It's a like tetris for two player.. On LSD.
Overall- 3.5/5
FloboPuyo (Let's just call it FP) is a... Uhh..
Ah, fuck it, just watch this and come back- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et7q6GwH2Bs
.. So that's FP. Now I'm not sure if you've noticed, but it's really fun, even when played against the machine you still get loads of satisfaction every time you make those balls drop in its field. Now think how much fun it would be to play it with a human player...
Yeah, I thought so too.. But then you find out you both have to play on the same device, which means using the same keyboard, which means very tricky, which means your device almost falls on the floor and you get pissed, which means no good. It is possible, and it is very fun when you somehow do manage, but without a bluetooth keyboard you're probably going to skip it. Which is a shame, since I would've given it a 4/5 for the multiplayer action.. But since it's only a limited experience it gets a 3.5/5. Add to that the fact that playing versus the AI gets a bit dull after a while, and you get a very good reason to find a way to play this over wifi.
Still very fun though.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Evil plumber
A plumbing simulator
Overall- 2/5
A remake of the old plumber game, where you have to use pipes to connect an overflowing water source with a drain of some sort.
On the plus side the game's very easy to understand, very simple from the get go, and does get increasingly harder, the gameplay is puzzle-ish as it requires you to mix and match pipes most of the time, rather than actually solve anything. Yes, more thinking is required at higher levels, but it's still not puzzle-y enough...
On the down side it gets repetitive in no time, and the gameplay is a bit too simple at times.
Overall- 2/5
A remake of the old plumber game, where you have to use pipes to connect an overflowing water source with a drain of some sort.
On the plus side the game's very easy to understand, very simple from the get go, and does get increasingly harder, the gameplay is puzzle-ish as it requires you to mix and match pipes most of the time, rather than actually solve anything. Yes, more thinking is required at higher levels, but it's still not puzzle-y enough...
On the down side it gets repetitive in no time, and the gameplay is a bit too simple at times.
Enigma
An accelerometer controlled.. Uhh.. Puzzle game...
Overall- 3/5
Enigma is an accelerometer controlled game. In it you accelerometer-y control a ball, rolling around on what seems to be a pool table. A pool table full of deathtraps. Your goal is to avoid aforementioned deathtraps, while bumping into question mark blocks, which then receive a color, and must be paired with a different block of the same color. Kind of like those matching cards memory games, only with traps. And death.
Lots of death.
The accelerometer works great, the game plays very well, but the ball runs really fast (I had a hard time until I dropped the mouse sensitivity to 1 and even then the max speed is frustratingly high) and the interface is very touch friendly.
The game itself has loads of levels (the tutorial alone has 66 levels) so you could probably play this game for days.
The game is very user oriented- Your scores can be uploaded, statistics are then made, and an info page exists for every level with average scores, and other bits of info, levels can be built and uploaded, etc.
Music and sound exist, but were muted after five minutes of playing.
As for gameplay, one thing that really bugged me is the lack of a real tutorial, I've played the tutorial, but it doesn't feel like one- there's no guidance, no explanations before the levels start, and the game does get increasingly complex.
All in all enigma's a good game, gets surprisingly complex and interesting after a couple of levels, and can be very challenging, not to mention the fact that your score is compared to scores of other people, which always helps me enjoy a game.
My only beef with the game is that in spite of everything it still managed to get repetitive at times, and the controls, while very responsive, were still a bit hard to play with, as the ball's max speed is very high. At any rate, those issues aren't that big, and shouldn't prevent you from at least trying the game out.
Overall- 3/5
Enigma is an accelerometer controlled game. In it you accelerometer-y control a ball, rolling around on what seems to be a pool table. A pool table full of deathtraps. Your goal is to avoid aforementioned deathtraps, while bumping into question mark blocks, which then receive a color, and must be paired with a different block of the same color. Kind of like those matching cards memory games, only with traps. And death.
Lots of death.
The accelerometer works great, the game plays very well, but the ball runs really fast (I had a hard time until I dropped the mouse sensitivity to 1 and even then the max speed is frustratingly high) and the interface is very touch friendly.
