the police, firemen, and paramedics. In this game, you drive police cars and fire trucks (with their own water supplies) on a variety of missions through relatively open-ended city streets, fighting crime, rescuing people from rooftops (without leaving the car), and putting out fires with a water turret.

The game takes place in a near-future cyberpunk city like that of Batman Beyond or Loonatics Unleashed. The city has devolved into chaos, and one man, a failed trainee, is the only one to bring order. An in-game tutorial walks you through the different skills needed, and a specialized GPS tells you where you need to be most of the time, although it sometimes seems to "lose its signal" during pursuits.

The game controls Excite Truck style, holding the wiimote like a steering wheel, and unlike other recent driving games, offers no control alternatives, so if you don't like this control scheme, move along--nothing to see here. The control takes some getting used to, but you'll eventually get the hang of it. Driving follows the same adrenaline-pumping style of games like Burnout, but since the wiimote's motion sensor isn't nearly as sensitive as an analog thumbstick, subtle movements can be difficult. Graphically, the game looks decent, and the slightly-futuristic city holds together well for its genre. The lack of huge crashes may make the game less violent for younger players, but the controls are too touchy for younger players.

Game missions fall into four modes as follows:

Chase: Track down a criminal vehicle and smash into it until disabled. Note that, unlike Burnout, all crashes are fender-benders--no car ever gets rolled, and little--if any--damage appears on the actual vehicles. Smashing into civilian cars carries no penalty except to slow you down the slightest amount, plus you have to listen to the drivers complain. As a "Rescue Hero," you'd think reckless driving would be penalized a bit more. As you try to stop armored cars in high-speed chases, you have to eliminate all of the vehicle's armor, sometimes in a particular order. "OK, you've taken out the armor on the right side' now take out the left side." If I'm trying to stop a car and have removed all the armor on one side, why wouldn't I just smash in that side of the vehicle to stop the driver? Worse, there are times you'll actually bring the villain driver to a halt, but because the car isn't yet destroyed, you have to back away, give it some space to start going again, and start slamming again. The game mechanic works, but it makes no sense. Other times, I had to wait for the car I was pursuing to catch up and pass me so I could chase it again. Check your brain at the door before playing this game, this mode especially.

Rescue: In this mode, you race to rescue people from places like rooftops while they whine and complain how you need to hurry. Imagine Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing going down the Death Star trench while Obi Wan is whining in his ear, "You're not going to make it!" and you get the picture. Still, this is probably the most adrenaline-packed mode, driving over jumps as flaming buildings collapse all around you.

Fire: Speaking of fire, on these levels, you race along with a roof-mounted, self-aiming hose, putting out fires. Sometimes, you have to crash into water tanks or other objects to meet all your objectives. This one's decent except for the bridge fires, where you just drive back and forth across a bridge, putting out fires as the repeatedly pop up. It gets very repetitive.

Clearance: Driving a cross between a sedan and a bulldozer, you drive through a street with multiple pile-ups, smashing openings to clear congestion. Every driver who's ever been stuck in gridlock has dreamed of being able to do this.

The game also features a split-screen 2-player multiplayer mode with several different competitive race options and the choice for horizontal and vertical split. While visibility is reduced somewhat by having less of a screen, it's not a huge loss because of the GPS telling you where to go. The multiplayer modes include fire, chase, and rescue as above, as well as Hero Race (a basic race around crumbling areas), Pass the Bomb (think "hot potato" but passing by slamming into the opponent), City Race (race around the city, as you may expect), and Assault Course (an obstacle course for your vehicle).

Overall, Emergency Heroes feels like a game based on a cartoon or toy franchise. The cars look cool, but the acting is lousy. It's decent, but not amazing, and once you get used to the controls, the constantly unlocking levels and vehicles can make you lose track of time quickly. Races are just long enough to get engaged without getting tedious. In all, it's a poor man's Burnout where you play as the good guys with less violence. (Burnout is rated "T" compared to Emergency Heroes' E10+.) If you're looking for a great racer with lots of destruction, get a Burnout game, but for a toned-down clone with a more moral compass, your pre-teen or older child will likely enjoy this one. Rent it for a weekend. You'll likely be able to get through the whole thing in that time.