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Wild Earth: African Safari Review: A-Wiimoweh
Posted by Mike Fahey at 5:00 AM on May 3, 2008
In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps tonight... He also roars, scratches, paws the ground, stalks prey, and kills other members of the animal kingdom, and you can snap pictures of it all with Wild Earth: African Safari for the Nintendo Wii. Released in 2006 as Safari Photo Africa: Wild Earth for the PC, the family-friendly nature and innovative controls of the Wii made the edutainment title a prime candidate for a port. You step into the shoes of a photojournalist taking pictures for a nature magazine in Africa's Serengeti National Park, getting up close and personal with all sorts of exotic plants, animals, and their faeces.
Yes, within the first few minutes of the game you'll find yourself tasked with taking a photo of a giant pile of elephant dung. Does it get better from there? Read on, brave adventurer.
Loved
Concept and Execution: Wander around the Serengeti taking pictures of the flora and fauna while learning an Animal Planet special's worth of interesting facts. At the end of each level your pictures are incorporated into an article covering the area you just visited. Simple, relaxing, and educational, with a great deal to see and a lot of interesting animal factoids to absorb.
The Sounds of the Serengeti: Sound seems to have been a focus in making the game, with the animals and environmental sounds aiding greatly to the illusion of exploring Africa. The music, all courtesy of world music label Talking Drum Records, is a lovely mix of traditional African sounds that set the atmosphere for the game nicely.
Hated
The Visuals: Wild Earth: African Safari is basically a port of a budget PC title from 2006, and thus it looks like a budget PC title from 2006. Muddy textures, simplistic terrain, polygons popping in and out of view. The animals do look lovely, but the rest of the world could use some serious work.
The Multiplayer: The multiplayer elements added to the Wii version of the title feel completely tacked on and aren't actually all that much fun, especially in the foot-based missions, which have one player walking and the other taking pictures. Imagine only being able to take pictures of what someone else is looking at. An exercise in frustration.
The Mini-Games: Another addition to the Wii version, the mini-games just aren't fun, with some of them feeling downright broken. The Flamingo dancing game, for instance, is supposed to play like DDR, with the Wiimote movements replacing dance steps, but the game can't seem to register movement correctly, making the mini-game useless.
Riding The Rails: While several assignments leave you free to roam the countryside as you please, a few find you riding on rails via a preset path, trying to snap your shots as the world passes by. It's a bit like Pokemon Snap for the Nintendo 64, only without the fast pace and charming characters that made that particular game work so well.
Wild Earth: African Safari is, at its core, a guided wildlife tour of the Serengeti National Park. Your well-spoken tour guides tell you what to shoot, when to shoot it, and the significance of what you are taking pictures of. You just look where they tell you and snap a quick picture of it. The original title was (and is) a fine example of what PC edutainment can be. The main problem with the Wii version is basically everything they've added to make Wild Earth appeal to the Wii audience.
If you're willing to ignore the extras and focus on the core gameplay, Wild Earth: African Safari is a relatively solid little learning title that should appeal to the type of folks who leave the cable box on Discovery or Animal Planet all day long, though they might be better served by picking up the cheaper PC version without the extra added crap.
Wild Earth: African Safari was developed by Super X Studios and published by Majesco, and was released in the US on April 22nd. Retails for $US 29.99. Available on Nintendo Wii. Played singleplayer game to completion. Tested all mini-games. Dabbled in multiplayer.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Asper
Posted 6:05 AM 3/5/08
Was this game reviewed because Kotaku was tired of waiting for Yahtzee to do it?
Asper
Scorpi
Posted 5:59 AM 3/5/08
I'd rather play more Endless Ocean, thanks.
By the way, is it just me, or is there no Kotaku-review for World Ends with You? I mean, the game apparently bought you guys pizza, you might as well throw it a bone (if there were bones in said pizza)
Scorpi
Ess
Posted 5:58 AM 3/5/08
So Kotaku publishes a review for about 1% of all games and you pick this?
Huh?
Ess
ajay42
Posted 5:56 AM 3/5/08
@mistersneak: "you'll notice that a lot of the Wii games that look really nice have you in little corridors (Metroid)"
I thought the outdoor sections of SkyTown were some of the best looking parts of the entire game and those weren't remotely in cramped corridors; they were really vast vistas.
ajay42
skink
Posted 5:54 AM 3/5/08
You'd never see a group of male lions snacking down on a kill together. Prides of lions only have one or two males, and anything a male ever kills itself it never shares.
just sayin :P
skink
Abno
Posted 5:53 AM 3/5/08
@Dir_en_grey: If you're talking about the graphics and animations, you must have some awful vision if you think this game looks better than Afrika. It's not even close.
Who said they stopped making Afrika anyway? It's still all over the developers website.
Abno
Dr.Chocobo
Posted 5:48 AM 3/5/08
The picture on the top is making me laugh so hard. There's only usually one or maybe two male lions in a pride as they are very territorial. NOT FIVE!
