Published by Nintendo

Developed for the Nintendo Wii by Arika

Rating – “E for Everybody”

As yet-another-winter storm blasts against my windows here in my office, I’ve opted to be thousands of miles away, scuba diving off the coast of a little island in the South Pacific called Manoa Lai. It’s an arc-shaped paradise, home to hundreds of miles of underwater terrain filled with coral forests, sunken ships, secret ruins, and deep, mysterious chasms. It’s a virtual vacation, a simulation unlike any I’ve experienced before, one that merges the simplicity and magic of the Nintendo Wii with a scuba diving experience devoid of tension or conflict, but instead filled with a transfixing, quixotic sense of exploration and discovery.

Although the Wii can’t match the visual realism of its competitors, the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3, it’s astounding the sense of realism Endless Ocean does capture. The aimless buoyancy as you float in mid-water, the surrounding bloom of imperceptible blue that gives way to distant and intriguing bodies of marine life which shimmer in mystery and move to catch the eye. The floating soup of plankton and marine particles that flow about you, changing in speed and direction with the influence of eddies and currents, the interplay and dazzle of light along the mirror-like ceiling-surface of the water itself, and the rhythmic constant sound of your air breather, exchanging in and out with your mask. The final touch, and it’s an inspired one, is a soundtrack by Hayley Westerna featuring the same kind of layered, virtual choir singing made popular by Irish vocalist Enya. With music like that, you can swim an inch and feel like you’ve journeyed a mile.

To deliver the relaxing nature of a virtual vacation, the controls and goals of Endless Ocean are simple. Point the Wii Remote at the place where you want to swim to and hold the trigger. That’s it. You can swim in any direction, dive deep into the depths, or skim along the shallow waters of beaches and sandbars. You can move yourself in close to examine any piece of coral or vegetation, to peek inside purple, barrel-shaped pods in search for miniature seahorses or teardrop butterflyfish as if you were really there.

There’s no agenda, no timetable, no restrictions, or tasks that have to be completed. You can dive where you want, swim where you want to, and spend as long as you want there. Although your air will eventually run out, it can take forever to do so, but even then, once you refill the tank you can jump right back in where you left off.

You spend your days picking out spots on a map to dive, each one offering a different surprise in terrain and marine life. Some will give up ruins, some hidden bays where currents pull in fish from the ocean, and others will lead to magical underwater forests. With each dive you won’t know what to expect.

There are hundreds of different animals to interact with, both above and below the surface. As a fish passes by you merely have to click on it to follow its movements and click-and-hold on it again while shaking the remote to pet it. Petting the animals is important in that it will help you identify them and help you keep a record of what you’ve encountered. The game does an excellent job of making sure that there are always new animals to discover. Not only are they spread out and randomized across the coastline, but many are programmed only to appear at certain times or even certain seasons. As you play the game, the sun will pass by over top, set, and turn into night. The days will pass on a virtual calendar and over time the weeks will turn into months. You begin in summer and move into fall and winter. And with each change of time, from day to night, summer to winter, new animals are unlocked. With each new spot you visit on the coastline during the day, you’ll want to return for some night diving where a whole new gallery of creatures will find you in the inky darkness.

If you’re a nature buff you’ll be surprised at the range of animals included as well as how recognizable they are in looks and behaviour. The range of creatures includes birds, seals, penguins, and walruses. Whales, sharks, mantas, and dolphins. There’s turtles, lobsters, and slugs. Countless fish of all sizes and shapes, but most importantly of all I think, is the who’s who of rare and weird creatures. Frilled sharks and giant squids, monkfish, and prehistoric surprises I wouldn’t dare to spoil. If you’re a Discovery Channel fan, you’ll be hard pressed to think of something the game’s missed.

Of course having all of these creatures in one spot is a bit of a fantasy conceit, but so are other amusing elements such as the lack of any conflict. You and everything around you are safe. Go ahead, you can pet Great White sharks and jellyfish. They won’t hurt you, in fact they won’t hurt themselves. The hammerhead sharks and dolphins practically hold hands. As such you’ll never see blood in the game or anything else that might be traumatic to younger players.

Like all good vacations, there are plenty of activities waiting for you when you get tired of aimless exploration. The ship that carries you from location to location has a young woman onboard to talk to and an e-mail system to communicate with university experts that will lead you to little missions where you can play at being a guide for tourists, take photographs of underwater life for a magazine, or engage in a mysterious quest for mythological creatures and ghost ships. There are artifacts to find, ones that will provide clues to the quests and others that will unlock new diving gear, music tracks, and even hair styles.

You can also take on three dolphin partners whom you can train to perform tricks off the back of your ship and who will swim alongside you, calling out when they’ve come across a small fish or treasure piece you’ve overlooked.

There’s an aquarium you can customize, adding in fish and animals you’ve discovered on your dives, and an online mode where you can invite a friend to connect with you over the internet, using their own copy of the game and Nintendo Wii, so that you can dive together.

Endless Ocean has many rewarding layers and many options to explore, and like a true vacation, there is as much to do as there is nothing to do, and after playing the game for over a week now, I’ve found that the novelty has yet to wear off and that “Endless Ocean” is indeed an appropriate name for it. While I'd much rather be scuba diving off the coast of Maui, Hawaii in real life, being stuck here amongst the snow, this is most certainly the next best thing.