Game Review: Endless Ocean
I heard about Endless Ocean not long after the Wii came out. Mostly just the lines of "A game where you're diving in the ocean". Considering the way the Wii works, sounded pretty cool and perked my interest, but since we didn't get a Wii I just never thought of it again. A bit ago rhast rented it from Blockbuster and was telling me about it. Sounded something right up my alley.
So, as y'all know, I got the Wii a week ago. Wii sports is fun and all, but, truth be told, I seriously needed something soothing to escape the stress of Mom. I -was- going to go to blockbuster and rent some wii games, but they don't HAVE a blockbuster here. It closed down sometime this winter. The nearest blockbuster is down in South Bend, IN, which is around an hour away. Er, sorry but no deal. Well, I had a really bad day, so I just went over and picked it up at Best Buy.
After putting it in the Wii, the first thing I'm introduced to is something that blows me away.. the intro song. I've already posted the lyrics to it: "Prayer" by Hayley Westenra. Haunting, enticing... the perfect song to go diving to. Character creation was somewhat customizable. More than I expected, but still pretty limited. Doesn't matter though. There are more costuming options that are unlockable throughout the game and you're able to change everything about how your character looks except gender.
You start out on the deck, dealing with your 'assistant' who is the venue for most the plot. There are a series of 'missions' that are the basic tutorial, though it's kinda easy to just go around without doing most any of them. The whole game is very very laid back. You can do everything on your own time schedule. The only thing that's 'timed' is the photo requests. You have 7 ingame days to send in the photo. However, you don't have to do them at all. That's how you unlock most of the customizations apparently, but you can still pick and choose.
Diving is very fun, relaxing, and in many ways therapeutic. From the deck, you use the D-Pad to select "dive". A loading screen is shown where you can then go left and right on the D-Pad to select what song you wish to have played. You have a series of songs from the game (many are unlocked throughout the game) or import your own songs via an SD card (which you can also play on the boat via the radio). Once you're in the water, it's simply a matter of pointing the wiimote in the direction you want to go and holding down the trigger (B) to go forward. There are more advanced controls, but you can go through the whole game without caring about them. You can click on any wildlife you see in order to interact with it. Some are in a 'closeup' view which is really neat. Those are like needles in a haystack, but your dolphin 'partner' can be used to find those.
Partners are fun. There are many types of dolphins you come across that you can befriend. You're allowed up to 3 partners at a time, though I know you can replace one with another. I -think- you can go back and get that same type of dolphin later once you find the location of it's 'pod'. I -just- replaced my bottlenose with a different one, so later on i might go back and see if I'm able to pick up another bottlenose later. Anyway, there are two things you can do with your partners: dive and train. Diving has them as your dive partner where you can interact with them like anyother sea wildlife, though they will swim around and find the 'closeup' spots on the ground/coral/etc. If you're staying near your boat, specifically looking to interact with your partner and the wildlife in the immediate area, thist is awesome. You can even grab ahold of them and swim around, though only in a small circle. However, if you're looking to wander around alot, doing lots of exploring, having your partner can be kinda annoying. Because the 'flashies' (closeup spawnpoints) don't go away after you view them, your partner can get stuck pinging out the same one over and over. While you're heading on, it's stuck there trying to get your attention. I -think- you might be able to use the whistle to try and get them to move along, but it's a pain in the ass. In my opinion it's best to just explore alone, and have fun/"go over with a fine tooth comb" with your partner. Training is something like a minigame. You go to the gangplank of your boat and choose which partner you want to train with. From there, you do a few combinations of simple 'touches' to tell your partner what commands you want him to execute. You then do the motion you all have probably seen at Sea World (or documentaries) where you fling your hand out to tell them to go do what you just told them. It is VERY important to have the wrist strap on for THAT one. I have nearly let the thing slip out of my hand even with the rubber jacket on the remote.