I wonder what else they screwed up in this game? Time for a rental...
Dr.Chocobo
baxterpunch
Posted 5:46 AM 3/5/08
@ Mike Fahey: I totally loved Endless Ocean, can you make any comparison to it?
baxterpunch
mistersneak
Posted 5:42 AM 3/5/08
@bobtheduck:
Hard to compare the Wii's hardware with the PS3's, don't you think? Though I guess if you have both, you can have that luxury.
mistersneak
mistersneak
Posted 5:39 AM 3/5/08
The graphics are actually far worse for the Wii version than they are for the PC version. You can blame some of that on the Wii's hardware, but for another part, you can blame the game's open landscapes. The game renders a lot at once, and you'll notice that a lot of the Wii games that look really nice have you in little corridors (Metroid), or they don't render full 360 degree environments (Smash Bros), etc. So maybe cut the Wii port a little slack for some low-res environments.
As for the mini-games, I'm surprised you didn't find any of them at least a little fun. The Vulture Pilot game lets you do something on the Wii I haven't seen yet.
Either way, it's a good point that this is a game for a specific audience, but at the same time, I think there's plenty of fun to be had.
In terms of gameplay, I think the Wii version is superior. In the 11 minigames there's bound to be a few that you and your buddies might fight over the high score for. And while the co-op isn't what everybody would like to see, it's better than nothing when you're playing a game with your kid brother in the room, right?
mistersneak
zanzibarlegend
Posted 5:38 AM 3/5/08
u had me at "A-Wiimoweh".
zanzibarlegend
dry-roasted-peanuts
Posted 5:37 AM 3/5/08
Too bad. I've played the bejesus out of Eternal Blue and was thinking a land alternative might be interesting.
dry-roasted-peanuts
Mikey G
Posted 5:36 AM 3/5/08
Mmmm, wildebeest.
Mikey G
Zegridathes
Posted 5:36 AM 3/5/08
When I first saw that screenscreenshot thumbnail, I thought this was about a DS game.
Zegridathes
pandafresh
Posted 5:34 AM 3/5/08
it'd be more interesting if it was you photographing nerds in their prime nature. the caption could be like "Benny fapping to anime girls" or "Dennis crying over a RROD" that'd be fun!
pandafresh
t0yrobo
Posted 5:31 AM 3/5/08
Huh, what the hell just happened here?
t0yrobo
3inst3in
Posted 5:31 AM 3/5/08
awiimoweh....BWAHAHAH!!!
3inst3in
Dir_en_grey
Posted 5:30 AM 3/5/08
Heh, looks better than PS3's Afrika... Took them long enough now the Afrika promo looks like crap compared to everything else now.
Maybe Afrika was the same concept, of taking pictures, that's why they stopped making it?
Dir_en_grey
bobtheduck
Posted 5:25 AM 3/5/08
Um... Afrika, anyone? And Afrika will look a lot better, provided they just work on that darned water...
bobtheduck
mr_dimsum
Posted 5:22 AM 3/5/08
I clicked on this article hoping to find some conning little jokes poking fun at the game, but that had an epiphany.. Why am I reading a review on this game in the first place?
mr_dimsum
karasu is my homeboy
Posted 5:20 AM 3/5/08
I would actually give this a shot because it's different and I like Pokemon Snap and animals.
However, these N64 graphics complete with MS Paint's spray can effect for the lion's manes is a real shame.
karasu is my homeboy
Glasseater
Posted 5:19 AM 3/5/08
lol, pokemon snap for the wii
Glasseater
Gordon_Shumway
Posted 6:22 AM 3/5/08
All I want to know is - can you be killed by the lions?
Gordon_Shumway
electroshockwave
Posted 6:15 AM 3/5/08
@Dir_en_grey: Yeah, it looks way better than Afrika: [www.gametrailers.com]
/sarcasm
electroshockwave
timb18011234
Posted 6:13 AM 3/5/08
I thought the PC version was a lot of fun.
timb18011234
lonecow12
Posted 7:07 AM 3/5/08
I was about to say "HA HA AFRIKA's GRAPHICS ARE CRAP!"
Then I realized it was for the Wii. So sad.
lonecow12
karasu is my homeboy
Posted 6:49 AM 3/5/08
@Scorpi: This could be the reason that they don't review it. Some people would complain that the opinion was swayed.
Or maybe they just don't feel like it. Kotaku reviews are pretty random.
karasu is my homeboy
lonecow12
Posted 7:38 AM 3/5/08
@ZombiePuppy:
Actually I was trying to make fun of Fanboys on both sides.
The irony of my post was lost.
lonecow12
ZombiePuppy
Posted 7:29 AM 3/5/08
@lonecow12: Are those ban monday things still going?
ZombiePuppy
BruzeWayne
Posted 8:08 AM 3/5/08
Just when I thought wii-isms were deader than dead...
Best one yet, good job MF.
