I'm not sure how to take this game but if you know anything about the TV series Survivor, than you know it's all about challenges and more specifically the group dynamics which developers Smack Down Productions have attempted to recreate.

Of course with so many interactive sport games on the Nintendo Wii, it was inevitable that someone attempted to create the virtual experience of this popular TV series and this my dear readers is Survivor the video game!

The problem with a game such as Survivor is trying to build any real tension between the characters in the game. Although you do need to step up to the dreaded Tribal Council, you really don't care about these virtual characters and like a racing game, if you don't win, you lose. This is how the Tribal Council is basically run in the game. With that pushed to the side for a moment, Survivor is a mid-budget game that in essence is a collection of 25 mini-games. Some good and some bad.

Win the game and more specifically, the immunity idol and this will prevent your character from being voted out by the other members of your tribe. Of course, creating all that backstabbing and tension is relatively impossible on the Wii, unless of course you're going online.

In terms of the games, they are quite diverse and include things like "fishing" for food, "food tasting" and various other races and challenges that is reminiscent of the game. Where I do commend the developers is that they have included the Wii Balance Board as a control option which actually works quite well on a few games.

There's another issue with the Wii Balance Board. If you don't own one, the gameplay is rather lacklustre for certain games and it seems like a doppelganger of Wii Sports or Wii Resort, however the fun factor is a little lacking. As a solo game and if you bought this game or any other Wii Sports clone  title, than you're probably suffering from depression and for Survivor, like the aforementioned titles, you really need to play this game with other people to be enjoyed.

In single-player, the game plays more like the TV Series, whereas in multiplayer, the experience is improved with other people which allows you to cheer or egg on your competitors. There are also some unlockable challenges in the game, provided you can beat the challenges and in terms of replay value, this is strictly a party game affair.

For the purists, Survivor contains the following 25 mini-games;

- Swimming, Balancing
- Jungle Targets
- Pirogues
- Fishing
- Mazes
- Paragliding
- Sling shot
- Food tasting
- Submarine fishing
- Underwater stones
- Falling stones
- Rafting
- Javelin
- Tam-Tam
- Long jumping
- Robin Jungle
- Sharks
- Sailing Races
- Precious water
- Tyrol game
- Assault course
- Orientation race
- Poles & Shi Fu Mi

Graphics? For a third party game, the graphics of Survivor Wii are actually quite good and they have successfully... to an extent created that jungle atmosphere. The characters move well, although at times, there is some issues with their movement but on a whole, the lighting, water and environments are good. Jeff Probst from the TV series also graces the game, including that Survivor-esq music plus some eye brow raising voiceovers.

Survivor isn't a bad game, nor is it a good game but rather, it sits somewhere in the middle of the grand scheme of things. I've seen quite a few worse third party "party" games available for the Wii but surprisingly the challenges in this game work well with the control system of the Wii. It's a shame that only 5 games support the balance board but playing poles in the game is actually fun, especially seeing how long you can hold your balance. 10 for effort, 6 for gameplay and if you're a fan of the TV series, the game might score a 7.