The game itself has loads of levels (the tutorial alone has 66 levels) so you could probably play this game for days.
The game is very user oriented- Your scores can be uploaded, statistics are then made, and an info page exists for every level with average scores, and other bits of info, levels can be built and uploaded, etc.
Music and sound exist, but were muted after five minutes of playing.
As for gameplay, one thing that really bugged me is the lack of a real tutorial, I've played the tutorial, but it doesn't feel like one- there's no guidance, no explanations before the levels start, and the game does get increasingly complex.
All in all enigma's a good game, gets surprisingly complex and interesting after a couple of levels, and can be very challenging, not to mention the fact that your score is compared to scores of other people, which always helps me enjoy a game.
My only beef with the game is that in spite of everything it still managed to get repetitive at times, and the controls, while very responsive, were still a bit hard to play with, as the ball's max speed is very high. At any rate, those issues aren't that big, and shouldn't prevent you from at least trying the game out.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
De-lite
The puzzle game of lights.
Overall- 3/5
In De-lite you get a grid of squares, and your goal is to turn off all the lit ones by clicking them, thing is once you click one square, the four squares adjacent to it get lit or turned off, and as it does so you become increasingly frustrated.
But that's not to say that the game is bad, I've enjoyed it very much. Very challenging, nearly impossible to beat at the last levels, and there's 50 of them, so you won't be finishing it quickly. Counts your moves so the whole thing can get competitive. The graphics aren't too bad, and it works in portrait mode which is always a big plus.
It does start to get repetitive after level 10, but then again, I couldn't beat any level after 13, so maybe for those of you with bigger brains than mine it'll stay fresh...
Overall- 3/5
In De-lite you get a grid of squares, and your goal is to turn off all the lit ones by clicking them, thing is once you click one square, the four squares adjacent to it get lit or turned off, and as it does so you become increasingly frustrated.
But that's not to say that the game is bad, I've enjoyed it very much. Very challenging, nearly impossible to beat at the last levels, and there's 50 of them, so you won't be finishing it quickly. Counts your moves so the whole thing can get competitive. The graphics aren't too bad, and it works in portrait mode which is always a big plus.
It does start to get repetitive after level 10, but then again, I couldn't beat any level after 13, so maybe for those of you with bigger brains than mine it'll stay fresh...
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Cute square
Overall- 2.5/5
Cute square is a game for two players that requires you to make squares on a grid of 8x8 dots. The players, red and blue, get to claim one dot for themselves, and when you've taken four corners of any square on the grid you get points depending on the size of the square you've created, and when you reach a certain amount of points, you win.
Sounds confusing? It is. And that's the problem when you play this with people- The first couple of games are very confusing, and while you might have gotten experienced, they are not, and offer little challenge, which makes the games much less fun, which makes neither of you want to play this game ever again, and.. Well, you see the problem.
I do believe that with practice, and a friend who is as good as you at the game, you might be able to enjoy the game more- Making combos, blocking your opponent moves, thinking three or four moves, this game should be fun provided you've got the right opponent.
If only there had been an option for single player...
Cute square is a game for two players that requires you to make squares on a grid of 8x8 dots. The players, red and blue, get to claim one dot for themselves, and when you've taken four corners of any square on the grid you get points depending on the size of the square you've created, and when you reach a certain amount of points, you win.
Sounds confusing? It is. And that's the problem when you play this with people- The first couple of games are very confusing, and while you might have gotten experienced, they are not, and offer little challenge, which makes the games much less fun, which makes neither of you want to play this game ever again, and.. Well, you see the problem.
I do believe that with practice, and a friend who is as good as you at the game, you might be able to enjoy the game more- Making combos, blocking your opponent moves, thinking three or four moves, this game should be fun provided you've got the right opponent.
If only there had been an option for single player...
Friday, March 5, 2010
Crimson Fields
Overall- 4.5/10
Crimson fields was hard to review. Why? Well, because it's not such a bad game, but something is missing.. I mean at first it was a bit hard to play, then after the tutorials it was just hard to look at and after getting used to that it was the out dated game mechanics that annoyed me.
