 Dive, Discover, Dream - Exactly! |
| Review Date: January 25, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Whisper, Seattle, WA |
Absolutely beautiful game. The underwater visuals are incredible from the sea floor, hidden treasure, coral, caves, sunken ships, schools of fish, dolphins, manta rays, whales, and much more. Sunlight from above will also filter down below the surface. Day also turns to night and you can go night diving where you may find different types of sea life.
Now, when you are on the boat, it's a different story. The visuals look incomplete. The boat, character, water and skyline all have a "unpolished" look to them. Also, your character apparently has something shoved up his or her rear as you walk around the boat "stiffly". But, this is all minor stuff as you will be underwater most of the time so, it's not a big deal. Again, the underwater world is absolutely a joy to the eyes.
The music is nicely done and very relaxing, but you can load up your SD Card with .MP3 files and listen to your own music while on the ship or diving below. That is a very nice feature and I believe only the second developer to implement this feature on the Wii so far.
You will also be able to customize your character by changing your diving wear and equipment.
The game is totally laid back and you can pretty much do whatever you want, when you want. But you aren't completely on your own. There are definitely specific things to accomplish if you want to. You will receive emails from people wanting you to investigate a specific underwater location, find a special fish or hidden treasure, take photos or even to go along with you as a diving guide. Many of these result in rewards such as new equipment and gear. You actually should accept the first few email requests as it's the only way to get the underwater pen and camera and to unlock the Wi-Fi Connection gateway.
You will help a dolphin early on in the game and he will then become your partner and you can go on dives together. The dolphin will actually help you find hidden items on the sea floor. You can also have the dolphin do tricks up above while you are on the boat. It looks like you can have up to 3 partners to play with. I've only found the dolphin so I don't know what the others will be.
I haven't tested the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection feature, but you can have a Wii friend come over to your boat (or you can go to their boat) and you can go on dives together. Looks like that can be fun. You can communicate with various pre-set greetings and commands or use an underwater pen to draw or communicate (like a whiteboard). It would of been nice to have built-in voice chat capability.
This is a refreshing addition to your Wii library and I think everyone should own this game. It's a very unique and refreshing experience. |
A great ocean simulation for kids.
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| Review Date: June 16, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Wiiviewer, San Diego, CA |
| Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RSQZQ8GAUQFLO I review games for the wii on youtube. This is an edited version of the original review I did for the game. To see the full version or to see more of my reviews go to www.youtube.com/wiiviewr. |
A gentle and lovely game...
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| Review Date: February 28, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Robert N. Wolf, SF Bay Area, California United States |
I'm 38 so I know that I'm outside the target demographic for most games, and that's been fine with me. I find most video games to be too frenetic and overall not nearly enough fun to justify the investment of time that it takes to master them.
The Wii is the first console to actually attract and hold my attention, and this game is the first game I've ever really fallen in love with. I didn't know what this game was about when I first ordered it, but I thought the premise was interesting - basically you take on the role of an oceanic explorer on a boat in a fictional tropical sea.
From the very first screen, I was hooked. The game is just beautiful to look at and it manages to walk that fine line - being entertaining and enjoyable to play while also being educational. It's a gentle, relaxing, utterly entrancing virtual deep sea dive.
I bought it during an extremely stressful time in my life and playing this game every evening was the perfect way to relax and unwind before bed.
I admit, I'm a sap - but when I first came around the reef wall and saw a whale coming towards me through the water? It felt a little....magical.
I love this game and I hope that the folks who created it go on to create many, many more such games - for those of us who want more out of our free time than "Point, click, explosion." |
Addictive, but know what you're getting
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| Review Date: May 19, 2008 |
| Reviewer: kwill10, Nashville, TN United States |
Endless Ocean is a very unique experience compared with traditional games. It's not Super Smash Brothers; you don't fight anyone, there's no score kept, and you really can't die or meet with other bad fates. It's also not a scuba diving simulation; as a certified diver, I doubt I'd follow a large shark into a narrow cave in real life, but in the game, no problem. You don't have to worry about getting the bends, running out of air (even if you stayed down long enough, you're simply returned to the boat), or getting stung by jellyfish or attacked by aggressive sea creatures.
What is addicting about the game is the exploration. There are several unique sites in the game, each of which has varying sea life; if the thought of seeing a humpback whale overhead during gameplay sounds exciting, this might be for you. There are numerous objects to find, previously undiscovered sites to explore, and a plot that develops over time involving your shipmate Kat. For the most part, you have complete freedom about where to dive and what to do; if you want to ignore the dive guide requests and photo opportunities, you can do so.
The game starts a little slowly in order to orient you with the controls and the layout. However, within an hour or so you have quite a bit of freedom turned over to you (especially once the boat navigation opens). You can acquire dolphin partners, that if you want you can train from the back of the boat (a little silly, but entertaining occasionally). You also have a camera for underwater photography opportunities.
My wife and I, both scuba divers, find the game captivating. Within three weeks, we have each logged over 20 hours of game play. A key part of the storyline can be completed in ~8-20 hours of play, depending on how quickly you decide to accept varying tasks. However, exploring everything, finding all artifacts, and identifying all of the sea life will likely take longer. Since the game doesn't keep a score or have one ultimate goal, fans of the game will likely play beyond the minimum anyway. Overall, we find the game a nice relaxing deviation from the typical frantic pace of most games. |
Chill game for the naturally curious
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| Review Date: February 15, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Tara M, Denver, CO United States |
Endless Ocean appeals with its mellow, self-directed pace, I get to learn about the animals every time I play, and it's a wonderful escape from February in Colorado. It's not a game for the shoot 'em gamer - but then, the Wii is supposed to appeal to a much wider crowd and this game fits in with that great.
I've always wanted to be a marine zoologist, so I am probably right in the center of the target audience, but this is all the diving fun without the jellyfish stings or statistics. There's enough structure - with guided dives, photos to take, species to find - to keep me moving along through the plot and around the ocean world, but on the nights that I just want to chill I can just go dive whatever I want.
I recommend Endless Ocean for people who don't want to shoot anything, don't want to raise their heart rate or stress levels, and find fun in exploration. |
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