New addition to series a must play
IF you’ve never come across the strange puzzle adventure called Pikmin, you are in for a welcome surprise.
The series has always been a winner with its charming visuals and clever arcade-style puzzle gaming. In the third instalment, one of the first big name games to come to the WiiU, you get to control hordes of Pikmin again as you battle bigger creatures and hunt for resources.
Interestingly though Captain Olimar, the main hero from the first two games, is nowhere to be found. Instead this time around there are three intrepid galactic explorers for you to play. Further, the game has a different premise. Your trio has been sent to explore the galaxy to find fresh resources.
Your home planet is all but depleted of natural resources, so it is time to scour the galaxy for alternatives.
Thankfully you have an innate ability to control the strange groups of indigenous critters called Pikmin and you can bend them to your will and use their various talents as you explore. You still have to herd your Pikmin intelligently. Each sub species of the different coloured critters has unique abilities. You must use your knowledge of this to help them beat baddies and solve puzzles.
You will need to use Pikmin to build things, break down barriers and battle different kinds of foes, and each Pikmin type will best suit a given situation. For example stone Pikmin are great at smashing stuff, yellow ones conduct electricity and pink Pikmin can fly.
These critters are all controlled with a mouse style light pointer you can wield. Herding them about as they do your bidding does take some getting used to. This is particularly true later in the game when the number you control grows exponentially.
Thankfully, early on things aren’t as stressful and you are eased into the game by some fairly basic challenges. The controls also take getting used to as well. While it is great to use the new WiiU screen based controller, it feels clumsy when aiming at the TV. The more traditional WiiMote approach, as developed for Pikmin 2, actually feels more intuitive, even if you lose the WiiU controller’s map screen.
You will be kept on your toes often, as the three explorers you get to control can split up and manage individual Pikmin teams. This can be quite useful, as you have them working away on different goals, or make it easy to switch between different tasks. However, a word of warning, unattended Pikmin will sometimes get preyed upon and picked off one by one.
Pikmin 3 on the WiiU is a charming game. The Pikmin themselves are amusing, gregarious and delightfully animated.
Pikmin 3 Format : Nintendo WiiU Distributor: Nintendo Players: 1-2 Price: $69.95 Rating : 8/10