Now, don't get me wrong, this game isn't bad, but it just isn't very good.. The game has plenty of modern age units to choose from, like tanks, and jets, but there's no imagination.. Medium tank, heavy tank, one's slower and more powerful, yada yada.. Why not make new units? A-la C&C? Where's my laser tanks, my fire troopers, my.. I don't know.. Invisible.. Something.. Some diversity wouldn't hurt.. In the game your units will level up after killing opponents, becoming stronger, but never any different, and the game won't tell you how much stronger your unit just became. But the worst thing of all is the way the game plays, for example, attacking is done by moving your unit next to the target, then having to select your unit again, and choose to attack. So far a bit cumbersome but here's the kicker- You have to wait all the way until you finish your turn, only then will your units attack.. And because there's no easy way to calculate damage you'll sometimes end up with units that are ordered to attack a unit that's already been destroyed. Other elements that bug me are the unit menus that are very laconic, and lack details, the fact that you can't tell how much HP you've got left, or how much the enemy has lost, the minimap is not a part of the hud, actually, there's no hud at all, not enough maps, and not many good maps, etc...
It's not a bad game.. It just lacks.. Flow.. And it feels pretty outdated, after all Crimson fields is based on a 1991 DOS game called battle isle..
All that being said, the game really isn't bad, and it does have its strong points- control is great, the hardware keyboard works, and right click is somehow implemented. Some of the levels are pretty good too. Oh, and you can play multiplayer over email, which is cool. All in all it's playable.
Graphics- 4/10
Sadly, graphics aren't one of this game's strong points, and that's a shame, because good graphics might have made this game a big more user friendly- The units are very small, and it's a bit hard to tell them apart sometimes, and the units are all the same colors, which is visually very annoying to look at. Same thing with the terrain.. Not enough colors.. It's just much less fun to play when it looks like this.
Sound and music- 0/10
Nothing.. Which is a shame, could've had some kick ass soundtrack, and sound wouldn't have hurt anyone either.
Gameplay- 5.5/10
Yes, it's playable, yes, it's somewhat fun, but the total lack of imagination in the units, the graphics, and the missions kind of lowers the fun threshold.
Add to that the various issues mentioned above (no hud, no onscreen minimap, bad combat mechanism, etc) and you might understand what I mean by "lacking flow"
Crimson fields was hard to review. Why? Well, because it's not such a bad game, but something is missing.. I mean at first it was a bit hard to play, then after the tutorials it was just hard to look at and after getting used to that it was the out dated game mechanics that annoyed me.
Now, don't get me wrong, this game isn't bad, but it just isn't very good.. The game has plenty of modern age units to choose from, like tanks, and jets, but there's no imagination.. Medium tank, heavy tank, one's slower and more powerful, yada yada.. Why not make new units? A-la C&C? Where's my laser tanks, my fire troopers, my.. I don't know.. Invisible.. Something.. Some diversity wouldn't hurt.. In the game your units will level up after killing opponents, becoming stronger, but never any different, and the game won't tell you how much stronger your unit just became. But the worst thing of all is the way the game plays, for example, attacking is done by moving your unit next to the target, then having to select your unit again, and choose to attack. So far a bit cumbersome but here's the kicker- You have to wait all the way until you finish your turn, only then will your units attack.. And because there's no easy way to calculate damage you'll sometimes end up with units that are ordered to attack a unit that's already been destroyed. Other elements that bug me are the unit menus that are very laconic, and lack details, the fact that you can't tell how much HP you've got left, or how much the enemy has lost, the minimap is not a part of the hud, actually, there's no hud at all, not enough maps, and not many good maps, etc...
It's not a bad game.. It just lacks.. Flow.. And it feels pretty outdated, after all Crimson fields is based on a 1991 DOS game called battle isle..
All that being said, the game really isn't bad, and it does have its strong points- control is great, the hardware keyboard works, and right click is somehow implemented. Some of the levels are pretty good too. Oh, and you can play multiplayer over email, which is cool. All in all it's playable.
