In an attempt to put the words “environmentally-friendly” into games, National Geographic has introduced a game to clean up the rivers of the world with Nat Geo Eco Rescue: Rivers. The purpose of this game is to get gamers to think about the environment rather than offer any real challenge. While the theme is a nice idea, the game play does leave a little to be desired.
You have a ship with two grappling hooks. Lower the hooks to grab the trash and waste that is floating on the bottom of the river. Coordinate the grappling hooks with the ship’s movements to capture big items. Meet the monetary goals and secondary goals to complete the level. The money allows you to purchase temporary upgrades and additional tools for your ship.
While there were a few harder levels, most of the game was very easy to play. Meeting the secondary goals wasn’t that challenging. It appears that they made the game play for younger players; however, this game requires too much coordination for younger players, as you must manipulate both the mouse and the arrow keys. So, if your child isn’t a two-handed player quite yet, they won’t have a lot of luck with this game.
The graphics for the bottom of the rivers are decent, but all of the rivers look the same. All that seems to be done is the occasional addition of wildlife in an effort to make a distinction between the world rivers. But really, all of the levels are the same basic river with just a few minor changes.
The music really could use some work. It would have been nice had they matched the music to the area you were fishing in. It would have brought a sense of the region. Sadly, you get the same generic rendering of classical music that is more annoying than enhancing.
The big problem with this game is that it fails to achieve the balance between kid appeal and expectations for an adult challenge. It errs on the kid side, but it is too hard for some younger players.
Don’t buy this game unless it is part of a bundle. For the price, there really isn’t enough game play or challenge to keep interest. With all of the same backgrounds, you just don’t get that around the world appeal that should be there.
