The Undergarden: Xbox Live Arcade Game Review

There is no doubting the fact that The Undergarden is an adorably beautiful game, it is cute, brightly coloured, and really satisfying to view. When you read the description of this game and realise it's all based around underwater gardening, you might make the mistake of brushing this game aside. This is a game made with the intention to please and relax whoever is playing. It's not hardcore, you can't kill people with a mini RC car or stab someone in the back, but you can appreciate the beauty this game has and find enjoyment in many other way's.

The Undergarden is unlike most games we see today, it focuses on creating rather than destroying. You play as some sort of underwater Monkey fairy with one goal, create a beautiful underwater garden of plant life. You navigate through dark caverns, brightening them up with the glow of you're vibrant plants. You can never die or fail in this game, however if you get stuck at any of the obstacles along the way, you can re=load you're last checkpoint.

The game doesn't challenge players with tough puzzles or place immovable obstacles in you're way, instead it simply allows the player to enjoy the exploration and sense of freedom in this beautiful little underwater world. You're character gathers pollen from green sacks throughout the caverns and uses it to bloom plants and flowers around the world, this is all done by simply gliding past and bumping into any of the caverns walls. The flora burst from the cavern walls in various delightfully bright and vibrant way's, illuminating the underwater world with vivid colour and dramatic shapes that manage to make everything feel alive.

The Undergarden world doesn't just look beautiful, it sounds beautiful too. Players alter the world through music as much as colour. You can bloom flowers once by passing over them with pollen, however, if you want to change their appearance again you will need to gather up musicians and bring them to the flora. Musicians all have a specific instrument and taking them along with you changes the music you hear, depending on what instrument they are carrying. Taking them is completely optional, but the addictive nature of the game will have you entranced with every sound, colour, and the need to grow more. The game is extremely addictive and manages to make you feel like you have stepped into a whole new world, this sense of immersion is rarely seen in video games, let alone an arcade title.

If you want to get a 100% bloom rating then you will need to do allot of exploration, but just like everything else in the game it's optional. The game doesn't force, or tell you to do anything. You play the game as you wish and make it you're own experience. Players who enjoy collecting everything or reaching a 100% completion state will have a much richer experience, but at least you have the option to skip through levels if that's what you want to do. The Undergarden is full of collectibles in each level but i personally didn't find any need to search for them. The game is much like listening to the sounds of ocean waves, rain fall, Dolphins or Whales under water. After a while it becomes a bit boring so it's best to play the game in short bursts rather than hours at a time.

The puzzles in Undergarden help break up the pacing but none of them are unique or creative and they shouldn't cause any problems. Special plants are grown which yield fruits that posses special quality's. Some of these fruits will have the ability to float or explode, these ability's are used to manipulate stone machines and blocks so that players can proceed through caves. The majority of puzzles boil down to simply using fruits to push switches or bombs to blow up stones. There are some nice challenges towards the end of the game but there are not enough to really consider this a true puzzle game. It's really disappointing to see some of these mechanics being implemented in the latter sections of the game because it shows the potential this game has to be something truly unique and wonderful.

The addition of multiplayer is a nice idea, pulled of extremely poorly. It's just not fun at all and will cause allot of frustration, the complete opposite of what this game is meant to be. The camera focuses on player one at all times which is annoying because the second player will constantly drift off screen, much like Tales in Sonic The Hedgehog 2. It feels like they just wanted to include multiplayer to help sales, it's lazy, poor, awkward, and not fun.

Overall The Undergarden is more of a distraction in my personal opinion. It is great when you have nothing to do, it feels relaxing and everything you create in the underwater caverns is an absolute delight to view and hear. There is not enough depth to the creation though to keep this entertaining for long.

The Undergarden is a great distraction from you're favourite games 6/10