Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Endless Ocean: Blue World

Developer: Arika
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: Feb. 22, 2010
System: Wii
ESRB Rating: E10+

In a nutshell: You got first-person shooter in my ocean exploration game. And I don't like it!

0:00 I'm in the mood for a nice relaxing game this morning, and if this sequel is anything like the first Endless Ocean, I should be nearly comatose momentarily. In a good way.

0:01 A blinding look into the sun, then an abrupt transition to the title in front of palm trees. A female voice warbles melodically as gulls fly over the water. I have trouble making out most of the lyrics over the sound of the water lapping against the shore. Sound balancing FAIL.

0:03 A whale crests below yet more gulls before doing a massive jump out of the water. It's part of a group of four, and one of them spouts a massive gusher as the credits roll. The singer is back with yet another warbly song. The camera pans back to show a large school of whales spread out across the sea.

0:04 "Incredible... I've never seen so many in one place," says a young girl in a yellow and red wetsuit from a small fishing boat. "It's like every whale in the ocean is here," says the gruff, white-bearded captain next to her. "So your intuition was right on," he says, turning to my first-person perspective. A thin black guy who's also on the boat asks if I "really want to dive with all these whales around? It could be dangerous." I answer that "I'm that kind of guy" rather than "that kind of girl."

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