Seaman

"My mom: You waisted 30 bucks on a game called Seaman?"

The first time I heard someone talk about Seaman, I thought they were just kidding. A game called Seaman with little creatures you raise... Yeah right! Of course, I was wrong, and Seaman proves to be a very interesting game to say the least.

Game Play

Well, a warning first and foremost, Seaman is definitely not a game for everyone. The game requires lots of patience and also lots of time. In this game you actually raise little creatures called Seaman. It's almost exactly like having real fish to raise, but the Seaman also learn to talk. You also have the advantage of getting some help from Leonard Nemoy (sp?) too! In the game you start out with an egg, some food pellets, and a fish tank. You have to mess with the temperature, the air pressure, and the food to make the perfect environment for your Seaman. Once your Seaman get past the ''baby'' stage of their lives, you're ready to have some fun! The Seaman slowly begin to learn words and phrases. They talk to you and you talk to them! Using the microphone that comes with the game, you can say whatever you want to the Seaman. Watch what you say though! Seaman can easily be offended by several simple phrases. If you make Seaman angry he is much more likely to not talk to you and even possibly die. If you do find yourself making Seaman want to kill you, you can resort to tickling. Once again, abuse of the tickling can also put Seaman in a worse mood. This goes on for some time and can be quite amusing, with patience and an open mind on your side. Seaman learns more and more as he grows, and finally after quite some time something special happens to Seaman (I guess you could say it's an ''ending''). The main factor here is the voice software. This is basically a first generation voice activated software program, so you have to play the game somewhere quiet and speak clearly, otherwise the game does not recognize or understand what you are saying. This becomes clear when you say something simple and the question mark comes up on your VMU, or Seaman replies you with an answer that doesn't make sense. This is not a bad first try at voice software and I'm looking forward to other games like it when or if they come out.

Story

Believe it or not, Seaman has quite an elaborate plot behind it. The story itself ages back to ancient Egypt. A doctor by the name of Jean Paul Gasse first discovered stories of Seaman in the 1930's while visiting Egypt. Dr. Gasse was fascinated by what he first found and decided to look into it more. He met a local resident who had actually caught a Seaman and Gasse decided to salvage some of the eggs of the Seaman. Gasse tried to grow these eggs, but they quickly died. Dr. Gasse, having no proof of his findings, was not believed by any scientists or researchers and the findings he had were classified as a publicity stunt. Dr. Gasse shortly disappeared, but recently his detailed diary has been found. You decide to study the Seaman after you find this information.

Audio/Video

The sound in the game is suiting. There is no music, just the sound of the tank and the water, and of course Seaman. This is probably because the game creators had a hard time finding music that could be played over and over again and fit the game while also not sickening the player after a few hours of the song. Because of the nature of the game, not have music works, so it's no biggy.

This category is not very big, because you simply look at the tank and the Seaman through ninety percent of the game. There are three different views to the tank, so you can see the hole thing or examine certain specimens closer. The Dreamcast is able to do this well with great resolution on the creatures in the game and no real background distraction. This category also fits the game well.

Replay

The game is definitely fun and interesting for the first few weeks that you play it. But after you evolve Seaman completely, the only real thing to do is start over or occasionally talk to Seaman. This is probably another one of those games you want to rent a few times, squeeze the fun out of it, and then forget about it. Seaman can surprise you though, with some of the wacky stuff he will just blurt out, you just never know...

So give the game a try with a rental or a friends copy, and you might find yourself talking about the wonderful world of Seaman!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/01, Updated 02/13/01