Aqua Real Screensaver Review

Are flashy 3D environments and an interactive fish aquarium enough to fork out $17.95? When asking yourself this, the immediate answer would be simply 'no'. In order to get a full understanding of the product, you must first break it down.

First off, the graphics and presentation are amazing. The entire installation took about 15 seconds in all, and within 30 seconds of clicking "Download" I was already joined on my desktop by four fully interactive fish (and their respective underwater dwellings). I was quite shocked with the relative ease of downloading and installing the program. Similarly, I was suprised with the quality of it. Be it the glimmer of the sun-steaked water on the coral rocks, or the fully detailed fish swimming amongst themselves...it was all very well done.

The customization is also something that's very nice. You can choose what type of fish inhabit your virtual aquarium, the background color,even the size of the bubbles that drift upwards towards the sky. It's all very nice, simple, and crisp.

Not everything is good, though. While the trial is plenty enough to suffice; the actual game is expensive. Very expensive. $18 for an interactive aquarium? There are plenty of free online games similar to this and while they can't compare in quality, the gameplay is similar enough to not warrant a buy. Another minor annoyance is the sound effects of the bubbles. While it can be customized and ultimately turned off, the default sound isn't as soothing as it should be. Instead, it's annoyingly loud and actually distracted me from the game.