Stormhaven
12-26-2006, 10:11 PM
Viva Piñata (http://www.vivapinata.com/)
(Clarification Note: The term "SIM/sim/Sims" is used in this review to refer to "simulation" games, not the Maxis "SIMS" game line.)
Let me start by saying that I was not waiting or even looking for this game. It was pseudo-recommended to me by a friend - pseudo-recommended being: "my friend at Microsoft said it's selling well and seems to be a sleeper hit."
Let me say that I'm a sucker for "pretty". I picked up Gears of War because it was pretty (and ended up enjoying it immensely). I picked up Rainbow Six: Vegas because it was pretty (I've only played this one a little bit). I picked up Viva Piñata for the same reason - it just happened to be a bonus point that it was developed by Rare - the same company responsible for the Donkey Kong Country series on the old SNES (yes, and "Conker" too, but I don't hold that against them.)
So I plop this game into my XBox 360 on Christmas; honestly not expecting much out of the game. Right off the bat I feel as if I'm about to be proven correct - the game is *very* cartoony; the colors, the characters, the design - they all look like they were plucked straight off the Saturday Morning cartoon line up (and apparently there is a Viva Piñata cartoon). I go through the motions of the initial game startup and play through the tutorial-esque first bits of the game. By the time I turn off my XBox, somehow four hours have just gone by, and I have no idea where they went.
In its essence, Viva Piñata will click right away with many SIM fans as the game mechanics are very recognizable. You start with nothing, make it better, and attract stuff along the way. The more your scrap of dirt is worth, the more interesting stuff you attract. There are of course foils along the way which attempt to hamper your progress by destroying your buildings, killing or otherwise making your residents sick, so forth and so on. Honestly if you were to write down exactly what Viva Piñata offers, you would be pretty hard pressed to explain what - if anything - is original about the title.
But that's where Viva Piñata surprises you - hidden beneath an almost obnoxious level of cuteness is a very solidly built and addictive Sim. Viva Piñata does almost everything right; the game play is fluid, the repetition and micro-managing is kept to a minimum and progress is relatively fast-paced. The game does have its quirks - the "ready to mate" status is somewhat annoying; often leading to extended chases while attempting to get your various piñatas to mate and create little baby piñatas. The in-game information system is also a bit unwieldy, switching back and forth from the live game to the in-game “How-to’s” and the encyclopedia gets pretty tiresome, especially when most of the swaps require those really annoying micro-“loading” pauses to present the information each time (ie: not a full “Loading,” but rather one of those mini-loads that require the 4-6s long pauses).
I’m going to take a stab and say that Viva Piñata would be good for parents with kids in the 8-13 range. The game has a lot of built-in assistance for younger gamers, including a simplified control system. The worst example of violence in the game is hitting piñatas with a shovel to make them explode into candy. There is no blood, no gore, no swearing, and the game is rated “E”.
For teenagers I think this may be a bit too cutesy and even for the adult crowd I think many people will hit their saccharine limit and find their teeth melting from the sweetness before they can appreciate the solidness of the game. If you’re like me and a graphics hound, you will not be disappointed. Rare delivers again and even though they went for a very cartoony-look, the lines are sharp, the colors are bright and the 3D-models for the piñatas are amazingly unique. This game won’t win any awards for realism, but Willy Wonka may have to watch his back for the “most surreal” title.
Viva Piñata is definitely not for everyone, but at a cost of around $45-50, it is one of the cheaper new release games for the Xbox 360 and in my opinion worth at least a rental to check it out. It is absolutely the polar opposite of Gears of War in both game play and setting, but strangely enough many of the same people may appreciate this game.
(Clarification Note: The term "SIM/sim/Sims" is used in this review to refer to "simulation" games, not the Maxis "SIMS" game line.)
Let me start by saying that I was not waiting or even looking for this game. It was pseudo-recommended to me by a friend - pseudo-recommended being: "my friend at Microsoft said it's selling well and seems to be a sleeper hit."
Let me say that I'm a sucker for "pretty". I picked up Gears of War because it was pretty (and ended up enjoying it immensely). I picked up Rainbow Six: Vegas because it was pretty (I've only played this one a little bit). I picked up Viva Piñata for the same reason - it just happened to be a bonus point that it was developed by Rare - the same company responsible for the Donkey Kong Country series on the old SNES (yes, and "Conker" too, but I don't hold that against them.)
So I plop this game into my XBox 360 on Christmas; honestly not expecting much out of the game. Right off the bat I feel as if I'm about to be proven correct - the game is *very* cartoony; the colors, the characters, the design - they all look like they were plucked straight off the Saturday Morning cartoon line up (and apparently there is a Viva Piñata cartoon). I go through the motions of the initial game startup and play through the tutorial-esque first bits of the game. By the time I turn off my XBox, somehow four hours have just gone by, and I have no idea where they went.
In its essence, Viva Piñata will click right away with many SIM fans as the game mechanics are very recognizable. You start with nothing, make it better, and attract stuff along the way. The more your scrap of dirt is worth, the more interesting stuff you attract. There are of course foils along the way which attempt to hamper your progress by destroying your buildings, killing or otherwise making your residents sick, so forth and so on. Honestly if you were to write down exactly what Viva Piñata offers, you would be pretty hard pressed to explain what - if anything - is original about the title.
But that's where Viva Piñata surprises you - hidden beneath an almost obnoxious level of cuteness is a very solidly built and addictive Sim. Viva Piñata does almost everything right; the game play is fluid, the repetition and micro-managing is kept to a minimum and progress is relatively fast-paced. The game does have its quirks - the "ready to mate" status is somewhat annoying; often leading to extended chases while attempting to get your various piñatas to mate and create little baby piñatas. The in-game information system is also a bit unwieldy, switching back and forth from the live game to the in-game “How-to’s” and the encyclopedia gets pretty tiresome, especially when most of the swaps require those really annoying micro-“loading” pauses to present the information each time (ie: not a full “Loading,” but rather one of those mini-loads that require the 4-6s long pauses).
I’m going to take a stab and say that Viva Piñata would be good for parents with kids in the 8-13 range. The game has a lot of built-in assistance for younger gamers, including a simplified control system. The worst example of violence in the game is hitting piñatas with a shovel to make them explode into candy. There is no blood, no gore, no swearing, and the game is rated “E”.
For teenagers I think this may be a bit too cutesy and even for the adult crowd I think many people will hit their saccharine limit and find their teeth melting from the sweetness before they can appreciate the solidness of the game. If you’re like me and a graphics hound, you will not be disappointed. Rare delivers again and even though they went for a very cartoony-look, the lines are sharp, the colors are bright and the 3D-models for the piñatas are amazingly unique. This game won’t win any awards for realism, but Willy Wonka may have to watch his back for the “most surreal” title.
Viva Piñata is definitely not for everyone, but at a cost of around $45-50, it is one of the cheaper new release games for the Xbox 360 and in my opinion worth at least a rental to check it out. It is absolutely the polar opposite of Gears of War in both game play and setting, but strangely enough many of the same people may appreciate this game.