As much as some of us would like, not every game can be about bloodbaths, giant guns and huge explosions. Sometimes it’s good to just relax and enjoy a game. The Undergarden hit Xbox Live towards the end of last year and has managed to find its way onto the shores of PSN as well. With it’s focus on underwater exploration, it’s a big change from what some of us are used to playing, but is this just the game you need after rage quitting an intense death match, or is it better off staying under the sea?
The Undergarden is a new title in the ever growing line of relaxation games in the vein of Flower from a few years back. Taking control of some kind of human-fish… thing, the barren, lifeless ocean floor needs to be brought back to its former flourishing nature. By collecting underwater pollen, spreading it throughout the ocean brings back the bright, vivid plants and brings life to the world as you play it.
It’s quite the sight to behold, because the visuals are beautiful to look at. Watching the ocean come alive around you is oddly rewarding in its simplicity, which is amplified by the relaxing music that accompanies the adventure. Collecting characters throughout the levels builds up a small band to bring even more life to the sound. If the developers were aiming to help gamers get lost in the presentation, then mission accomplished. The big issue though, was I never got lost in it as a game.
Atari has promoted the game to be a “Zen Puzzler,” but I found the game ended up being a little too Zen. It’s possible to be relaxing while still holding my attention, but Undergarden couldn’t keep me in the ocean. Despite the gorgeous visuals, I just couldn’t stay interested since many of the goals were very simple to accomplish, not to mention tedious for a few different reasons.
The controls felt too clunky for a game as simple as this, where constant dashing was the only way to get through the slow swimming. The puzzles throughout the 15 levels revolved mostly around growing different kinds of fruit that you needed to activate switches and open doors, but after a few short stages, I felt like I was constantly performing the same fetch quests over and over again. Grabbing specific items was frustrating, since the grab ability grabs a cluster of items at once instead of the specific ones you might need. And although the game itself was easy, putting up with the issues from beginning to end proved to be the biggest challenge to me.
But that’s not to say that The Undergarden isn’t an enjoyable game. There’s a fairly large amount of content considering the $10 price tag, with an ocean full of hidden areas and items to collect. Just swimming through the adventure takes a decent amount of time, but the big issue is if you’re willing to see it through to the end. There are better games if you want to sit back and relax, but if you’ve been through those and want another game to fit in between killstreaks and flag capturing, The Undergarden just might be the dive you’re looking to take.