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Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep (Wii)
by tirial
A diving simulator by Arika, sequel to the popular Wii launch title Endless Ocean, this game is an unusual one.
You play an experienced diver, recruited by a specialist diving firm to explore the oceans and find treasure. As your reputation grows you are approached for other tasks - taking photographs, helping run an ... aquarium, discover and catalogue rare species and more. In your spare time you can run guided tours around the world, upgrade your tropical island home, and train dolphins. The game has an ongoing plot concerning a mystery about the world's whales, but as with the first Endless Ocean game this is short and much of the gameplay will occur after you complete it - in fact certain parts are not unlocked until you have.
You can actually visit locations like the aquarium and the island, giving the world outside the water a wider feel, but Endless Ocean is about diving and it is obvious where the work went in.
Underwater the graphics are beautiful, lifelike and immersive. There are some truly breath-taking moments in this game, from examining tiny angelfish to watching a school of blue whales swim by in awesome detail. Swimming is controlled by the Wii-mote or classic controller, and usually played in the third person, although you can zoom in to spot tiny fish you would otherwise miss.
The diving locations are set all round the world, with a huge range of fish and sealife in each location, and very different feels to each area. You can even climb out of the water to observe animals on land, for example penguins on ice. The fish are not all friendly - a range of hazardous animals makes diving in some areas a real risk and gives diving in those places a heart-in-mouth feel. There are some genuinely scary moments in this game.
Choosing your equipment is an important part of the game. Equipment changes are not cosmetic as they were in the first game, and each piece has unqiue abilites. You also have sonar and optional equipment which can be used to find items, drive off hazardous fish, or perform other functions. Depending on what task you want to complete, customising your suit can be essential since you have a limited amount of space.
The photographs, tours, and aquarium are nice touches, as is the ability to customise your island. One of the best part of the game comes after the main plot where, having solved one mystery, other marine biologists come to you with marine mysteries to solve. These are tricky and some require thought, skill or an FAQ, and definitely extend the game's playing time. I actually preferred this part to the main plot.
The dolphin training was the downspot for the game, and actually annoyed me. You can recruit dolphins of different types from around the world, all with their own abilities and train them to perform. The problem is that you don't play the training. If you set the dolphin to auto-train and leave the console playing itself, the game will happily do the gruntwork for you, and do it more effectively than if you play it. It just takes hours. Literally. This is the only reason the game doesn't have five stars, as you actually need to 'train' some of the dolphins for plot purposes.
In conclusion, Endless Ocean 2 is a great blend of game and diving simulator. For anyone who complained the first game lacked excitement or plot, this one has both and is well worth looking up. It is more complex, and not quite as suitable for younger players, but the majority of gamers should enjoy it.
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EA Sports Active 2 (Wii)
by moggym
This is a fitness game to really get your heart pumping and still have fun.
There is a box full of goodies that come with this evn a full set of batterys to get you started, There is the game disc and instruction booklet as you would expect, also in the box is a total body tracking system this contains one leg and one arm ... elasticated strap the arm one is also a heart monitor this fits on to the right forearm the leg motion monitor fits onto the upper left leg this will not stay in place and has to be constantly adjusted, they are held on with a velcro strip and are easy to get off and on, these will need to be synchronised with your Wii, they are not simply connected as the other Wii controlers these need a wireless usb dongle luckily this is also in the box, it only takes about 10 seconds to get connected, and lastly a resistance band with attachable handles the band is very flexable but can be adjusted to make them shorter for better resistance.
Getting started for the first time is a bit of a long process, first you need to enter your sex, age, height(in cm) handedness and your weight this can be imputed yourself or by using the Wii board. Once that is done you have to design your person that will represent you on screen clicking random will get you through this quicker, Input user name there can be upto individual 5 user profiles, then there is an option of using a Wii board or not, click through a few more screens then theres a video this can be skipped, finally this is you onto the main start menu.
On screen there are 5 main options Fitness program this is a guided fitness program that gives you a choice of doing a nine week program, this is aimed at overall fitness and getting the heart pumping or cardio kick start this is a three week program, both choices can be done as easy, medium or hard, the bad bit hear is that it is a 4 workout week I would prefer to only do three this is not an option, missed workouts will count towards finishing the programs so reaching the goal set can be done with only doing one workout not so good. Journal this is a good way to track all your activities, it willl track your workouts nutrition, goals, and calories, Workout groups this is an online feature that allows you to join up with others dont really see the point, My workouts is were you can create your own workouts or choose a trainer generated one there is also 18 preset workouts to choose from and learn about this is just information about the game and how things are done.
Workout screens are set in a few different areas with the workout time at the top left, calories burnt at the top right, below this is your BPM and what zone your heart is pumping. The personal trainer will show you how to do the exercise then simply copy, to start there is warms then the work out fallowed by the cool down, once finished you will get your stats for the workout showing calories, heart rate charts.
There are loads of exercises in this game too many to mention, from the basic squats and running, to the more fun mountian biking, shooting basketball hoops and football training, there is a workout on this to suit most users with the exception of weight lifters.
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EA Sports Active 2 (Wii)
by sidmouth12
The Wii Active is a great product of which you can gain real genuine fitness while having fun at the same time. I found the programs very easy to use and very easy to setup. The only problem really with the wii active is that it can run a bit slow at times and be a bit annoying at times. But that to be honest is the only real downside. ... The graphics really are fantastic and it has very easy to use controls. I found that this was much easier than going to gym and in the long run a lot cheaper as well. I would suggest this to anyone who wants to get fit with out the dull atomsphere of gym. It is also not overpriced and suits most budgets. Also being able to design your own style is a lot of fun two . thumbs up for the wii
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