One of the first things that jumps out at me while playing Feeding Frenzy is just
how BRIGHT and colourful it is. Maybe we've all been playing too much Call Of Duty
these days, but Feeding Frenzy's bright colours are a breath of fresh air. Even more
satisfying is the general design of the deep blue sea in the game, which is well
animated, and features a motley crue of creative and greatly designed fish, which are
not overly realistic, making them that much cuter and cartoony, a graphic style that
you'll most likely warm to quickly, just because it's so intricate, and... pretty.
It's definitely one of the best looking games I've seen in a while, and it's not as if
this game is some kind of blu-ray bullshit extravaganza- this is a literally TINY
game! It's a testament to PopCap's skills in that they can fit so much graphical
beauty into such a small filesize (about 5MB -(!)).

Playing the game is pretty simple, and straight-forward, as it should be in a PopCap
game. You'll play as a fish, and you'll need to collect a certain amount of points
in the level. Now, these points can be gained, first and foremost, by eating other
fish. You start out pretty small, though, so you can only eat fish smaller than you,
meaning you're also gonna be dodging predators and other nasty things to make sure
THEY don't eat you and kill the level prematurely. Taking a leaf out of the
Big Book Of Video Game Stereotypes, there are assorted powerups, and the chance to
double your points when you eat enough fish. Sliding round the level and
slurping up a multitude of fish, avoiding the big ones and watching your own get
bigger is a simple concept, of course, but it's surprisingly fun, albeit a little
jarring, repetitive, and even a little slow in the beginning of a level when you'll
have to eat about 75 little fish before you can eat the bigger and more rewarding
fish. Thankfully, the small repetition is broken up by some mediocre minigames that
are decent in their own right, but just feel pointless and slapped together.

One small problem I do have with this game is that controlling your fish is quite
difficult, as the controls are considerably sluggish and clunky. I feel at odds with
the game, moving the mouse quite fast, and going very slow. It does grate A LOT,
considering speed is the name of the game. And before you ask, "Why didn't I increase
the sensitivity of the mouse in-game?". But, you see, I did. I had the mouse
sensitivity set to the HIGHEST GODDAMNED SETTING, and I still moved around like a
geriatric in a zimmer frame. As I said, this failing is pretty annoying, but with
extended play, you JUST might get used to it.

Story-wise, Feeding Frenzy has nothing going for it, and really, I think that only
helps the whole simplicity thing that PopCap love so much. All that there is for a
story is this. "You are a fish. You must eat other fish to become bigger fish.
Eat them all to become biggest fish." Inspiring stuff. But should it really matter
when, in this type of "casual-- sorry, I almost threw up in my mouth there--
"casual GAMING", a story doesn't mean shit. It's all about the fun, right?

Finally, we come to what I think can be the most important PART of a game, the music.
And well...it was never going to be masterful, but it's not ear rape. The tracks
featured in the game are merely ambient and dull, which merely makes them okay.
I'm not saying they're terrible, they just have an awful stock music feeling. Sure,
the fit in the game, and rather well, but what you hear isn't all that impressive.
It's just okay. In fact, it's so okay, that it's damn near impossible to have an
opinion on it other than "meh". If anything, though, the sound effects are just worse.
The announcer that says stuff like "feeding frenzy" and "double frenzy" just feel
so deadpan and depressing that you'll wanna kill yourself, and the other sond effects
feel like they were ripped right from a bargain bin. It's a shame really, I feel like
if they did it right, it could have been real special, but sadly, it's just another
disappointment.

OverThere's Final Cut

Yes, there are kinks that need to be smoothed out, and yes, playing it can get dull
with extended playtime, but when you get right down to it, and play it as it was meant
to be played (10-15 minute sessions each time), and you may actually enjoy it in spite
of its shortcomings. It really is a diamond in the rough- that's why it gets 65 out
of 100 from me.