Endless Ocean

"The most under- and over-rated game to date"

.:Introduction:.

When I first heard about Endless Ocean, I asked myself if the developer expected to make any returns when they released it in America. The premise seems too serene and oriented towards audiences and markets that are just not found in the U.S.

That aside, I decided to pick up a copy. It may have been the commercial shown at Wal-Mart with the couple pointing out the whales to each other, or it may have been the gift card I just got and felt like blowing on something I expected to be a waste. Even when I asked the clerk to get it out of the case, he laughed at me. So, expecting to have a game that I'd never play but be able to brag about to my friends that I can waste that much money, I put it in my Wii to be pleasantly surprised.

.:Gameplay:.

The gameplay in Endless Ocean is extremely basic. Movement is controlled by pointing the Wiimote at a point on the screen, holding B, and your swimmer avatar moves toward where you are pointing. You can turn around quickly by shaking the Wiimote, and you can rub and poke fish by holding/pressing A. There is a minigame where you train one of your three "partners." A partner is a dolphin that you've befriended and helps you to find hidden items underwater. The partner minigame controls like it is a test of how vigorously you can shake the Wiimote: The harder you shake, the higher your dolphin jumps.

There are a set of mission-type objectives that people routinely email you about such as taking pictures of certain things or taking people on dives. Dives are missions where you must remember which fish your client is looking for and find it without playing with too many other fish first (A fish's name only comes up when you interact with it). Completing these will get you a new haircut or swim equipment. People say that there are no deadlines, but there is always one on the photographing missions. These missions are a nice break from the no-objective based normal gameplay and provide for a small spark of a challenge.

Normal gameplay is very chill. The simple goal of the game is to fill the forty-two-page encyclopedia while following the simple story. You can only travel a certain distance from your boat at a time, which I found to be pretty disappointing, but I suppose it helps you to pay attention to the detail at certain parts. The story can be advanced by finding items in the water that sparkle, which also can be found by letting your dolphin friends help you. Parking your boat in certain areas lets certain land and air animals climb aboard so that you can categorize them.

When I got this game, I thought the only animals I would be interacting with would be fish, whales, rays, dolphins, and the like. I was surprised that you also meet crabs, birds, penguins, iguanas, sea-lions, walruses, and giant squids. All of my friends watching me play this were very disappointed that you can not be attacked by sharks or rays.

Interacting with the environment is very simplistic. Shake the Wiimote while holding A to rub an animal; Press A while focused on an animal to poke it; use your directional buttons to open your inventory and use one of those items. Your inventory has three items in it, but you will probably only use two of them. There is food for feeding fish and increasing your level of familiarity with them, a sea-whistle for calling your dolphin friends, and a pen that writes in midair. The pen is clunky and useless in my opinion. I used it to write "Steve was here" in the area where the Manta Rays reside (yeah I'm a terrible person).

You also have control over a tank at an aquarium on the island. You can put whichever creatures you've become familiar with in the tank and swim around with them. It acts as a sort of display-case for your accomplishments with finding creatures. It seems to be a little limiting on what you can put in the tank, but that's not such a big deal.

That is essentially the gameplay. Simple, Easy, a little boring, but relaxing and interest-grabbing nonetheless.

.:Story:.

The story is pretty terrible. There's the trite "shy female character dealing with her shady past", and your character who never says anything, much like the player's character from GTAIII. There is a "bro" who requests photographs of fish and a fellow who asks you to do things for the organization that funds you. These are the only main characters, but there are a few others that come for you to give them tours or to research stuff that you have found via email. You do find stuff that's interesting underwater, but it's pretty far-fetched that there is an abyss in a coral reef, and so many undiscovered things that would show up on ocean-floor topography mapping in real life. So that's my critique of the story - bad.

.:Graphics/Sound:.

The graphics are decent for a wii game. They could be MUCH better if the developer used anti-aliasing, but since they didn't everything looks very pixelated, especially on high-detail shots. The animals' animations are smooth and nice, but the humans move as if they were robots.

The music is grinding to me, but others have found it soothing. They say that it fits the game well, but that's only if you don't listen to the lyrics, which I'm sure not many people can understand anyway. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think "Shenandoah", which is about a mountain range in Virginia, applies to the discovery of an underwater cave in the South Pacific.

.:Play Time/Replayability:.

Endless Ocean is definitely time-consuming. It takes a long time to get from the boat to where you want to go most of the time, especially if you're looking through a cave or a lagoon. If you look to do it all at one time though, I would clock completing the story at about five to ten hours if that's all you pay attention to. There are so many other things to find in the water, however, that you can expect 100% completion to take you anywhere between twenty to thirty hours. Replaying this game is like replaying a Pokemon game to me: You feel like you've already collected the things you're starting over with so a lot of the fun is taken out, and you know where the secret ones are hidden. Replaying it does not seem like much fun to me.

.:Final Recommendation:.

Perfect gift game, or if you have a lot of time to waste (like being home from college for the summer). Not for people looking for that something extra in their games (like gameplay). Also, good for the family, playing with really bored friends, or if you want a stress-reliever. I've heard that it's loads of fun on drugs. Many people give it high scores just because others have rated it so low. It can not compare to other modern games, but it is still a very enjoyable experience.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/08

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