Graphics- 4/10
Sadly, graphics aren't one of this game's strong points, and that's a shame, because good graphics might have made this game a big more user friendly- The units are very small, and it's a bit hard to tell them apart sometimes, and the units are all the same colors, which is visually very annoying to look at. Same thing with the terrain.. Not enough colors.. It's just much less fun to play when it looks like this.
Sound and music- 0/10
Nothing.. Which is a shame, could've had some kick ass soundtrack, and sound wouldn't have hurt anyone either.
Gameplay- 5.5/10
Yes, it's playable, yes, it's somewhat fun, but the total lack of imagination in the units, the graphics, and the missions kind of lowers the fun threshold.
Add to that the various issues mentioned above (no hud, no onscreen minimap, bad combat mechanism, etc) and you might understand what I mean by "lacking flow"
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Crazy parking
Overall- 3.5/5
Alright, now, this one I enjoyed playing- Crazy parking is basically a digitized version of the old rush hour traffic games where basically you have a car stuck in the middle of a parking lot, surrounded by cars of different sizes, that can only be moved either left and right, or up and down, making the un-jamming process a challenging one.
Not as good a game as Angry Birds, but fun non the less.
No sound and no music, though I'm not sure if this is a disadvantage or an advantage, as sound and music in games like this tend to get irritating.
Graphically it looks exactly as it should.
The only problem with this game is that it has only 12 levels and you'll be done playing in an hour or two, which is less the optimal, considering the board game has, like, a million of them..
All in all it's worth downloading.
Alright, now, this one I enjoyed playing- Crazy parking is basically a digitized version of the old rush hour traffic games where basically you have a car stuck in the middle of a parking lot, surrounded by cars of different sizes, that can only be moved either left and right, or up and down, making the un-jamming process a challenging one.
Not as good a game as Angry Birds, but fun non the less.
No sound and no music, though I'm not sure if this is a disadvantage or an advantage, as sound and music in games like this tend to get irritating.
Graphically it looks exactly as it should.
The only problem with this game is that it has only 12 levels and you'll be done playing in an hour or two, which is less the optimal, considering the board game has, like, a million of them..
All in all it's worth downloading.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Crazy cat
Overall- 2.5/5
When I first laid eyes on this game I immediately turned to the question mark on the corner. The question mark said that there's a cat in the middle of a field of green circles, I need to trap that cat by pushing on those green circles, thus turning them red, the cat gets to move one step each time I make a push.
Easy enough, I thought, as I let the cat get away over and over and over.
The damn thing is, indeed, crazy.
But, unlucky for the cat, this is actually quite fun, and very challenging at first.. Maybe a little too challenging, but after you solve it you sort of loose interest..
Still, no sound, no music, and the game looks horrible, so it is rated appropriately.
If you like puzzles, take a shot at it.
It's worth taking a shot just to see if you can trap that bastard once..
Colorcode
Overall- 2.5/5
No sound or music to speak of, graphics are average for a puzzle game of this kind.
This game is all about cracking a code. The game generates a code made of 2-5 colors (having 2-10 colors to choose from) , you have to put the same colors in the same order to crack the code (duh), and you have ten tries. The game lets you know when you've got the right color in the wrong spot, or the right color in the right spot. Make educated guesses until you figure out the code.
Can be quite challenging at times, and not so much at others, I will say that it is fun, but it got old real quick.
Bullshit Bingo
Overall- 2/5
Alright, I'd like to make this one short as well- graphics, sound and music are irrelevant.
This game is a word bingo that lets you control the word data base, and handles the game itself in a very elegant way. Why is this fun, you ask?
Well, ever had this boss that always used the same words? Synergy, multitask, and all that crap?
Now imagine yourself sitting in a meeting, or class, and you got all these words lined up on your virtual bingo card...
That's bullshit bingo.
I really liked the concept, but I doubt I'll ever play this game in a any situation.
It gets a 4/10- because it's awesome and all.. But only useful in very specific situations.. Which is almost never.. I want to give it a higher score, but that wouldn't be fair, now would it?
