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Wild Earth |
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Developer: Super X Studios Publisher: Super X Studios Genre: Simulation > General Released: Nov 25, 2006 Players: 1 |
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Wild Earth is an interactive safari adventure that gives you the freedom
to explore a realistic African landscape. Think of it as a 3D slideshow
that you create as you play. Armed with nothing but a camera and hungry
curiosity, you set out on various assignments to photograph wild animals
in their native habitat. It's one part entertainment and one part
education with breathtaking scenery thrown in for good measure.
Your first mission is fairly straightforward and sends you tailing a herd of elephants. You are given main and secondary photo objectives you must fulfill in order to progress, though the game is very lenient on when and how you do so. You aren't limited to just those photos, either, so feel free to go snap-happy and turn the game into a real first person "shooter". The first few pictures you'll take involve dung, but it gets more exciting (and less gross) after that. Pictures are saved on your computer as image files, so you can print, share and otherwise boast about your safari photo skills to others.
Wild Earth takes a slight edutainment slant in the form of two narrators who liven up things with factual commentary. You'll probably forget most of what they say, but the interesting stuff will stick, such as why white rhinos are called white even though they're gray. As you complete assignments you learn more about the animals' lifestyle, habits and environment. Before long, you'll be a regular Steve Irwin.
Wild Earth does a good job of pulling you from task to task while giving you some freedom to explore, though sometimes the linearity is a little stifling. It was rare when I wasn't sure where to go next. For this reason, Wild Earth isn't very challenging, but the point isn't to be challenged, it's to be inspired. On that front it succeeds. After playing through each assignment and taking some pretty amazing photographs, Wild Earth proved to be a satisfying adventure.
One quibble with Wild Earth is the frustrating separation of player and
game environment. More and more video games aim for immersion, allowing
you to interact with as many in-game objects as possible. Wild Earth heads
in the opposite direction, putting you behind a camera and forcing you to
avoid experiencing the environment. Some of this is part of the game, of
course, as you can't go on a successful safari if all you do is bother the
animals. But little details like the lack of a jump button made me feel
trapped in my own virtual shoes. I would gaze down cliffs at a herd of
animals, but in order to reach them I had to wind my way through
impassible flat rocks that could easily be stepped over.
In the end, Wild Earth is an impressive blend of edutainment with some traditional video gaming elements thrown in. It's suitable for inexperienced gamers thanks to its simple interface and low-challenge gameplay, but any adventurous person will gleam some enjoyment out of the title.
Graphics:
Top-notch. The environments are detailed and look marvelously realistic. Trees wave in the wind, waterfalls spray mist in the air, animals have fluid movements and do more than just repeat a short animation over and over again. The lions look a little funny, but hey, who am I to judge?
Sound:
The only sounds you'll hear in Wild Earth are birds calling, your guides talking, and animals bantering back and forth. The background music is very soft and professionally done, perfect for the safari experience.
Gameplay:
Simple controls a happy gamer make, and Wild Earth strips it down to the core. The WASD keys move you in the four main directions while the mouse lets you zoom, snap pictures and look around. Intuitive even for non-gamers.
Concept:
Merging the style of a first person adventure game with a pseudo-edutainment safari theme may seem a bit wonky, but it works. The bare-bones features of any video game are represented here, such as missions to complete, obstacles to overcome and rewards when you finish. But the structure is so basic that you barely feel like you're playing a game at all. Wild Earth is much more laid-back. No competition and no pressure, just a few photos and grazing giraffes.
Value:
For $29.95, Wild Earth gives you lots of assignments to experience. Even when you finish them all you can go back to explore and snap more pictures. Although there is very little to do in the game other than complete the objectives, sharing photos is a nice touch and adds some replay value to the title. A very fair price for such an impressive looking game.
Fun:
You'll have a good time wandering through the African plains snapping pictures, observing animal behavior and learning factoids from your narrators. It isn't typical video gaming by far, but it's still somewhat intriguing. If you have a strong sense of adventure the game is even better.
