Customer Reviews

Endless Ocean: Dive, Discover, Dream

5 star:		(112)
4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I bought this game for my 7-year-old since he loves learning about fish, but my action-game-addicted 12-year-old also loves it. The games has defined goals, but it is essentially an exploration game. You can't lose or die as far as I can tell. You spend most of your time swimmming around, looking at and interacting with various marine life while a soothing New Age score plays in the background. My younger one hates the music, but he can listen to his MP3s on an SD card while playing. There was a lot of reading for him at the beginning, so 7 is about the lower age limit on this game unless your younger child is precocious and reads very well or you want to help them with it.

This is not an action game, but you "collect" information and specimens, photograph them and make friends with dolphins. You occasionally lead tourists on dives and interact with the cute marine biologist who can't swim. Missions, which usually arrive by e-mail accessed on board your dive boat, give some structure to the game, but they are laid-back and not time-limited so you can explore at a leisurely pace.

The controls are simple, requiring only the Wii-mote and the graphics are good, though not jaw-dropping. The sea floor environments and lighting/water effects are well-rendered and the marine life is quite detailed.The whales and rays do present a certain "Wow!" factor and the ocean world seems vast.

All-in-all, I would recommend this game as an experience. It is relaxing and will be intriguing to anyone who is interested in aquatic life. It's a welcome change of pace from violence and frenetic cartoon action and it is educational. I like that my kids spend time immersed in a virtual world that celebrates the wonders of our planet and focuses them on co-operation and co-existence instead of always conflict and violence. It may be a bit slow for those who like constant challenges or non-stop action.

Absolutely beautiful game. The underwater visuals are incredible from the sea floor, hidden treasure, coral, caves, sunken ships, schools of fish, dolphins, manta rays, whales, and much more. Sunlight from above will also filter down below the surface. Day also turns to night and you can go night diving where you may find different types of sea life.

Now, when you are on the boat, it's a different story. The visuals look incomplete. The boat, character, water and skyline all have a "unpolished" look to them. Also, your character apparently has something shoved up his or her rear as you walk around the boat "stiffly". But, this is all minor stuff as you will be underwater most of the time so, it's not a big deal. Again, the underwater world is absolutely a joy to the eyes.

The music is nicely done and very relaxing, but you can load up your SD Card with .MP3 files and listen to your own music while on the ship or diving below. That is a very nice feature and I believe only the second developer to implement this feature on the Wii so far.

You will also be able to customize your character by changing your diving wear and equipment.

The game is totally laid back and you can pretty much do whatever you want, when you want. But you aren't completely on your own. There are definitely specific things to accomplish if you want to. You will receive emails from people wanting you to investigate a specific underwater location, find a special fish or hidden treasure, take photos or even to go along with you as a diving guide. Many of these result in rewards such as new equipment and gear. You actually should accept the first few email requests as it's the only way to get the underwater pen and camera and to unlock the Wi-Fi Connection gateway.

You will help a dolphin early on in the game and he will then become your partner and you can go on dives together. The dolphin will actually help you find hidden items on the sea floor. You can also have the dolphin do tricks up above while you are on the boat. It looks like you can have up to 3 partners to play with. I've only found the dolphin so I don't know what the others will be.

I haven't tested the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection feature, but you can have a Wii friend come over to your boat (or you can go to their boat) and you can go on dives together. Looks like that can be fun. You can communicate with various pre-set greetings and commands or use an underwater pen to draw or communicate (like a whiteboard). It would of been nice to have built-in voice chat capability.

This is a refreshing addition to your Wii library and I think everyone should own this game. It's a very unique and refreshing experience.

Throughout gaming history most every game has focused on some form of the following, getting the high score, collecting the most items or finishing the story of the game. ENDLESS OCEAN is a game that bucks that trend and instead asks you to play for no other reason than to have fun. That alone will cause many gamers to run for the hills screaming that the game is boring, but it isn't as long as you accept the game for what it is and not wish it to be like everything else.

At the beginning of the game you can choose to be a male or female diver and you play the game diving into the ocean looking for new and exotic life as well as exploring caves and such. There are no time limits or goals, though you can choose to do the menial tasks your ships owner asks of you there is no reward or penalty for doing so. You are also encouraged to gather information on the different forms of life you encounter and take pictures of them. But the main point is to explore just for the fun of it and that's what I see as the genius of this game.