BruzeWayne
nmlss
Posted 8:03 AM 3/5/08
Why the FU*K did the developers make shit like this??? They think this is good for Wii or what????? Come on, make more games with graphics like Zelda or Mario Galaxy or Metroid.... are Nintendo the only ones who made good graphics for the Wii?? FUC*!!!!.... This kind of shitty games make me angry....
nmlss
CockroachMan
Posted 7:45 AM 3/5/08
@mistersneak: Nops.. that's mostly laziness from the developers.. just take a look at Mario Galaxy
CockroachMan
mistersneak
Posted 8:42 AM 3/5/08
@baxterpunch:
I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.
mistersneak
baxterpunch
Posted 8:36 AM 3/5/08
@mistersneak: Sooooooo, I'm guessing you either worked on this game or are related to someone who worked on it?
baxterpunch
Dir_en_grey
Posted 8:35 AM 3/5/08
@Abno:
@electroshockwave:
Anything looks better than something non-existant... well I thought Afrika got canceled or something.
Yeah I have the demo vid on my PS3. Never hear anything on it so I thought it vanished into thin air or was just another tech demo that never really ran on PS3. I actually wanted the game just because it looked "realistic" at the time. It should've been a launch title cuz the graphics looks pretty generic now by today's standards.
Good to know they are still working on it though, but it's a meh for me now if it is infact just a pokemon snap (Kinda figured that was the case when they show the guy w/ camera), unless they can blow me away w/ the graphics again.
Anyway I was harsh on the Afrika demo cuz I was angry at the game never came out =P
Dir_en_grey
mistersneak
Posted 8:30 AM 3/5/08
@skink and others:
The scene of the male lions is not actually in a game. They must be using an early version of the game, as that lion pride only has two males in it.
@nmlss:
Zelda's graphics weren't very good either.
href="#c5503680">CockroachMan:
Not that I'm defending the graphics. Yeah there are no shaders and sometimes the textures look muddy, but remember this is a PC game that's been ported to the Wii.
Of course a platform specific game is going to look better for its only platform than a game that has to dumb down to the Wii hardware.
As for laziness, do you have any idea the amount of time that was taken to make the port? Don't assume that the time between PC and Wii releases was all spent making the port.
mistersneak
baxterpunch
Posted 9:01 AM 3/5/08
@mistersneak: See? Now that just gets me interested. Looks like you live in Seattle, where the company is based out of. Quick search of the company's website basically only lists James Thrush, but boy is his name all over that site. His personal email addy is also the support addy? Strange, but reveals that the studio is very tiny. So, James Thrush....and maybe a couple other dudes? And those dudes are more than likely contract or really good friends?
I'm gonna go with James Thrush or a very close friend of his.
Oh, and congrats on the IGF awards!
baxterpunch
TheNocturnalSun
Posted 9:27 AM 3/5/08
still waitin for that Afrika
TheNocturnalSun
VakeroRokero
Posted 11:26 AM 3/5/08
I didn't know africa had such blurry earth! I bet you would trip on a stone and not even be able to see it!
VakeroRokero
rubadub
Posted 11:22 AM 3/5/08
I dont know how the controls work, but this seems like it would be fun to mod for use with the Wii Gun and the addition of some blood.
rubadub
Salen
Posted 11:56 AM 3/5/08
Holy S***! Its a Lion! GET IN THE CAR! XD
No, seriously, I wanna see cameraman mauling. It would be Grand Theft Lion, only instead of stars, you earn lions, lions who want to chew on your head.
Nomnomnomnom!
Salen
ThreeLeafIvy
Posted 2:09 PM 3/5/08
Bringin' the average score of Wii games down again, I see...
ThreeLeafIvy
hrabbit
Posted 5:08 PM 3/5/08
this article somehow reminds me of "Hey you pikachu" :D that totally needs to be made into a ds game or something ahaha *ahem* back on topic, I played the demo on pc and I think my little sister will love it
hrabbit
Rickster
Posted 5:45 PM 3/5/08
>:3
Rickster
Abno
Posted 12:06 AM 4/5/08
@Dir_en_grey: Alright, I can give you that. This game would look better than a non-existent Afrika. ;D
Plunkett made a post back in december 2007 saying it's still on the way. They're just being ridiculously secretive about the whole thing and gave no indication when to expect it.
[kotaku.com]
Abno
Fatass of Kickassness
Posted 12:23 AM 5/5/08
@mistersneak: "a lot of the Wii games that look really nice have you in little corridors (Metroid), or they don't render full 360 degree environments (Smash Bros), etc. So maybe cut the Wii port a little slack for some low-res environments."
Um, did you play Super Mario Galaxy? The draw distance was godly (for what they were working with) and the visuals aren't too shabby (at all). I think it's more an issue on lazy portwork - maybe, if it was a bigger title, I'd be more inclined to agree with you, but it's a budget port of a lame game. Don't try and blame it on the Wii.
Fatass of Kickassness