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Wii Game Review


One Piece
Unlimited Cruise 1 - The Treasure Beneath the Waves

 

Format: Wii
NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe
RRP: £29.99
3 296580 807604
Age Restrictions: 12+
Available 19 June 2009


Venture into the expanse of the open sea and navigate your way across various islands using your ship, the Thousand Sunny, as a base. Introducing the ultimate One Piece game filled with adventure, battles and a touching storyline. While at sea, the Straw Hat Pirates encounter waters that are guarded by a mysterious ancient civilisation. Thus begins a grand voyage across the many islands that are centred around a large mystic tree, with a storyline that spreads over two games...

In One Piece: Unlimited Adventure, the motley Straw Hat Pirates find themselves stranded in a mysterious land after a massive island rises to the ocean surface from underneath their pirate ship. Players must assume the role of their favourite One Piece persona and explore this newly formed terrain to uncover the secrets and powers that lie within this isle.

With the Wii remote and nunchuk controller, players pull, turn and swing to battle nefarious villains using each character’s own unique set of moves including Luffy’s “Gum Gum Storm” and Nami’s “Cyclone Tempo”.

Gamers can journey through the exclusive new storyline in Adventure Mode using one of eight Straw Hat pirates or test their skills in Survival Mode and Vs. Mode to unlock more than 40 additional playable swashbucklers. Find a bountiful booty of items, unlock special moves and costumes all in the name of acquiring the ultimate treasure.

This is one of the few Wii games I've played that actually uses the Wii controller well. This is especially rewarding during the battle sequences when (once you've unlocked extra moves) you'll be able to flick your controller to perform special moves, as well as using some simple button combos to unleash different attacks.

The game is fairly straightforward. You play as any one of the Straw Hat Pirates as they sail the seven seas looking for treasure. You start off on one island and as you progress through the game you can set sail for others - all of which have their own secrets and dangerous indigenous life forms. You have to find the treasure on each island before you can progress to the next. The treasure is guarded by that island's boss.

At any point in the game you can head back to your ship. This is helpful for storing items, constructing new items by combining others in your inventory, or bringing back to life any of your crew who you've managed to kill in battle. You can quickly change which crew member you play as, and each has their own unique combat moves, as well as special abilities. But be warned - it's not a good idea to get comfortable with one character, as the more enemies you attack, the greater your character's range of combat becomes - which in turn means the more deadly they are. However, if that character is killed in battle then you'll have to play with one of the other characters until you can make it back to your ship. It's better to try and level up as many of your characters so that they are around the same level - this also has the advantage of you being able to use the same combat button combination for each character (even though the end result is different).

As you progress through the levels you can also unlock doors on your ship that allow you access to areas like the laboratory (to mix potions) and the kitchen (to cook meals). Put even in the early stages it's fun to go exploring around the ship.

You can pick up various useful items like a vacuum cleaner, which is used for finding hidden goodies around the levels, and a net, which can be used to catch frogs, butterflies and other smaller creatures which will come in useful when combined with other items.

The only slight grumble I have is that the camera angle can be a pit of a pain at times. However, simply tapping the "Z" button on the nunchuk quickly spins the camera around to behind your character.

For fans of the One Piece universe this is an essential purchase, and for anyone whose never heard of the franchise before this is the perfect place to start. It's fun, engaging and there's hours of game play.

9

Darren Rea

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