Wage war with mini killers
| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Wii U | 9.20 |
| Overall | 9.20 |
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It's been a long time since I played Pikmin, you could say it's been over a decade and yet the memories are still fresh in my mind. There's no getting away from it, Pikmin is one of those games with a fairly rigid template and any game in the series can't really deviate enormously without fundamentally changing what the game is about. Thankfully the Pikmin formula is as good as it ever was. Most of the time you'll be set in a tranquil haze, relaxed and charmed like listening to your favourite music. At other times, moments of heightened tension and high points which send your heart rate soaring, facing off with some massive freak beast that suddenly attacks. It's this careful balance that makes the game very well designed. The maps are all fairly expansive and intricately designed and the games difficulty is judged pretty well. One must mention the Gamepad use in Pikmin 3, it's something played down upon news of Wii remote functionality; but in reality it works really well. You can play the game with the gamepad alone, but stick aiming is not that good in lieu of wii remote IR, which still feels like some magic device from the future when you kick it on again. But crucially you still use the Wii U pad too. In Pikmin 3 it acts as a KopPad, basically a Pikmin themed tablet which you can use to access tips, info and scores/stats etc. It also doubles as a really great map. On top of that when you click the touch screen the action on the main screen freezes and the HDTV view goes top down. You can then move your finger on the touch screen to move both the gamepad map and the on screen environment in realtime to see different parts of the level and plan your day or troop movements. So you can view this in frozen mode to better plan, or in realtime to see movement, barriers etc when you want to see what's going where whilst you do something else. There is also a waypoint "Go there" function which forms the backbone of the games design. You see there are 3 characters to play as in Pikmin 3, there were going to be 4. You play as all three simultaneously so being able to split them up, redirect them and group them together with the wii u gamepad and "Go here" feature is ball bustingly useful. You might send one group to go bash down a wall, and then send a leader to go pick up pikmin hanging around the onion, then call them back whilst you are on the other side of the level. It also allows you to use the controller as a first person camera and post screens to miiverse. It's games like this or Zombi U which really show the benefits of having 2 screens and a touch screen too. And to be frank it also shows off the Wii remote, still a great controller and achingly useful in any game where you have to point. It fails in offscreen play though, there is no touchscreen use and you cannot use the second stick to herd pikmin like the original GC games. And going from IR to stick controls in off tv play feels so backwards it's so off putting you wont want to do it most of the time. Why do so many Wii U games eschew touch screen controls when using offscreen play? It makes no sense to me, Wii U isn't just about a second screen, it's about touch too and you can use that in offscreen play - even Nintendoland Pikmin used it. The music is suitable charming and the presentation is top notch. The game as a whole evokes that indefinable Nintendo "magic" feeling. Graphics are great, with some really nice designs and polished stuff. Ground textures are good in some places, average in others. It should be noted that the final two areas seem to have better visuals than the preceding levels, perhaps the early levels were Wii 1 carryovers? However ground textures that look low detail and relatively flat come alive when effects and shaders are applied, rain especially. There are many cases where the rockery with rain streaming down it looks similar to the MGS Ground Zeroes original demo. Not far off at least. The depth of field in the game is outstanding, something else noteworthy in many other Wii U games, it seems to be one of the standard, excellent effects the system can pull off. In terms of the length the game took me 20 hours to beat in single player collecting all fruit. There is also a mission mode, far from an unneccesary add-on this is a dedicated time trial mode with (specific tightly designed levels) in which you aim for high scores to either collect or destroy. Items are placed strategically, perhaps even better than the campaign and you can earn bronze, silver, gold medals and even compare them online (the game grabs the details automatically) to show you where you are compared to other players. All things considered, Pikmin 3 is in the top 3 games on the system, it's impeccably polished, wonderfully presented and shows real added value with the wii u gamepad. Along with the excellent Lego City Undercover, it should be your top priority to buy on the system. |
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Posted by gamingeek Tue, 20 Aug 2013 15:20:21
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robio (22s)
Pikmin 2 remains my favorite of the series, but this game stands on its own as a great title itself. I'd say its probably tied with Zombi U for my favorite game on the console so far.
Great review! And keep them coming.
I think I bought the Wii version months after it was released and it was still full price £25. It never reduced in price but you could get the original (NPC) for about £12-£15