Evofish Review

Evofish Screenshot 1

The Wii U Eshop is now getting really busy and as a Nintendo fan I am more than glad the indie scene is keeping the console busy in the dry times for major releases. Some of the games in fact have been of a really high standard. I am always interested to see something different on a console, that fact drew me to Evofish.

Have you played Spore, Feeding Frenzy or any other game where a small creature grows by eating smaller creatures, yes, then think of that… No? Basically, you are looking down into a pool controlling a fish, evolving as it eats, growing as it feeds, eating smaller fish, avoiding bigger fish. This is the first point where I need to put a negative on this game, the actual fish whether it’s the one you control, or the others, if they are bigger or smaller, they don’t vary in size at, all this clouds the gameplay quite a bit. To combat this they make the smaller fish (the ones you can eat) flash green, and the bigger fish (the ones that hurt you) flash red, to be honest it helps, but the problem still annoys.

Evofish Screenshot 2

The game play is basically the more you eat, the more you win, the more you are eaten the more you die. Indeed, it ultimately is that simple. There is power ups that help vary the gameplay, bombs, time slow down, character speed up, however these effects don’t mean a lot and some can even add up to be an inconvenience in themselves. The game runs smooth and can be engaging even if it is for a minute. The atmosphere created is relaxed and smoothing, but the gameplay is too quick to even keep that up. The most frustrating thing for however is the fact the game only has one screen for all levels, making it one pond you are in, no matter how big you are supposed to get variety could have helped this game, it’s a shame there is none.

As negative as I have been talking about the gameplay, the graphics are actually pleasant enough, the water effects, however as previously mentioned, there is not much variety there in differences in fish or the one screen for all levels. I would feel they are fine, not spectacular, but indeed create a nice ambience. The fish designs are variable, and the main character model does indeed evolve, none of these effect gameplay, aesthetics are good to have in place, but if it doesn’t affect how the game is played we may as well be pushing around grey dots on a black background. The aquatic sounds and music help with the ambience too, so are fine for me too, simple as that.

Evofish Screenshot 3

The gamepad off screen play works fine, the touch screen is used only for the options screen apart from that, there isn’t much else to say apart from that about this. Perhaps controlling the fish with the stylus could have been an idea, but I am just a reviewer, I don’t develop games, so I don’t know really.

Overall I feel like this game isn’t worth it’s price point, I feel that unfortunately, I could play a game of the same value for free on my phone (ignoring adverts of course). The game itself is okay, I could image kids getting on with it okay for a while. However experienced gamers will baulk at paying full price for this one, being done with it within minutes without any real variety or challenge.  As mentioned at the start of this review the Wii U Eshop has been going through a revival and even a time of enlightenment, Evofish is an example of the dark under belly of this trend, the games that are tagging in on the trend, that do not match the quality we Nintendo fans want. It is what it is, but I recommend you look elsewhere for value for your money.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Wii U code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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One Response

  1. Avatar Martin McCluskey August 9, 2014