The best thing I like about this game is just how peaceful and relaxing it is. You're floating, drifting down under the surface, going where you want at whatever speed you wish. Simply sitting there watching the fish swim around can be fascinating. You have an HOUR real time of spending underwater per dive. It's just.. serene. I like the fact that there are no real time restraints. No pressure. Currently I'm going through and surveying (visiting and mapping out) the entire sea before I start to 'detail' it. Surprisingly along the way I've also done a nice bit of plot too. I can't tell how far along I am, as I've purposely avoided any plot spoilers. I sorta know what happens, but not any real details. The "details" consist of finding every fish in the game. You eventually unlock an 'encyclopedia' which you are helping your assistant fill out. It lets you know what you HAVE found, as well as give you an idea as to how much more you need to find. The other 'collection' portion of the game is the salvage. You find them under special little flashing bits of "closeup" flashies. Your footlocker on deck lets you know how much you've found. Some pieces, I will warn you, have multiple parts you have to find. Once you gain all the pieces, you'll get a special mail from someone telling you about the completed object. Neat huh?
One thing I will caution people with is.. frankly, how realistic it can be. There is one area that you can go to pretty early in the game called "Deep Valley". It's literally a crack in the sea floor. The first time I approached it was like the first time I approached the windows at the top of the Sears Tower. Swimming out over it made me feel like I'd just had the floor disappear out from under my feet. Eventually you dive down into that crack, into "The Abyss". I nearly got sick the first time I went down there. It was even in full daylight and I was just as disoriented as if I had really been thrust into a place so deep that light couldn't reach. It took a minute or two of walking around to remember which way was up. But then, I have a REALLY over active imagination. Perhaps most folk won't have it that bad. It helps that as long as you haven't chosen to turn on the "advanced controls' your character will try to stay oriented properly. Apparently doing the advanced let's you do things like perform somersaults and swim upside down. Frankly, I think I'd get motion sick like that.
My -only- complaint with this game is in the multiplayer. There is a 'quick chat' and the "underwater pen", but that's it. No real chat possible. It adds a huge bit of realism to the team diving, but in reality it makes it kinda frustrating, especially in deep water areas. The compass just let's you know relative direction, no clue on depth for your partner so it's very possibly to get separated and not find each other. With no way of saying "go to surface" the most you can do is cancel the dive and force everyone back to the boat. That being said, I have a laptop with teamspeak installed. Voice chat fixes all of it.
Anyway, as long as you're not a super goal oriented person, really like to relax and escape, then this really is the game for you. I highly suggest it to anyone, though I will caution folks to try RENTING or BORROWING it first if at all possible.
now, it's time to wrap this up as i've been writing it all day and it's time for me to go to bed.
So, as y'all know, I got the Wii a week ago. Wii sports is fun and all, but, truth be told, I seriously needed something soothing to escape the stress of Mom. I -was- going to go to blockbuster and rent some wii games, but they don't HAVE a blockbuster here. It closed down sometime this winter. The nearest blockbuster is down in South Bend, IN, which is around an hour away. Er, sorry but no deal. Well, I had a really bad day, so I just went over and picked it up at Best Buy.
After putting it in the Wii, the first thing I'm introduced to is something that blows me away.. the intro song. I've already posted the lyrics to it: "Prayer" by Hayley Westenra. Haunting, enticing... the perfect song to go diving to. Character creation was somewhat customizable. More than I expected, but still pretty limited. Doesn't matter though. There are more costuming options that are unlockable throughout the game and you're able to change everything about how your character looks except gender.
You start out on the deck, dealing with your 'assistant' who is the venue for most the plot. There are a series of 'missions' that are the basic tutorial, though it's kinda easy to just go around without doing most any of them. The whole game is very very laid back. You can do everything on your own time schedule. The only thing that's 'timed' is the photo requests. You have 7 ingame days to send in the photo. However, you don't have to do them at all. That's how you unlock most of the customizations apparently, but you can still pick and choose.
Diving is very fun, relaxing, and in many ways therapeutic. From the deck, you use the D-Pad to select "dive". A loading screen is shown where you can then go left and right on the D-Pad to select what song you wish to have played. You have a series of songs from the game (many are unlocked throughout the game) or import your own songs via an SD card (which you can also play on the boat via the radio). Once you're in the water, it's simply a matter of pointing the wiimote in the direction you want to go and holding down the trigger (B) to go forward. There are more advanced controls, but you can go through the whole game without caring about them. You can click on any wildlife you see in order to interact with it. Some are in a 'closeup' view which is really neat. Those are like needles in a haystack, but your dolphin 'partner' can be used to find those.