Battle Geweled
Alright, let's cut to the chase- it's bejeweled with multiplayer.. Anyone here who doesn't know what bejeweled is? Ah, damnit, alright..
Graphics, sound, music- 3/10
No sound, no music, but at least it's not 8 bit...
Gameplay and overall- 3.5/5
Alright, now, I'm not a very big fan of the bejeweled genre, after having played this game many, many times (One of my ex girlfriends could only fall asleep while playing this game), however this thing gets more points for having multiplayer. No, I have not tried it, but assuming it works it should make this game a lot more interesting than it is playing solo.. I also realize many of you do like this game, be it as a substitute for a sleeping pill, or just for plain old fun, hence the high grade.
Anyway, if you don't know (And you absolutely must know..) bejeweled (and battle jeweled for that matter) is a game where you have a board full of jewels, and you have to match those jewels to make three in a row or more, the catch is- you can only affect one jewel at a time, and the only thing you can do to make it move is to switch it with an adjacent jewel. Barrels of fun follow.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Burger space
Graphics, sound and music-2/5
8bit graphics, sound and music.. Charmingly retro.. Yet not very pleasing all together.
Gameplay and overall- 1.5/5
Saying this one is not my cup of tea would be an understatement.. Having to run around ladders, trying to step on giant parts of a giant hamburger so they would drop down, while being chased around by food that eats you while your only weapon is pepper is not my idea of a good game. It would make an awesome LSD trip, I just don't want it on my n900..
But if you're into that stuff.. You might like it.
8bit graphics, sound and music.. Charmingly retro.. Yet not very pleasing all together.
Gameplay and overall- 1.5/5
Saying this one is not my cup of tea would be an understatement.. Having to run around ladders, trying to step on giant parts of a giant hamburger so they would drop down, while being chased around by food that eats you while your only weapon is pepper is not my idea of a good game. It would make an awesome LSD trip, I just don't want it on my n900..
But if you're into that stuff.. You might like it.
100boxes
Puzzle game.
Graphics, sound and music- 1/5
It could have been worse, I guess.. There's no music, and sound is limited to a click you get when you click on a square, which is annoying, but graphics could have looked worse I guess...
Gameplay and overall- 3.5/5
It goes like this- you've got a 100 little boxes, you must now click one, it now changes color, you must now go on to the next box BUT you must only move either three squares up, down, left, right, or two squares in diagonal. The game ends when you find yourself stuck. If you manage to get all 100 to change color you win, and your name will forever be logged on the scoreboard.
First game I managed to get 91, second game I somehow got 97 (my name is in the top 649), then I thought to myself "piece of cake", I can get 100, and then proceeded to fail getting 100. Repeatedly. What surprised me is the fact that I kept playing, even though I knew I couldn't beat 97.. And didn't really want to...
Anyway, this thing has a limited life span, either you somehow win, or you give up.. But it's nice for those of you who like (sort of) mathematical puzzles.
Graphics, sound and music- 1/5
It could have been worse, I guess.. There's no music, and sound is limited to a click you get when you click on a square, which is annoying, but graphics could have looked worse I guess...
Gameplay and overall- 3.5/5
It goes like this- you've got a 100 little boxes, you must now click one, it now changes color, you must now go on to the next box BUT you must only move either three squares up, down, left, right, or two squares in diagonal. The game ends when you find yourself stuck. If you manage to get all 100 to change color you win, and your name will forever be logged on the scoreboard.
First game I managed to get 91, second game I somehow got 97 (my name is in the top 649), then I thought to myself "piece of cake", I can get 100, and then proceeded to fail getting 100. Repeatedly. What surprised me is the fact that I kept playing, even though I knew I couldn't beat 97.. And didn't really want to...
Anyway, this thing has a limited life span, either you somehow win, or you give up.. But it's nice for those of you who like (sort of) mathematical puzzles.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Numpty physics
Graphics- 4/10
Oh come on, it's a doodling game! Not much to say on the graphics end...
The lines can change colors.. That's about it.
Sound and music- 0/10
Keep reading...
