Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Endless Ocean - If it's fun, I guess it's a game.

It's rare that I purchase a game for my Wii on impulse, yet when I simultaneously read about Endless Ocean on Kotaku's new release post and Penny Arcade's Blog I decided I like the look of it and I wanted it.

Endless Ocean
is a scuba diving simulation. Good God, it is sooooooo relaxing.

Conflict - None
Danger - None
Difficulty - Easy
Pace - Slooooooooooow
Graphics - Purty

What do you do in the game? You swim. You look for things. "Missions" consist of people asking (nicely, with no obligations) you to help them find specific things. No hurry, just if you feel like it.

In my first few hours of play I:

* Saw and swam with a whale
* Helped a dolphin stuck in a lagoon, it became my friend.
* Found a lost medal and part of an old compass on the sea floor.
* Swam with hammerheads.
* Saw sharks, not the hammerheads, spawn (I guess, they mostly just sat there.)
* Helped two tourists find a particular fish they liked.
* Populated an aquarium tank with fish I'd discovered.
* Petted three kinds of penguins.
* Stayed up nearly an hour later than normal because I didn't want to stop playing.

My current unfinished 'task' is to take a picture of a particular fish...a blue something. No problem, they're pretty common.

Does that sound boring to you? Some people find it boring. Heck, after a couple more hours I might find it boring. For now, however, I find it memorizing and I've spent all day at work just waiting to get back home to it.

One last feature, it's only $30.

-Adam!!!

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