Despite being a niche game that won't appeal to everyone, Endless Ocean does what it's supposed to do really well.
Endless Ocean's premise is quite simple. It takes place in the waters of the Manoa Lai Sea (which isn't real so don't go looking it up as your next vacation spot). You play as a scuba diver who probably wants to make a name for himself. You and your partner, Katherine Sunday travel through the vast Manoa Lai doing all sorts of different things like salvaging items, learning more about the aquatic wildlife, taking pictures to put in magazines, giving diving tours, and befriending dolphins who can be your diving partners. While you're doing your job, you can even get to know more about your partner's past and make groundbreaking discoveries.
The game also plays incredibly simply. The game takes place underwater most of the time and you swim around. You can close up on the aquatic wildlife in order to closely examine them and you can also feed them, take pictures, and use your underwater whistle to call dolphins. On your boat, you can check your e-mail on your mobile phone (which informs you of diving and photo requests and it also lets you access new gear which is somehow magically delivered to you through e-mail attachments), talk with your partner, and sit down and enjoy the scenery (which is a bit of a boring feature).
At this point, you might be wondering what this game has going for it. The gameplay features aren't exactly great, the story is simple, and so on. Well, that's what I meant about Endless Ocean being a unique and different game because the gameplay isn't what makes it likable and special. The game focuses on immersing you in the huge and vast Manoa Lai. You can simply swim around leisurely and examine corals, you can bump into huge blue whales and whale sharks that are quite astonishing to look at, and really, the point of the game is to relax and immerse yourself in the ocean which is something that Endless Ocean does wonderfully.
On the technical side of things, Endless Ocean also excels. The graphics are some of the best on the Wii (although some people who are used to the obviously superior graphics of the Xbox 360 and PS3 won't be too impressed) filled with a detailed environment and fish that look like their real-life counterparts. Much of the music underwater consists of songs which are sung by Hayley Westenra who sings quite well and her songs really fit the mood of the game. One big thing about the music however is that the game allows you to put MP3 files from your SD Card into the game and play them which allows for an even larger variety of music if you don't like Hayley Westenra's which is a really good option to have. The game also pretty much lasts for a really long time because even after finishing the short story mode, there's still an entire ocean out there to explore and many more missions to do.
In the end, Endless Ocean is really a great game because it does what it tries to do successfully. It proves to be an incredibly relaxing and immersive diving simulator (which is further enhanced by the first-person mode) and it has some really good sound and graphics. Obviously, the game is not for everyone. I cannot stress this enough. Just because I recommend it to people with an open mind and I personally think it's great, many people out there will hate it and one really should think carefully before making the decision to purchase this game. Otherwise, it's a great game and I recommend it to anyone who wants to give it a try and thinks it looks interesting.