Endless Ocean

"An enjoyable and detailed diving simulation"

Endless Ocean is a diving simulator developed by Arika and published by Nintendo for the Wii. Featuring over 200 fish and other marine animals to interact with, searching for treasure and an adequate story, this is a very good game for a very low price. EO goes hand in hand with the other quirky games that Nintendo has had the guts to put out. The game is the spiritual sequel to Forever blue for the PS2.

I'm an ichthyologist by hobby, and I specialize in coral reefs, so I may have some bias in my scoring, as this game was a match made in heaven for me. Everything is rated as per the usual, 1-10, ten being the best, etcetera etcetera. Please excuse the scientific names, it's a habit. :P

Graphics: 9/10
I'm splitting this into two parts; Fish and Scenery.

-Fish: 10/10
Simply amazing. The developers managed to capture nearly every vibrant detail, from Amphiprion occelaris' brilliant orange and white, to the characteristic shape of Zanclus cornutus. Some of the smaller fish, specifically those of the Pomacentridae family seemed to all share the same model, but with different coloring. This was disappointing, but there are few of these fish in the game, so it did not affect the score.

-Scenery: 8/10
This is where the game disappointed. The same corals are used repeatedly, and the same texture was applied to most of the rocks and sand. The water effects were great, especially the way the water filters out the light and becomes progressively murky as you increase in depth. The main focus is on the fish, so most of the time one will not notice the scenery.

Overall, the graphics were great, but disappointed in some areas.

Sound: 10/10
Giving the music anything else but a ten would be blasphemy. Hayley Westenra's melodies perfectly fit the game, enveloping but not intruding. The music will change as you find different areas, and the song Benedictus is the best representative of this feature, as you first hear it in the abyss, a massive trench you explore as part of the story. Its sudden strong orchestra coupled with Westenra's enchanting voice perfectly fit the suspenseful aura that area has.

Story: 7/10
The story is nothing special, more of an agent to bond together the various gameplay elements into a whole. Basically, you're a new diving guide/explorer and you work with an assistant name Katherine, who requests you do things. It's not RPG material, but it doesn't stink. Normally I would rate the story lower, but anything much stronger than the current one would detract from the free-roaming aspect of the game.

Gameplay 9/10
This game is not for everyone. If you were looking for a fast paced action game, fighting off sharks and dueling with narwhals all while rescuing the damsel(-fish. That was an ichthyology joke.) in distress, try a different game. This game is slow paced, relying on it's exploration and massive game area to keep the gamer interested.

You start play on the boat, choose where you want to go and dive there. The sheer volume of the play area is amazing. The controls are simple, point in the direction you want to go, and press B, with the occasional A to examine a fish or object. As you swim along, you may see a spot glowing. If you examine this you can find a rare fish, or if you are lucky, a piece of treasure.

One important aspect of the game is the ability to pick a 'partner', an animal that you have befriended and will swim around with you. The partner will also find the glowing spots, which is hard to do on your own. There are several ways to interact with the fish and other animals you will encounter. You can poke them, pet them, feed them or even blow an 'underwater whistle'. You need to do this in order to learn about the fish. If you are nice enough, you can even have the fish follow you around for the rest of the dive, a nice little addition to the game.

There isn't any incentive at all to use the camera to take pictures other than the odd request. The fact that you can only save 40 pictures in the first place only compounds the fact that the camera is sorely lacking from any real reason to use it.

Replayability: 8/10
The game has a great replay value, but it is not infinite. Eventually you will find every fish, locate every treasure, and explore every area, but that won't be for a long, long time.

Buy or Rent:
It depends. If you think you will like the game, you will. If you're not sure, I suggest renting it first. The game is an amazing value at only thirty dollars.

Personal Note:
I love this game. It's fun and will sustain my interest for quite a while. My only real disappointment was the lack of coral and other sessile invertebrates in the game other than as scenery.

Final Score: 9/10
Endless Ocean is a great game, but only to a certain audience. It incorporates great visuals, amazing audio, and a simple story to tie it all together, and this combination gives a wonderful gaming experience.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/19/08

Game Release: Endless Ocean (US, 01/21/08)