When Pokemon
Snap came out on the Nintendo 64, young gamers were able to pick up a
virtual camera and hunt down unique Pokemon and snap a picture of them in their
natural habitat. It was a simple game but it was fun and an interesting way of
introducing photography to the very young. Several years later and Nintendo
gives us its revolutionary Nintendo Wii console that would see perfect for a
game similar to Snap only using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk attachment.
Unfortunately, Wild Earth: African Safari – while an educational title –
just doesn’t manage to be fun or truly innovative as it could have been on the
Wii.
In African
Safari, you take up the role of a photojournalist on assignment in the
African Serengeti as you are commissioned to take photos of the indigenous
wildlife for Wild Earth Magazine. It’s quite an opportunity to be out in the
wild taking pictures of everything from wild birds, exotic insects and animals
such as rhinos and hippos. Seen in first-person view, you practically are
looking through the lens of your camera throughout the assignment so you are
free to take pictures immediately.
Go On Assignment
is the game’s main mode where you are followed by the voices of two invisible
guides that provide fascinating little tidbits about the animals you’ll get to
see throughout the game. You’ll be given photo objectives as you move along and
these objectives can be very specific. You’ll be asked to snap a picture of a
giraffe eating from a tree branch or a hippo moving its ears while the two
guides explain each behavior in detail. There are also objectives that have you
taking photographs of specific flora and fauna or even a body of water. Even if
you complete all the objectives you can take extra photographs for your own
portfolio.
Sadly, this
Africa feels unexciting even with the animals on display. It doesn’t take long
for you to encounter a herd of elephants or a small group of zebra grazing but
oftentimes the wild is just a flat, barren landscape. This, however, is not the
problem with African Safari. The real problem is in the photography
itself. There are times when you won’t be able to find the objective even with
the Direction Finder feature that tells you if you’re close to the subject. When
you find yourself stuck, all you have to do is just snap away wildly until
somehow you manage to capture the image you were supposed to capture. Don’t
worry, you never run out of film. Wouldn’t it have been more interesting if you
ran out of film at a crucial moment and you had to wiggle the Wii Remote to
change film or a fresh memory stick?
Just about the
only challenge you’ll find in the game is not scaring off the animals. It’s a
bit startling when you get too close to a young elephant male who charges at you
but all you have to do is turn around and run away before it simply loses
interest in you. The game’s repetitive cycle is only broken when, at some point,
you ride in a jeep to snap action photos of lions on a hunt. Younger gamers
might get bored quickly with the game and with very little challenges, you can’t
blame them.
There is a co-op
multiplayer mode that allows gamers to play along with up to three other
friends. This way you and friend can cover the objectives more quickly and one
of them can even drive a jeep while the other takes the pictures. Completing the
main mode, you also unlock a series of eleven mini-games. The mini-games are
actually fun and downright hilarious. Each game has you assuming the role of an
animal so in Elephant Wash, you guide an elephant’s trunk as you wash a parade
of dirty animals with water from a lake. Vulture Pilot has you flying through
hoops as a vulture and Flamingo Dancer is Dance Dance Revolution-styled
musical mini-game. Young gamers will certainly have a blast with these games.
African
Safari will
bring back memories of the old Nintendo 64 console with its flat textures and
weak visual effects that take away from being in Africa. Watching trees and
foliage pop-up will make you cringe and the African sky looks washed out. The
animals actually do look good at times, especially from afar, and the animal
animations can be decent while others make the animals seem mechanized.
As far as the
sound is concerned, the game has a wonderful soundtrack. Personally, I wish the
main menu music played during the main mode since it’s colorful and lively
African music. The rest of the soundtrack is actually excellent as well and the
two voices of the guides are agreeable and you won’t really mind their constant
interruptions. Their facts are not only interesting but by the end of the game
you’ll know a thing or two about each animal. As for the sound effects, the game
disappoints in a major way. You won’t hear insects and the breeze and the only
time you’ll hear an animal is if you’re a bit too close to them. This is another
reason you won’t feel like you’re in the African bush.
Wild Earth:
African Safari
for the Nintendo Wii is an educational experience but one that
lacks gameplay that is fun enough to keep younger gamers interested for very
long. Snapping pictures of animals could have been fun but there’s no real
challenge here that will make you feel much like a photojournalist or an
adventure-seeker in Africa. It was a good attempt that just falls short in so
many ways that I find it hard recommending this game.
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Gameplay: 5.0
Kids will
learn about predators and some of the habits elephants and other “target”
animals will exhibit but the photography portion is way too simplistic and
unchallenging to be much fun. The Wii controls aren’t implemented as well as
they should. The game misses the mark completely in terms of photojournalism.
Graphics: 4.5
The graphics
will remind gamers of the Nintendo 64 with the flat textures and plain
backgrounds that will turn off those gamers who love good graphics. At least the
animals look good through the lens of your camera but as far as animation goes
you are in for a huge disappointment.
Sound: 6.0
Sadly, the
sound effects are very minimal so you don’t feel like you’re out in the wild.
Secondly, the animal sounds are looped and take away from the experience.
Thankfully, the voice acting is decent and the music is excellent at times.
Difficulty:
Easy
Occasionally,
there are some hard-to-find subjects to photograph but it’s nothing snapping
away blindly with your camera won’t fix. While you never run out of film the
only real challenge keeping from startling the animals.
Concept: 5.0
The narrators
do a good job of offering fun animal facts and sometimes the objective isn’t as
easy to find as one might think. Still, there’s very little change in gameplay
and you rarely feel like you’re out in the African wild. At least there’s co-op
multiplayer and a few mini-games to break up the repetitive story mode.
Multiplayer:
5.5
One player can
drive the jeep while the other can snap pictures of animals. It’s simple and a
tad more fun with a friend but only if said friend can drive without the
temptation of running over the animals. Up to three friends can join in and help
you capture those rare animals that might be too hard for you to find on your
own.
Overall: 5.0
Young gamers
will rarely be challenged by Wild Earth: African Safari and, while there
are some interesting lessons to learn, the repetitive gameplay make this a game
they will only want to play once. There are fun mini-games and co-op works well,
but ultimately this game falls short in the gameplay department.
