The Final Word game review

Aquanauts Holiday -- Sony Computer Entertainment

Enjoy a tranquil deep see adventure in Aquanauts Holiday by Sony Computer Entertainment. Discover hidden lost cities, mysterious treasures, and strange and unique aquatic wildlife as you explore the ocean depths. Build a coral reef to attract colorful fish and other marine animals. Aquanauts Holiday is available now for the Sony PlayStation.

Jester
This is quite possibly the strangest "game" I've ever played. Everyone in my house who saw it asked "Well, what do you do in it?" My only response was "nothing." You explore the ocean depths. It should be noted that reality was changed in order to enhance the experience (ie: some deep sea fish appear at depths they shouldn't). Technically the game suffers only from extreme pop-up and a low amount of detail (this particular ocean is pretty low on plant life). The problem is, once I was done playing it for the first time, I couldn't bring myself to play it again. Rent this one first.

R.I.P.
This game was good for about a four hour stretch one evening. Then I turned it off and haven't been able to bring myself to turn it on again. The concept is great, but the implementation sucks. My three big problems had to do with the fact that there was nothing on the ground except for the "artifacts" that you run across and a few plants, next is the poor sizing of fish (ie: a Humpback Whale is NOT smaller than a shark!), and finally... since when does a coral reef consist of colored jumbo boxes that float here and there? To paraphrase a popular TV sitcom "Maybe this plays great in the sticks, but it just doesn't cut it in Capital City." If you're curious, rent it, otherwise, skip it.

>>>>> 25.5/50 <<<<<		Jester	R.I.P.
Graphics		3.5	3.0
Sound		2.5	3.0
Gameplay/Control		4.0	3.5
Longevity/Playability		1.0	0.5
Overall		2.5	2.0
Total		13.5	12.0

(10/96)