Viva Pinata Live For Windows

I had been waiting to get my hands on Viva Pinata for the PC for quite some time now. I just refused to spend $40.00 on a game that looked like it was designed for 3 year olds.

Getting the game though, and playing it was a whole different story. Viva Pinata is indeed not for children. In fact, I wouldn't recommend it to kids who are easily squeamish, seeing how there is some pinata animal bashing that will occur in the game.

What Is It?

Viva Pinata is basically a gorgeous graphical work of PC gaming art. In the game you are given a small plot of land. This is your garden. You notice at first that the garden looks a little trashy, with some garbage, dried up grass, and rocky terrain.

It becomes your job to fix it up, make it livable... make it beautiful. The more beautiful your garden becomes, the more likely a new species of Pinata will want to move in.

Once you have a variety of pinatas, it is your job to breed them, make them happy... and sometimes (gulp) feed them to other Pinatas in the garden.

That aspect is a bit disturbing, especially when a rival pinata enters the garden at night to try and eat one of my beloved pinatas. Picking up a shovel and whacking the thing while it cries actually makes me feel like a piece of crap.

The game though is really like an ecosystem. A cycle of life.

Upgrades:

As you get better, and your garden improves you will be given updates. A stronger shovel, a larger garden, or a local shop will open up.

In these shops you can use coins to buy homes for the pinatas, accessory's for them, seeds for planting, food, and garden decorations such as fences, rocks, or torches.

Everything you add to your garden will attract different species of pinatas. Such as the garden torch...certain moths are highly attracted to them, and will make your garden it's permanent home if you have one of these, and other objects.

Breeding:

Breeding is the key element in Viva Pinata. In order to keep the cycle of life continuing you must get two pinatas to breed. In order to breed though each pinata will require something. Such as birds. In order for them to breed, they must eat 2 worms, and have a home. Once you have completed these tasks, the birds will show a heart icon above their heads.

You can now direct the two to make a baby.

Making a baby takes you to a mini game screen. Here you will play a mini maze type game. Your bird starts at the bottom, while the mate is at the top of the screen. You have to direct your bird to the other bird without hitting any enemies that make up the walls to your maze.

It's pretty easy, you just need a steady hand. If you hit a wall (bad guy) you loose one life. Worry not though, you have 3 tries to make it to your mate.

If you're successful, your birds will breed, and make an egg, which will be delivered, and hatched a few moments later.

Breeding is relatively easy, but takes some time. Especially if you have a Pinata that wants to eat another Pinata that has yet to come to your garden.

All in all Viva Pinata is an open ended game, which means it does not end. You can play till.... till you want to stop, and still there will be no ending.

Windows Live:

I was not impressed with this feature. It comes included for a month free when you buy this version of the game. It's pretty easy to set up, and is necessary to set up if you want to save the game. I find that a bit suck-o-licious about the game.

In Windows Live, your Garden will open up a post office. Here you can fill a crate with some pinatas or items, and send them to other players.

I find this feature a bit stupid... but it is there if you want it.

You must have an internet connection for this feature to work.

Graphics:

Viva Pinata packs so gorgeous graphics. It looks as if you are playing a high tech cartoon, more than it does a game. The colors are vibrant, and the environment is beautiful.

Sounds:

Happy tunes play in the background.

Most sounds you will hear though come from the pinatas. They all have their own distinct noise. Frogs will croak, birds chirp... and so on. One sound you will hate hearing in the game though is when a Pinata falls ill. You will here its desperate little cries, and if you do not call the doctor, and pay the fee in time, the pinata will be killed by some wicked little voodoo dude who comes to collect the souls of pinatas who have fallen ill.

Glitches:

If your computer is not up to par don't bother trying to play this game. Many have reported that the game is filled with glitches.

While I myself have experienced a few small glitches myself, it hasn't yet crashed on me.

For others with lower end machines and graphic cards, you may experience slow gaming, glitched sound, and the crashes.

Check your system, and the games requirements to make sure you can run this game properly. Also make sure your drivers are updated.

Overall:

Viva Pinata has been an extremely addicting game since I purchased it. I recommend it to just about everyone....(except small kids who may get upset if one of their pinatas dies...or has to be killed).

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