With such an esoteric reason for playing there's got to be something to keep the more traditional gamer entertained and that's where the graphics come into play. Playing this game it's very easy to get lost in the world created because everything is so life-like and beautiful. From enormous whales and tiny schools of fish to seaweed swaying in the water, the graphics really impress. This is a game to show off how cool games can look on Wii. That is as long as you stay in the water. Things get more blocky and movements are noticeably jerky whenever you board your ship to save your game, receive instruction and talk to your ship mate.

As is typical for Wii, controls are easy to learn and intuitive. Want to swim left? Simply point the controller to the left hand side of the screen. What could be easier than that? The simple controls and laid back game play make this a game that is perfect for every member of the family.

Though it won't appeal to every gamer, this is a game that anyone with a sense of adventure and love of discovery will be completely enthralled by. Those looking for new kinds of games to play need look no further than ENDLESS OCEAN. Despite being slow by traditional standards and its uneven graphics, it's a game that's truly fun and unique.

Length:: 3:55 Mins

I review games for the wii on youtube. This is an edited version of the original review I did for the game. To see the full version or to see more of my reviews go to www.youtube.com/wiiviewr.

I'm 38 so I know that I'm outside the target demographic for most games, and that's been fine with me. I find most video games to be too frenetic and overall not nearly enough fun to justify the investment of time that it takes to master them.
The Wii is the first console to actually attract and hold my attention, and this game is the first game I've ever really fallen in love with. I didn't know what this game was about when I first ordered it, but I thought the premise was interesting - basically you take on the role of an oceanic explorer on a boat in a fictional tropical sea.
From the very first screen, I was hooked. The game is just beautiful to look at and it manages to walk that fine line - being entertaining and enjoyable to play while also being educational. It's a gentle, relaxing, utterly entrancing virtual deep sea dive.
I bought it during an extremely stressful time in my life and playing this game every evening was the perfect way to relax and unwind before bed.
I admit, I'm a sap - but when I first came around the reef wall and saw a whale coming towards me through the water? It felt a little....magical.

I love this game and I hope that the folks who created it go on to create many, many more such games - for those of us who want more out of our free time than "Point, click, explosion."

Endless Ocean is a unique SCUBA diving game that takes a diversion away from the norm by promoting real-time exploration in place of action oriented game mechanics and therefore risks having many gamers feel like there is a lack of structure in the game. Just like the title suggests, Endless Ocean is about spending limitless time exploring the ocean and the game is full of just about everything you would expect to find in an underwater ocean environment.

The gameplay consists of playing the role of a diver and completing leisurely tasks that involve diving and exploring. The Wii controls are very intuitive and work very well for this game. So, does the gameplay seem lacking in some way? No, not really for me because I am the type of gamer that derives pleasure from ambient worlds when they are created well, artistically, in a game, and as well I am a fan of exploring the depths of the ocean through SCUBA diving and learning true facts about many real species of animal life that reside in the ocean. As for those gamers looking to play and conquer for the purpose of progressing through action packed levels, this is not that type of a game and will probably disappoint on that level. However, if you are blessed with the ability to enjoy the zen of embracing ocean life through the use of a decent video game simulation then you have a good chance of actually enjoying this title quite a bit. One thing I will say about this game, to it's credit, is that it wholly promotes a respect for animal life and provides a great deal of real world information on what you'll find in the ocean. So it is an educational game for those interested in this type of information.

The graphics in Endless Ocean vary from being simplistic and jaggy, to being very beautiful and realistic. For the most part the underwater realms of the ocean are very pleasing to the eye and full of aquatic life that is satisfying to look at and interact with. Dolphins, sea lions, penguins, all kinds of fish, lobsters, Manta rays, whales and much more, are all displayed and animated very convincingly and lend to a satisfying sense of exploring a realistic and living ocean environment.

The game does indeed have a story along with many consecutive requests from various people, ranging from Katheryn (your partner on the boat), to various others requesting your services for photography, underwater tour guiding, artifact recovery and more. You can choose to be either male or female and customize your charactor to a small degree. You have the ability to navigate your boat to different locales on the map, check your email for requests and updates, wander the deck to check out various animals camping out on the boat, talk with Katheryn, sit back in a chair on deck and watch the sunset, train your various dolphin or Orca partners (partners you can decide to take on as you progress through the game) to do tricks and more. Most importantly, you can dive.

If you are the type of gamer that likes to embrace the world around you and revel in it's ambience, then this should be a hit with you.

If you are more inclined to feel you need constant progress by using skills to win your way through a game, then you probably will get bored with this game very quickly.