Partners are fun. There are many types of dolphins you come across that you can befriend. You're allowed up to 3 partners at a time, though I know you can replace one with another. I -think- you can go back and get that same type of dolphin later once you find the location of it's 'pod'. I -just- replaced my bottlenose with a different one, so later on i might go back and see if I'm able to pick up another bottlenose later. Anyway, there are two things you can do with your partners: dive and train. Diving has them as your dive partner where you can interact with them like anyother sea wildlife, though they will swim around and find the 'closeup' spots on the ground/coral/etc. If you're staying near your boat, specifically looking to interact with your partner and the wildlife in the immediate area, thist is awesome. You can even grab ahold of them and swim around, though only in a small circle. However, if you're looking to wander around alot, doing lots of exploring, having your partner can be kinda annoying. Because the 'flashies' (closeup spawnpoints) don't go away after you view them, your partner can get stuck pinging out the same one over and over. While you're heading on, it's stuck there trying to get your attention. I -think- you might be able to use the whistle to try and get them to move along, but it's a pain in the ass. In my opinion it's best to just explore alone, and have fun/"go over with a fine tooth comb" with your partner. Training is something like a minigame. You go to the gangplank of your boat and choose which partner you want to train with. From there, you do a few combinations of simple 'touches' to tell your partner what commands you want him to execute. You then do the motion you all have probably seen at Sea World (or documentaries) where you fling your hand out to tell them to go do what you just told them. It is VERY important to have the wrist strap on for THAT one. I have nearly let the thing slip out of my hand even with the rubber jacket on the remote.
The best thing I like about this game is just how peaceful and relaxing it is. You're floating, drifting down under the surface, going where you want at whatever speed you wish. Simply sitting there watching the fish swim around can be fascinating. You have an HOUR real time of spending underwater per dive. It's just.. serene. I like the fact that there are no real time restraints. No pressure. Currently I'm going through and surveying (visiting and mapping out) the entire sea before I start to 'detail' it. Surprisingly along the way I've also done a nice bit of plot too. I can't tell how far along I am, as I've purposely avoided any plot spoilers. I sorta know what happens, but not any real details. The "details" consist of finding every fish in the game. You eventually unlock an 'encyclopedia' which you are helping your assistant fill out. It lets you know what you HAVE found, as well as give you an idea as to how much more you need to find. The other 'collection' portion of the game is the salvage. You find them under special little flashing bits of "closeup" flashies. Your footlocker on deck lets you know how much you've found. Some pieces, I will warn you, have multiple parts you have to find. Once you gain all the pieces, you'll get a special mail from someone telling you about the completed object. Neat huh?
One thing I will caution people with is.. frankly, how realistic it can be. There is one area that you can go to pretty early in the game called "Deep Valley". It's literally a crack in the sea floor. The first time I approached it was like the first time I approached the windows at the top of the Sears Tower. Swimming out over it made me feel like I'd just had the floor disappear out from under my feet. Eventually you dive down into that crack, into "The Abyss". I nearly got sick the first time I went down there. It was even in full daylight and I was just as disoriented as if I had really been thrust into a place so deep that light couldn't reach. It took a minute or two of walking around to remember which way was up. But then, I have a REALLY over active imagination. Perhaps most folk won't have it that bad. It helps that as long as you haven't chosen to turn on the "advanced controls' your character will try to stay oriented properly. Apparently doing the advanced let's you do things like perform somersaults and swim upside down. Frankly, I think I'd get motion sick like that.
My -only- complaint with this game is in the multiplayer. There is a 'quick chat' and the "underwater pen", but that's it. No real chat possible. It adds a huge bit of realism to the team diving, but in reality it makes it kinda frustrating, especially in deep water areas. The compass just let's you know relative direction, no clue on depth for your partner so it's very possibly to get separated and not find each other. With no way of saying "go to surface" the most you can do is cancel the dive and force everyone back to the boat. That being said, I have a laptop with teamspeak installed. Voice chat fixes all of it.
Anyway, as long as you're not a super goal oriented person, really like to relax and escape, then this really is the game for you. I highly suggest it to anyone, though I will caution folks to try RENTING or BORROWING it first if at all possible.
now, it's time to wrap this up as i've been writing it all day and it's time for me to go to bed.