Recommendation:
The excitement of going on a safari and photographing African animals is definitely worth a try. It doesn't have the flair for keeping you riveted to the screen, but what it does have is imagination. No matter who's playing a crowd will gather around the computer to see what's going on. Grab the demo and give the first assignment a try. If you like what you see, you'll love the rest.
Your first mission is fairly straightforward and sends you tailing a herd of elephants. You are given main and secondary photo objectives you must fulfill in order to progress, though the game is very lenient on when and how you do so. You aren't limited to just those photos, either, so feel free to go snap-happy and turn the game into a real first person "shooter". The first few pictures you'll take involve dung, but it gets more exciting (and less gross) after that. Pictures are saved on your computer as image files, so you can print, share and otherwise boast about your safari photo skills to others.
Wild Earth takes a slight edutainment slant in the form of two narrators who liven up things with factual commentary. You'll probably forget most of what they say, but the interesting stuff will stick, such as why white rhinos are called white even though they're gray. As you complete assignments you learn more about the animals' lifestyle, habits and environment. Before long, you'll be a regular Steve Irwin.
Wild Earth does a good job of pulling you from task to task while giving you some freedom to explore, though sometimes the linearity is a little stifling. It was rare when I wasn't sure where to go next. For this reason, Wild Earth isn't very challenging, but the point isn't to be challenged, it's to be inspired. On that front it succeeds. After playing through each assignment and taking some pretty amazing photographs, Wild Earth proved to be a satisfying adventure.
One quibble with Wild Earth is the frustrating separation of player and
game environment. More and more video games aim for immersion, allowing
you to interact with as many in-game objects as possible. Wild Earth heads
in the opposite direction, putting you behind a camera and forcing you to
avoid experiencing the environment. Some of this is part of the game, of
course, as you can't go on a successful safari if all you do is bother the
animals. But little details like the lack of a jump button made me feel
trapped in my own virtual shoes. I would gaze down cliffs at a herd of
animals, but in order to reach them I had to wind my way through
impassible flat rocks that could easily be stepped over.
In the end, Wild Earth is an impressive blend of edutainment with some traditional video gaming elements thrown in. It's suitable for inexperienced gamers thanks to its simple interface and low-challenge gameplay, but any adventurous person will gleam some enjoyment out of the title.
Graphics:
Top-notch. The environments are detailed and look marvelously realistic. Trees wave in the wind, waterfalls spray mist in the air, animals have fluid movements and do more than just repeat a short animation over and over again. The lions look a little funny, but hey, who am I to judge?
Sound: The only sounds you'll hear in Wild Earth are birds calling, your guides talking, and animals bantering back and forth. The background music is very soft and professionally done, perfect for the safari experience.
Gameplay:
Simple controls a happy gamer make, and Wild Earth strips it down to the core. The WASD keys move you in the four main directions while the mouse lets you zoom, snap pictures and look around. Intuitive even for non-gamers.
Concept:
Merging the style of a first person adventure game with a pseudo-edutainment safari theme may seem a bit wonky, but it works. The bare-bones features of any video game are represented here, such as missions to complete, obstacles to overcome and rewards when you finish. But the structure is so basic that you barely feel like you're playing a game at all. Wild Earth is much more laid-back. No competition and no pressure, just a few photos and grazing giraffes.
Value:
For $29.95, Wild Earth gives you lots of assignments to experience. Even when you finish them all you can go back to explore and snap more pictures. Although there is very little to do in the game other than complete the objectives, sharing photos is a nice touch and adds some replay value to the title. A very fair price for such an impressive looking game.
Fun:
You'll have a good time wandering through the African plains snapping pictures, observing animal behavior and learning factoids from your narrators. It isn't typical video gaming by far, but it's still somewhat intriguing. If you have a strong sense of adventure the game is even better.
Recommendation:
The excitement of going on a safari and photographing African animals is definitely worth a try. It doesn't have the flair for keeping you riveted to the screen, but what it does have is imagination. No matter who's playing a crowd will gather around the computer to see what's going on. Grab the demo and give the first assignment a try. If you like what you see, you'll love the rest.
By: John Bardinelli
Posted: Sunday August 20, 2006
Posted: Sunday August 20, 2006
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