Creatures of the Deep Review

Yes, I'm going to review every N-Gage game so far. Why? Because there arent so many yet so I have the time do it. On to the review:



Creatures of the Deep was yet another game to hit the N-Gage at launch. And a great one at it!
This game makes fishing fun! (Unlike real fishing, where you spend all day in a muddy river bank and go home with nothing.)
I haven't even completed the game yet cos its so big!

The visuals are stunning, on a mobile. The water may seem a little pixelated at occasions but the scenery, fish and stuff look great. Theres also lots of effects, such as weather changing and water dripping from the camera when a fish has been caught. (they put up quite a fight!)
The sounds are great too. You can hear the waves, the wildlife and even the lure making a fain "pulp" sound as it hits the water. But the music can drive any man mad after a longer session.

The gameplay is interesting, as it is a crosbreed of exploring, fishing and RPG. Yes, RPG.
When you catch fish (or items) you get XP (eXpirience Points), you go on quests to gain more XP. You ofcourse level up when you gain a milestone of XP. And levelling up opens new fishing gear and locations. (Don't worry, you don't need in game $$$ to go anywhere or get equipment. They are fully unlocked when a level is achieved.)

There are also tournaments in game. These are just offline VS AI fishers, but when you beat them you can upload your score! (More on that later)

Now, heres where I think they did a cheap trick to lenghten the game: the locations.
Now, the 4 locations of the game are great, no harm there. (only been to 3 so far.) BUT you start from scratch at each location. No, you don't lose your progress, just start over when you visit a location the first time. Each location is like a "new game," very much like having multiple save files but each for different parts of the game. But I still think its annoying to start over at each new location. You even have to aquire your gear all over again! (Which IMO chews up the gameplay a little)

But still its a great game and will take many hours to finish. And theres online rankings to compete in, lots of them. There are boards for Total Weight (including items), Total XP, Tournament Scores And biggest fish caught. (for each type of fish!) And each location has its own set of boards. As you might have guessed total weight might not be so interesting or totoal XP, but the tournament and biggest fish rankings are the interesting ones IMO. (Shame the total XP is considered as the "main" ranking, which I think is as dull as Asphalt 3 total $$$ rankings)

Verdict:
A must have if you are into the more casua games. Also good for ones who want lenght in their game.

Score:
Graphics: 95%
Sounds: 85%
Gameplay: 89%
Overall: 90%