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Endless Ocean Review for the Nintendo Wii

Endless Ocean Review for the Nintendo Wii

Video Game vs. Interactive Experience

When looking at the three next generation consoles, it is clear that Nintendo definitely decided to go in a different direction than their adversaries. Instead of heavily focusing on HD and processing power, the Wii has been all about accessibility and unique gameplay experiences. While there has been a veritable ton of sloppy ports and shovel-ware on the Wii, there have also been quite a few decent and unique experiences available as well. This is definitely the category that Endless Ocean finds itself in. Endless Ocean is completely different than any other game that I’ve played. This is both the game’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness.

Endless Ocean screenshot

When you begin the game, you will get to customize your own personal diver. The options here are very limited, but you will unlock more of a variety as you play through the game. Once you are done with that, you will speak with Katherine, your friend/boss, who will catch you up to speed on how to play the game and what you will be doing. Basically, your main objective, if it can be called that, is to just explore the waters off of the coast of the fictitious islands of Manoa Lai. While the ocean isn’t endless as the title suggests, it is fairly large and full of really interesting things to explore. You will need to venture into underwater caves, abysses, and many other fairly beautiful and exotic underwater locations.

While exploring, you will also need to develop and catalogue a working knowledge of the indigenous aquatic life. There is a massive amount of diverse marine life for you to discover and interact with. You are given three options for how to learn about these animals. When you spot a creature that you haven’t learned about yet, you will need to point the Wii-mote at it and press the A button. This will make your diver focus on it, similar to the Z targeting found in Zelda titles. Once you are focused on an animal, you can either feed it, touch it, or pet it. Feeding is a menu option, while touching and petting are handled by pressing the B trigger and holding the B trigger and shaking the Wii-mote respectively. Each animal will react differently to these interactions so you’ll have to figure out how best to learn about your subjects. While this isn’t incredibly fun, it does work rather well, and much of the information that you attain is fairly interesting. There are three levels of knowledge for each subject, which definitely adds longevity to this game. Unfortunately, it also becomes insanely tedious trying to interact with the same fish over and over again to learn more about them.

Endless Ocean screenshot

Aside from learning about the sea life and some underwater exploring, there is really not much else to do in this game. Every once in a while, you’ll receive a request to take a picture of a certain fish or a request to be someone’s diving guide but neither adds much fun or challenge to the game. These “missions” are also entirely optional, meaning that you can actually just completely ignore them. You can also find sunken artifacts during your dives and fill your own personal aquarium with any of the fish that you have learned about. While the artifacts that you find are somewhat interesting and fun to discover, the aquarium in this game doesn’t seem to serve any sort of purpose. Since you can’t learn more about the fish while interacting with them in your aquarium, you really have no reason to ever use it. If you would like to see a certain species of fish, you can just as easily dive wherever those types of fish normally appear. Doing this will allow you to interact with these same fish but also grant you the ability to learn more about them at the same time.

Endless Ocean screenshot

Because of this game’s fairly laissez faire approach to actually giving the player anything to do, I really feel no sense of direction or purpose in actually participating in what is basically an interactive scuba diving video. While this game may not speak to the kind of gamer that I am, it can easily be a great thing for players who normally feel pressured by video games to constantly try to complete objectives and advance through them. The game is so concerned with not pressuring you that if at any point you actually feel like you are doing too much, you can just sit on a chair on your boat and stare off into the distance until you wish to begin diving again. Since there are no real goals or objectives present, there is also absolutely no way to fail. This is one of the major reasons why I have a hard time classifying Endless Ocean as a video game. That debate aside, Endless Ocean is an extremely tranquil and unique interactive experience.

Endless Ocean screenshot

Graphically, this game is like an actor who only wishes to be photographed from a certain profile. While underwater, this game is stunningly beautiful, especially for a Wii title. Everything from your diver to the fish and plant life look and move realistically. The water effects look fantastic, and there are also some amazing looking lighting effects noticeable as the sun filters down through the water. Endless Ocean’s ugly side comes when you leave the safety of the game’s underwater paradise. The character models really lack detail and are fairly painful to look at, especially while in motion. Your boat and most of the visible terrain look rather jagged around the edges as well. Fortunately, most of this game will be spent below the surface so you won’t be forced to look at its ugly side frequently or for extended periods of time.

The tranquil nature of this game is further captured by its soundtrack. The music in Endless Ocean is so soothing that it could honestly put you to sleep in the middle of a Fourth of July fireworks display. It does really help to set the mood of the game but if you find yourself nodding off, you can actually just play your own music. Endless Ocean allows you to plug in an SD card so you can listen to your own MP3s. While I don’t think you were meant to explore the depths of the ocean while listening to heavy metal, it is a nice option to have.

Endless Ocean is definitely an interesting experience. Whether you will enjoy it or not really depends on the kind of gamer you are. If you really enjoy action, plot, intense gameplay or objectives, you will most likely not want to even attempt to try this title. However, if you are more of a fan of slow paced, easy going, exploration filled collect-a-thons, then Endless Ocean should be right up your ally. Either way, if you are looking to get lost in an absorbing underwater world, this is certainly your destination.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.8 Graphics
While underwater, everything looks really good but upon coming to the surface, you will see this game’s ugly side. 4.0 Control
The controls are very easy and intuitive making this game easy to just pick up and play. 3.4 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
A complete lack of voice acting and very few sound effects somewhat detract from this game’s otherwise satisfactory aural experience. 2.9

Play Value
This is the hardest part of this game to rate. If you are looking for a game with missions or objectives, this game will be a complete disappointment to you. However, if you are content with just diving and exploring an interesting underwater world, then you will love playing Endless Ocean.

3.4 Overall Rating – Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Swim through coral reefs, explore ancient shipwrecks, meet local wildlife, and more.
  • No set time limits and no way to fail, you’re free to relax and explore however you see fit.
  • Hundreds of different types of marine life such as penguins, clownfish, dolphins, sharks, and the blue whale.
  • Exploring is easy–just point the remote in the direction you want to go.
  • Go online with Nintendo WFC and meet friends and family for an underwater sightseeing tour.
  • Screen Resolution: Up to 480p (Progressive Scan, Widescreen).

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