Developer: Sand Grain Studios

Publisher: Activision

Release Date: Sept. 2, 2008

Systems: PS3 (reviewed), Xbox 360, Wii

ESRB Rating: E

Official Web site

0:00 I've never been fishing in real life, and the last fishing game I played was the mildly intriguing Super Black Bass on the SNES. But that didn't have Sixaxis motion controls!

0:01 Water washes over the Sand Grain logo. Some loading, then straight to a title screen with a picture of a fish chasing a lure and some twangy fiddle music.

0:02 During another, longer loading screen, the game scrolls some text about the surprising amount of bass below the Woodrow Wilson bridge in DC. Who knew?!

0:03 I start a new game, and two creepy-looking generic characters sit under a beach umbrella: a guy and a girl, both in breezy summer wear. I choose the guy. MALE PRIDE!

0:05 I've turned on the "Tutorial" option, so I dive into some "Open Fishing" on Lake Wylie at 6 a.m. Here's hoping the game will teach me how to fish.

0:06 Wylie is a "river-type lake." So ... is it a river or a lake? Anyway, a quick flick of the controller sends the lure out 73 feet into the water. No need to swing it over my shoulder like a real rod and reel -- just a flick is all that's asked of me.

0:08 A bunch of photorealistic fish swim about under the water. The light is refracted beautifully -- it really looks like an underwater scene. Top-notch visual effects. My lure's just floating there, though ... I can't figure out how to reel it in.

0:09 Before I can figure it out, a bass comes up and grabs on to the hook. "Sure bite!" my guy says -- confusing, as the games beep and the screen tells me to tilt the controller backwards. I do, but the fish lets go quickly. "Next time!" says my unnamed character, slightly depressed.

0:10 Randomly, the game transitions into "Attract" mode, where I have to flick the controller up and down to "attract" a fish. I do, and it does. It seems the game doesn't recognize my flicks unless I do them really quickly and sharply.

0:11 So a fish comes up, and this time I flick the controller back hard and get him on. A tutorial pops up telling me about line tension and the "fish energy bar." Basically: Tilt the controller to keep the bar in the green.

0:12 Peppy music plays as I tilt the controller. Got to keep the bar in the green center. The meter seems to slowly center, then violently shifts to one side. Still, pretty easy overall. The camera zooms out to show my guy picking up the fish from the water. I take a picture of the momentous catch with the R2 button. The fish is a 2.5-star (out of 5) largemouth bass. 4.19 pounds, 14 inches long. Not bad!

0:13 Then it's unceremoniously back to fishing. I decide to move to a new spot. The motorboat has some zip to it, and tilting the controller to steer is kind of neat. I keep driving until some fish show up on the radar finder in the corner.

0:16 Another fish is on the line. This one's a fighter! The game pops up seemingly random messages accompanied by picture directives for controller motion: "Time warp!" "Sure hands!" "Fish hero!" What the hell is going on?

0:17 The meter keeps jumping into the red zone -- I have to let out the line with R2 to reduce the tension. I'm too slow at one point, and the line breaks. That got tough quick!

0:19 The next fish is also a fighter, but I know what to do a little better now. It takes some time to reel in, despite a bunch of random "reel-in boosts." It's a 4.5-star striped bass! Looks kind of pretty in the close-up. It's 16 pounds and 23 inches. Whoo!

0:20 And another fish gets caught, a small one this time: 2 stars, 4.13 pounds, 13 inches. On the one hand, I appreciate that the game seems much faster-paced than real fishing. On the other hand, catching four fish in roughly 15 minutes seems rather unrealistic. Isn't part of the point of fishing just sitting around and waiting? Where's the fun if it's just nonstop reeling?

0:22 Another fighter gets on the line. I eventually wear him down and get him into the boat easily. Another big guy: 4.5 stars, 14.5 pounds, 22 inches! I seem to have found "the spot," as they say.

0:23 I'm already getting sick of hearing my guy say "Hook that! Sure bite!" every time he gets a bite.

0:24 And yet another fish gets caught. I'm really running out of stuff to say ... every fish battle is exactly the same simple, repetitive fight. Less than a half-hour in and I'm already incredibly bored. I don't know what I was expecting; I'm sure real fishing is just as simple and dull. Oh well; at least driving the motorboat is kind of fun. Especially when I purposely crash into the bank.

0:27 Yawn ... another 4-star bass. I got two "time warp" bonuses this time. I have no idea what those do, but they got the "Rocky Horror" song in my head. It's just a jump to the left!

0:30 Enough of this "open fishing" jazz -- let's go to a tournament! But first, let's look at my picture and ? EUGH! My guy looks so artificial and posed up close. Also, I'm wondering who is supposed to have taken this picture. There's no one else on the boat with my guy....

0:33 Over to Clear Lake, where I need three largemouth bass in 15 minutes for the tournament. Based on the "Open Fishing" rate, that seems eminently doable.

0:37 I caught one fish, but it's not legal-sized for the tourney. That's OK; it's getting to the point where I could catch more in my sleep.

0:38 As far as I can tell, there's no shop in which to buy new lures, outfits, boats, fish finders, rods/reels, etc. You'd think that kind of thing would be an attraction for fishing nuts, too.

0:39 "Wow, a jumper," says my guy as a fish jumps out of the water. He says this with all the enthusiasm of someone saying "Wow, a paperweight!"

0:41 I steer the boat on over to a place with lots of lily pads and such. I catch a black bass that looked big on the water, but not in my hand. D'oh!

0:42 There are some graphical clipping problems as I get in close on the kelp. I never thought I'd be complaining about a game's realistic kelp graphics, but here we are. I caught a bluegill sunfish ... not what I need.

0:44 Holding L2 seems a bad approximation of real-life reeling. Why couldn't I rotate the stick? Also, GOD DAMNIT EVERY FISH IS TOO SMALL!

0:50 Wow, that was a big fighter. It jumped high into the air and I got an "aerial boost" as it skipped along the top. It's 16 pounds, 23 inches. Wait, that's exactly the same as the big one I caught back at 0:19. Have I reached the zenith already?

0:54 Does real fishing involve catching so many tiny fish? Because this is getting ridiculous.

0:56 I finally catch my third decent-sized bass just as time is about to expire (there are literally five seconds left!). I earned four stars of reputation for my 32 total pounds of fish. There's no time for the next event ... mercifully.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? No.

Why? Let's face it: A fishing game was always going to be a tough sell for me, and this one seems incredibly dull, even for fishing. The graphics might attract some fishing nuts, but the simplistic gameplay and lack of customization might turn even them off.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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