Gameplay- 9.5/10 (I reserve 10/10 for special occasions)
Booyah! Here we go.. I'll make it short so you can go download the game.
It's a doodle based puzzle game, which means you'll be drawing lines on the screen that will exist in the game itself, now, your goal is to bring object a to object b, and the beautiful thing is the physics engine, which makes everything (almost) act the way it would in real life, which means you can make a pendulum, you can use gravity to your advantage, and this makes for some pretty creative puzzle solving.
Overall- 8/10
Put you media player on high volume and start playing.. It's a nice game to play with your girlfriend (or friends, I guess) too as it's light and fun, and has very amusing results.
Again, the game being based on doodle is part of the fun, so forgive the graphics, and sound, and realize that some games are equal to more than the sum of their parts.
The battle for wesnoth
Turn based fantasy strategy game.
Graphics-8.5/10
Sadly I can't say that the graphics are beautiful (believe me, I want to), but they're far from bad looking. The attention to details here is incredible, the units, buildings and tiles of land are very detailed, and very well designed, and the fact that they're so small makes it even more impressive (Although all this is probably a side effect of this game originally being made for the larger screen of a PC..).
The interface, the drawings of characters and units (in the in-game guide book) are all very well done and look very good, and while there isn't an actual fighting animation (Like in games such as fire emblem), there is a small animation for being missed and hit, and one for arrows and spells (The spells look very good) as well, and I'm sure the game will keep on developing more in that area.
So, yeah, I can't say it's beautiful, but that's not to say the graphics aren't good.. They're the best I've seen in a mobile game so far.
Sound and music- 10/10
Now this is what I'm talking about. This is how a soundtrack should sound like- the classical music in this game fits the fantasy genre perfectly, and is preformed wonderfully.. There's not much more to say, this game's music is awesome.
The sound does not fall short as well- It has anything you could (and should) expect from this kind of game- (except for maybe voice overs for the dialogs, which I can forgive, as it's not a commercial game, and would most likely sound horrible..) marching sounds for troops, stampede sounds for horses, sword slashes, arrows flying, units being hit. It's all very well done and in good taste.
Gameplay and compatibility- 9/10
See, now, here I've got a little problem- before I start rambling on about gameplay, let me address the compatibility issue. This game is made for a pc.. Lucky for us the N900 is a mini pc, so we're not troubled too much by it, but you can certainly feel all through out the game that this game was not made for a phone.. It doesn't interfere with your gameplay that much, but you do miss out on the right click, which does make your life easier.. So yea, it loses a point there.
As for gameplay, it is the same old turn based strategy (very fire emblem-esque) gameplay, with a lot of their own elements mixed in.
You start out with your main character on the castle. While it's there you are able to recruit (or recall from previous battles) units, the units are your usual elven archers, fighters, human knights and spearmen, etc, all with their unique (more or less) weaknesses and strengths according to their races and classes, you are limited by the number of tiles you have around your castle that allow you to recruit onto them. You are therefor torn between sending your king, what might be your strongest unit, or leaving it behind to recruit, thus making it weaker.
There's also an RPG element- units gain XP, level up and evolve into stronger units, some are very weak at first, and evolve into very strong units. You find yourself using your level two elven fighter as a human (well.. Elven..) shield, only so you can bring your mage in to kill a foe with 2 hp left.
Other elements are day and night- Orcs do more damage at night, humans do more in the day for example.
Units to-hit percent is decided by the type of land the unit stands on, and elves will usually be harder to hit in the forest, dwarfs in the mountains and so on..
There are an almost infinite amount of campaigns, most of them, I suspect, are quite good, and probably a bit of a challenge, add to that multiplayer with a lot of different ways to play, and you get a game that seems never ending..
All in all the gameplay of this game can rival any commercially made game, with ease.
Overall- 9.5/10
This game was made for a PC. Usually this would be a disadvantage, the game won't work well, features will be missing, compatibility would suck, etc. Here it's not. I haven't even begun talking about the extensive in-game guide, with detail on every unit, skill, and trait, about the plethora (Heh I've always wanted to use that word) of add-ons and download-able campaigns. This is clearly a game that was made for a broader audience than that of the maemo community.
