Friday, April 4, 2008

The Wii's Aquarium: Endless Ocean



Endless Ocean was released on January 21st in North America. But Nintendo dated launches in places like Japan and Europe months ahead of North America.

After playing this game, which was able to swallow up a week of my free time, I've come to realize that I would like to be a professional Scuba diver.
The game itself has a variety of things to do while submerging to the depths of a shallow tropical ocean that is filled with aquatic life. The game begins in a humble lagoon and are given a chance to get a handle on the controls and you get to look at the first of many different species of fish.
After you're released into the larger areas of the environment you're given control of your boat and can explore different areas of interest which feature deep chasms and maze like caves where you should familiarize yourself with the different kinds of wildlife that inhabit the areas. This familiarization should help you give exciting tours to other in-game personalities that come to you for underwater tours. Tourists often show up with the goal of finding a certain kind of fish. You are given a ranking on how well you perform in catering to these tourists and giving them a look at what they came for often is the five star clincher.
Travel and tourism is not the only feature. A companion on your humble sea craft is also doing research on an ancient fish, you assist her in locating this illusive fish by setting up tracking equipment underwater.
Another great part of the game is the ability to recruit dolphins in your scuba activities. Different kinds of dolphins patrol the waters waiting to be befriended. Once this is done you can take them on travels underwater and even train them to do tricks while on the deck of your boat.
The game features a custom soundtrack ability that allows you to import your favourite songs and swim along with them. However, only one track can be loaded per swim, so your favourite songs can get quite annoying if you've been below sea level for too long.
Nintendo has offered a different kind of game to their roster. This one in particular is a great way to relax and is quite informative in the process as you learn about different types of tropical fish, some of which only appear at different times of day, month or year. A great way to keep people swimming.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Great review - I was thinking about buying a new game for Mitchel, I think that I'll get him this!