Viva Pinata

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Release Date: November 9, 2006
Developers: Rare, Climax Group
Publishers: Microsoft Game Studios
Platforms: Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Genre: Life simulation
Players: Single-player
Rating (ESRB): E (Everyone)


Synopsis:

Viva Pinata is a customizable, social and spontaneous game that invites players of all ages and skills to explore an immersive world where they are challenged to create and maintain a living garden ecosystem that grows in real time. Beginning with a few basic tools, players build and take control of their environment to attract and host more than 60 species of wild pinata, utilizing hundreds of customizable elements to create their very own distinctively unique thriving paradise. Viva Pinata gameplay continues to evolve with new content available via the Xbox Live service and the ability to play, trade and interact with more than 2 million gamers via the online service.

Gameplay:

The gameplay for Viva Pinata is unlike any other game I've ever played. You play from a birds eye view over a garden. In this garden you attract other pinatas and build your own garden with plants, lakes, pinata houses, decorations and special items. You have to complete certain challenges to earn bigger more rare pinatas. You could say the main goal of the game is to obtain every pinata in the game. This takes a long time and a lot of work. I would say the game is not for little kids like most people would think a game about pinatas would be. It takes a lot of strategy and patience to build a good pinata garden. After playing for a long time you will have all sorts of pinatas in your garden ranging from water pinatas, grass pinatas, dirt pinatas, long grass pinatas and more types of pinatas. If you take out the pinata part of the game this is basically a game about collecting and domesticating animals. In the game things called ruffians start invading your garden and will infect, ruin or kill your pinatas. The ruler of the ruffians is guy named Professor Pester and he will demolish buildings, kill pinatas and plants and leave total destruction in your garden. Another neat feature in the game is being able to design your own logo that will be put on the tags on the pinatas you own. This is very cool because when you trade your pinatas with other users your tag will stay on the pinatas in the other users gardens. I thought this was a really cool feature because one of my pinatas got into a garden on the leader boards. This game is overall pretty interesting.

Gameplay Rating: 8/10

Graphics:

The graphics are pretty great on this game I would say. I have yet to find any rough spots or parts in the game that are poorly done. This is probably due to the fact that the game is in such a small area. The whole game is inside a valley type thing. I didn't like what it looks like when you break things. The pieces would awkwardly break into the floor. Other then then that the game does a great job of showing ever little piece of paper on the pinatas. I liked how in the game when there is a lot of moving things at once everything remains smooth without any shown lag or FPS drop. Overall this game has average graphics, nothing special.

Graphics Rating: 7/10

Examples:

Controls:

Not much to say about the controls, the game is played from a overhead view. You control a circle around the map and whatever gets inside the circle is the main focus. You use the analog sticks, A button and the B button mostly for the whole game. Very easy to get used to and will become second nature within minutes. The controls in Viva Pinata are very similar to the controls in From Dust.

Controls Rating: 8/10

Awards:

Viva Pinata was nominated for 6 awards by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.
Console Game of the Year (nominated)
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming (nominated)
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction (nominated)
Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Female (won)
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering (nominated)
Family Game of the Year (nominated)
Most Unique Game of the Year (nominated)

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Overall Rating: 7.8/10 (Great family game for all ages, alright graphics and simple controls.)