This game excels in details- The details of the graphics, the amount of info on every unit and unit type, the interface and game mechanics, and the writing of the multitude of campaigns. All of which could have been over looked, or designed badly, and even though this game follows a very specific genre, there is still a lot of originality in design and mechanics.
The graphics, sounds, and gameplay are all superb, and this game can rival any commercially made game of this genre with ease.
This game is recommended to anyone who's into strategy.
Graphics-8.5/10
Sadly I can't say that the graphics are beautiful (believe me, I want to), but they're far from bad looking. The attention to details here is incredible, the units, buildings and tiles of land are very detailed, and very well designed, and the fact that they're so small makes it even more impressive (Although all this is probably a side effect of this game originally being made for the larger screen of a PC..).
The interface, the drawings of characters and units (in the in-game guide book) are all very well done and look very good, and while there isn't an actual fighting animation (Like in games such as fire emblem), there is a small animation for being missed and hit, and one for arrows and spells (The spells look very good) as well, and I'm sure the game will keep on developing more in that area.
So, yeah, I can't say it's beautiful, but that's not to say the graphics aren't good.. They're the best I've seen in a mobile game so far.
Sound and music- 10/10
Now this is what I'm talking about. This is how a soundtrack should sound like- the classical music in this game fits the fantasy genre perfectly, and is preformed wonderfully.. There's not much more to say, this game's music is awesome.
The sound does not fall short as well- It has anything you could (and should) expect from this kind of game- (except for maybe voice overs for the dialogs, which I can forgive, as it's not a commercial game, and would most likely sound horrible..) marching sounds for troops, stampede sounds for horses, sword slashes, arrows flying, units being hit. It's all very well done and in good taste.
Gameplay and compatibility- 9/10
See, now, here I've got a little problem- before I start rambling on about gameplay, let me address the compatibility issue. This game is made for a pc.. Lucky for us the N900 is a mini pc, so we're not troubled too much by it, but you can certainly feel all through out the game that this game was not made for a phone.. It doesn't interfere with your gameplay that much, but you do miss out on the right click, which does make your life easier.. So yea, it loses a point there.
As for gameplay, it is the same old turn based strategy (very fire emblem-esque) gameplay, with a lot of their own elements mixed in.
You start out with your main character on the castle. While it's there you are able to recruit (or recall from previous battles) units, the units are your usual elven archers, fighters, human knights and spearmen, etc, all with their unique (more or less) weaknesses and strengths according to their races and classes, you are limited by the number of tiles you have around your castle that allow you to recruit onto them. You are therefor torn between sending your king, what might be your strongest unit, or leaving it behind to recruit, thus making it weaker.
There's also an RPG element- units gain XP, level up and evolve into stronger units, some are very weak at first, and evolve into very strong units. You find yourself using your level two elven fighter as a human (well.. Elven..) shield, only so you can bring your mage in to kill a foe with 2 hp left.
Other elements are day and night- Orcs do more damage at night, humans do more in the day for example.
Units to-hit percent is decided by the type of land the unit stands on, and elves will usually be harder to hit in the forest, dwarfs in the mountains and so on..
There are an almost infinite amount of campaigns, most of them, I suspect, are quite good, and probably a bit of a challenge, add to that multiplayer with a lot of different ways to play, and you get a game that seems never ending..
All in all the gameplay of this game can rival any commercially made game, with ease.
Overall- 9.5/10
This game was made for a PC. Usually this would be a disadvantage, the game won't work well, features will be missing, compatibility would suck, etc. Here it's not. I haven't even begun talking about the extensive in-game guide, with detail on every unit, skill, and trait, about the plethora (Heh I've always wanted to use that word) of add-ons and download-able campaigns. This is clearly a game that was made for a broader audience than that of the maemo community.
This game excels in details- The details of the graphics, the amount of info on every unit and unit type, the interface and game mechanics, and the writing of the multitude of campaigns. All of which could have been over looked, or designed badly, and even though this game follows a very specific genre, there is still a lot of originality in design and mechanics.
