Somewhere in the last few years, a strange phenomenon started in the world of television – from pawn shop owners to airline attendants and even parking attendants, every profession got their own reality TV show. One of the better of these shows is the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch, which follows the exploits of fishing vessels in search of crab in the Dutch Harbor in Alaska. It's interesting, dramatic and at times even heartwarming. It's just too bad they didn't bring any of those over to the video game adaptation.

Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos takes the formula created by the wildly popular show and turns it into a boring, confusing and lackluster mini game collection. Want drama and story? You'll get babysitting and constant grinding. It's a repetitive experience that grows tired on you very fast, and if you're playing the PS3 version and attempting to use the PlayStation Move, it becomes ten times more frustrating. If Sea of Chaos was actually out at sea, it would have capsized a long time ago.

Interestingly enough, you don't actually take control of any of the boats from the show in Sea of Chaos. Instead, you assume the role of a brand new skipper, and it's your job to buy a boat and hire the right crew in effort to bring in the most crabs. The majority of the crew you hire will be from different boats from the show's run, so it's an added benefit that fans will be able to put together a dream team of sorts, but those unfamiliar with the show will just be picking a crew based on their skill sets (set, offload, retrieve patch, sort etc…). Here's the rub though, no matter who you hire, they all turn into whiney little bitches in the end, complaining about being tired or whatever problems they have. Then again, I needed a nap too after playing this game.

"...a seemingly never ending series of these mini games..."

Sea of Chaos isn't as much about strategy as it is grinding through torturously boring mini game after mini game. Each of these mini games centers around a different aspect of crabbing - at least that's the idea. There's the trap setting game, which finds you steering through a set of ridiculously placed rings in the water, and the trap gathering game where you'll have to time rope throws that never seem to synch up with your button presses. The worst part? The entire game is a seemingly never ending series of these mini games that you're doomed to repeat until the end, or you fall asleep.

Perhaps the entire game wouldn't be as lackluster if the game didn't control as awkward as it did. Take the trap setting game for instance, steering the ship through the rings should be a rather simple task, if you were able to control the ship at all. You tell the ship to go right and it does so, only 2 seconds later. If you're playing the PS3 version of the game and are attempting to use the PS Move Controller, you'll get the exact opposite problem - even the smallest moves will send the ship twirling about like it's on ice.

"...fans of the show are sure to get more out of them than anyone else."

There are a few rewarding moments hidden deep inside Sea of Chaos, but much like the rest of the game, fans of the show are sure to get more out of them than anyone else. Throughout the game, you'll always be in competition with other boats, who much like your own, are piloted by other personalities from the show. When they're not busy trying to ruin your chances at getting the biggest load (nooch) they're going to call you up and offer tips and little known tidbits. These moments are good for a few “oh hey!” moments from fans but fade really quickly. Some of the cooler moments of the game though are when you actually get the traps up and pull up the biggest haul, it's actually surprisingly rewarding.

Saying that the presentation and production values in Sea of Chaos are subpar would be an understatement. These are early generation Gamecube graphics and audio, and some of the animations are embarrassingly bad. Add on top of that the fact that the game's load times are incredibly long and you've got one eye straining experience on your hands.

If you love Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch, and I mean really love Deadliest Catch, you may find a bit of enjoyment in Sea of Chaos. If not - you won't. At all. The mini games are repetitive and boring, the production values are terrible and the controls are incredibly frustrating. Save yourself the time, go out and go fishing or something.