Viva Pinata Review (Xbox 360) By Wriggy

9 / 10
28 Oct 2006 at 20:37

Review by: Wriggy

Viva Piñata is the latest game from Rare (who also made Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power) where players get the chance to create a safe environment for piñata to come and live in but will it get you raring to shops to buy it or not?

The game may look “kiddish” but I think it is one of the best XBOX 360 games available for anyone of any age.

The idea of the game is (in my opinion) very simple. The game requires you to build an environment for piñata to come and live in. The garden can be made by destroying old bits of stone, planting grass, tress, watering nature and a lot more. Not only do you have to build the environment for the piñata but you also have to protect them from bad things. This is a clever way of making the game harder but this can get very annoying.

To get more piñata, you can make more environments for different piñata or make piñata “make out”. I won’t spoil how you make them “mate” but it is a clever way of doing it. Each piñata also has its own characteristics from piñata type to personality.

There is no multiplayer mode but this is because the online features wouldn’t be possible in it. Online mode lets you talk to other gamers with the game to get tips on how to attract certain piñata to your garden, create a challenge or trade certain items. This is a great way of online entertainment and it can only be possible on this game. That is probably why it’s so good.

The graphics are some of the best around due to all the detail and the gameplay speaks for itself.

Overall for Viva Piñata on the XBOX 360:

Graphics: 91% – The graphics for this game are absolutely superb as gamers can see every little detail in the grass and piñatas fur. Only real let down for me is that some icons in the in-game menus can be hard to understand.
Gameplay: 95% - The controls are simple and are easy to use. They also appear on the screen every time you may need to use them which are always a big help for news and older players. The game runs at a good speed and Rare got most aspects of the gameplay perfect.
Lifespan: 87% - I could see a lot of gamers playing this game till around mid 2007 because of everything in the game. It also has quite a few achievements to unlock.
Multiplayer/Online: 85% - When I played the game I didn’t get much chance to test out the online feature but what I saw of it was looking very good. The trading and help options are something I would like to see a lot more in the future as apart from online co-op, it seems like it’s the only way to help people online.
Single Player: 93% - The game’s single player is incredible and takes quite a bit to play which is what we expect from next generation.
Sound: 80% - The sound wasn’t spectacular but there was a good variety of sound effects for everything which I would like to see more of in other games as they always seem to use the same effect for everything.
Value for Money: 85% - The game is brilliant and definitely worth fourty pounds (£40). I feel the limited edition isn’t worth getting for an extra fiver but the cartoons of the game are quite hilarious compared to others.

Overall: 88% - An excellent game from Rare and a must buy for all XBOX 360 owners of any age.

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