Ace of Seafood is a open world underwater third person shooter that puts you in command of laser firing sea creatures in a mission to locate and control all 42 reefs in the game while discovering the mystery behind the disappearance of the human race.
THE GOOD;
1. There are a total of 50 playable characters in the game divided up into Fish, Crustaceans, Mammals, Cephalopoda and Battleships. You will be in control of a party of up to 6 fish. Each time an enemy is killed you are rewarded with its genetic material. Once enough has been obtained you can then breed said creature/battleship. Genetic material can also be used to power up creatures/battleships for added HP, attack power and learning of new skills. Each creature, even those inside the same species, has a its own movement style that you will have to get take into consideration when choosing what creature you would like control. Creatures can have up to 4 battle skills plus a close range attack. Lots of variety.
2.I am impressed by the quality of the ocean world. Nussoft did a good job of trying to make every piece of the map interesting. Play the game long enough and you will start to get a general idea of where you are just by terrain and what creatures occupy the area. The map is surprisingly pretty big, horizontally and vertically, so thankfully fast travel can be used between reefs under your control. Reefs also act clues as to the back story of the game. Game tries to be as true to habitat as possible so creatures are placed at locations/depths they would be found in the real world.
3. Game is a third person arcade type shooter, but a degree of strategy is needed. Certain creatures/battleships have resistances to certain attack types so expect to change up your party a couple times
4. While few, the soundtrack to game is awesome. Fits the mood of the game perfectly. It reminded a lot of Tekken 4's infamous lobby music.
5. The game allows for an online coop of up to four players. Each player can have a party of up to 6 fish, so this means that playing online would allow for a max team of 24 fish. An army. I would like to experience this at least one once. After beating game your underwater world will constantly be invaded by parties of other players who also beat the game. Nice for picking up DNA for experience and creatures you may have missed during your own run.
THE BAD
Though the game is on a console being controlled by controller, it still feels very much like a PC game. Interface is just weird. Game screen also is slightly overstretched with no option to resize the screen. Nothing of importance is lost but its still annoying.
In your party of fish, you are in control of only one with A.I. taking care of the other 5. If you get killed its game over even if you have live team members. Why cant we switch to a live creature upon death? Why cant we switch to other creatures in our party in general?
Game can get very disorienting when fighting in crowded/cramped spaces or when playing as big fish. Have not had to fight a camera this bad since a Adventure era Sonic game.
10 bucks well spent. I was pulled in because of quirkyness of the game, but I finished the game knowing that past sillyness is a well-crafted, quality game... and its was all done by one person!. I look forward to whatever Nussoft is doing next. He gained a follower.
4/5