In opposition to what has been stated in some reviews, it takes much longer than a few hours to see most of what Endless Ocean has to offer. I completed the main story in about 20 hours and still have quite a few areas that have not been explored. You can probably play 30 hours or more without feeling that you are redoing things or that you have seen everything. You could spend over 100 hours and still not have all of the animal life filled in within your encyclopedia.

All in all, this is an above average SCUBA experience that wanders away from traditional gameplay in favor of promoting the exploring aspects of the real life experience and emphasizing the rewarding parts into an easygoing RPG structure.

It's true: you can just swim around, if that is what suits you. But after you explore most of the map, you'll learn that there is indeed a goal. I won't spoil it completely, but it has to do with discovering a legendary creature called the Ancient Mother. Along the way--should you choose to swim with a goal in mind and not just swim--you'll encounter dozens of beautifully rendered sea creatures, hidden ruins filled with ancient secrets, sunken ships, and a chasm over 500 feet deep, each of which make for some truly thrilling moments.

Somewhat less compelling is the personal story of your shipmate Kat, which is revealed in small segments. The presentation of this character is the main reason for my giving the game only four stars; her silent pantomimed "speaking" with subtitles is very dated. Still, she faces some interesting (if neurotic) personal issues that make one want to keep learning more.

This is part of what I like so much about this game: my five year-old son can enjoy swimming around and finding cool-looking sea life, and I can enjoy the added challenge and excitement of finding new areas, creatures, and pieces of Kat's puzzle. And from what I've read, I have quite a task ahead of me; apparently one must find and "interact" with all 200 different sea creatures in the game--three times each!--to reach the conclusion.

All this for thirty bucks. Let's hope there will be more "niche" titles like this in Wii's future and that this one will get the attention it deserves.

Endless Ocean is a very unique experience compared with traditional games. It's not Super Smash Brothers; you don't fight anyone, there's no score kept, and you really can't die or meet with other bad fates. It's also not a scuba diving simulation; as a certified diver, I doubt I'd follow a large shark into a narrow cave in real life, but in the game, no problem. You don't have to worry about getting the bends, running out of air (even if you stayed down long enough, you're simply returned to the boat), or getting stung by jellyfish or attacked by aggressive sea creatures.

What is addicting about the game is the exploration. There are several unique sites in the game, each of which has varying sea life; if the thought of seeing a humpback whale overhead during gameplay sounds exciting, this might be for you. There are numerous objects to find, previously undiscovered sites to explore, and a plot that develops over time involving your shipmate Kat. For the most part, you have complete freedom about where to dive and what to do; if you want to ignore the dive guide requests and photo opportunities, you can do so.

The game starts a little slowly in order to orient you with the controls and the layout. However, within an hour or so you have quite a bit of freedom turned over to you (especially once the boat navigation opens). You can acquire dolphin partners, that if you want you can train from the back of the boat (a little silly, but entertaining occasionally). You also have a camera for underwater photography opportunities.

My wife and I, both scuba divers, find the game captivating. Within three weeks, we have each logged over 20 hours of game play. A key part of the storyline can be completed in ~8-20 hours of play, depending on how quickly you decide to accept varying tasks. However, exploring everything, finding all artifacts, and identifying all of the sea life will likely take longer. Since the game doesn't keep a score or have one ultimate goal, fans of the game will likely play beyond the minimum anyway. Overall, we find the game a nice relaxing deviation from the typical frantic pace of most games.

Endless Ocean appeals with its mellow, self-directed pace, I get to learn about the animals every time I play, and it's a wonderful escape from February in Colorado. It's not a game for the shoot 'em gamer - but then, the Wii is supposed to appeal to a much wider crowd and this game fits in with that great.

I've always wanted to be a marine zoologist, so I am probably right in the center of the target audience, but this is all the diving fun without the jellyfish stings or statistics. There's enough structure - with guided dives, photos to take, species to find - to keep me moving along through the plot and around the ocean world, but on the nights that I just want to chill I can just go dive whatever I want.

I recommend Endless Ocean for people who don't want to shoot anything, don't want to raise their heart rate or stress levels, and find fun in exploration.

This game clearly states that you can't win,or lose. The point is to swim around and discover the ocean. I bought this for my son because it looked fairly easy to operate, turns iyt when I was playing it I had to fight him off because he had so much fun playing it. This is not an action packed game, so if that is what you are looking for, DO NOT BUY IT. For every one else I highly recomend the purchase. Have fun