The graphics, sounds, and gameplay are all superb, and this game can rival any commercially made game of this genre with ease.
This game is recommended to anyone who's into strategy.
Angry birds
Graphics- 7/10
For a 2d game the graphics are not half bad, I mean, I wasn't blown away by any of it, but the game is colorful and vivid, and this is one of those games whose graphics are just a means to an end, the end being its gameplay. Because of that I won't be too judgmental, but at the same time I can't give it too high a score, in order to maintain a standard. Let's just say the graphics are perfect for this kind of game- not too detailed or flashy, and yet colorful and playful.
Sound and music- 4/10
Well.. Let's see.. was there any?
Right.. Sound is existent, but is not well implemented, you see, the sound is done well enough- when you shoot you have the rubber stretching, the bird chirping, and the birds waiting in line chirping away.. But it's all just so.. Uninspired.. Why not have the birds waiting in line to be shot chirp out war taunts? Instead they just stand there and chirp constantly, which gets real annoying, real quick..
The existence of music might have saved the day on that front, but there isn't any, and I'm left with my n900 being turned into a hen house.. Maybe it's an incentive.. To make you shoot them faster? I don't know.. It's too bad too, because the same kind of music played at the main menu screen could have done the trick..
Gameplay and compatibility- 8.5/10
Long story short- it's a puzzle game, and very fun at that. Short story long- your goal is to sling shoot birds into pigs. It's that simple. Well, there are a few walls in your way, but those birds crash right through them. Add to that the fact that you have different kinds of birds who behave in different ways, different kinds of walls who break in different ways, and a pseudo realistic physics engine that makes the walls behave (almost) as they would in real life and you get more and more fun. Not very original, but very fun for those few minutes on the bus you have to "burn", though once you start playing you're probably going to play it anywhere.
One thing I was missing, though, is the lack of .. Info? I don't know, there's no detailed information on what each bird is good for, strong or weak against, good way to use them, etc, they just show you how to use it.. And you figure everything on your own.. Also no real storyline.. I would have loved to have a small amusing cutscene after each level..
Compatibility is as to be expected- the game is touch based, and it's very intuitive- touch the bird on the sling, pull it back, release, and there you have it.
Overall- 7/10
Angry birds is, pure and simple, a mobile game. A very simple idea, wrapped up in simple graphics, simple gameplay, and it's simply addictive.. If we had been living a few cellphone generations ago this would have been perfect.. But today's games are much more complex than this.. At first I wanted to grade it 8 for being so much fun, then I wanted to grade it 6 for being too simple, so I'll just give it an 7 (If only the sound had been better). Yes, it's not very complex, but, hey, a good game doesn't have to be.
For a 2d game the graphics are not half bad, I mean, I wasn't blown away by any of it, but the game is colorful and vivid, and this is one of those games whose graphics are just a means to an end, the end being its gameplay. Because of that I won't be too judgmental, but at the same time I can't give it too high a score, in order to maintain a standard. Let's just say the graphics are perfect for this kind of game- not too detailed or flashy, and yet colorful and playful.
Sound and music- 4/10
Well.. Let's see.. was there any?
Right.. Sound is existent, but is not well implemented, you see, the sound is done well enough- when you shoot you have the rubber stretching, the bird chirping, and the birds waiting in line chirping away.. But it's all just so.. Uninspired.. Why not have the birds waiting in line to be shot chirp out war taunts? Instead they just stand there and chirp constantly, which gets real annoying, real quick..
The existence of music might have saved the day on that front, but there isn't any, and I'm left with my n900 being turned into a hen house.. Maybe it's an incentive.. To make you shoot them faster? I don't know.. It's too bad too, because the same kind of music played at the main menu screen could have done the trick..
Gameplay and compatibility- 8.5/10
Long story short- it's a puzzle game, and very fun at that. Short story long- your goal is to sling shoot birds into pigs. It's that simple. Well, there are a few walls in your way, but those birds crash right through them. Add to that the fact that you have different kinds of birds who behave in different ways, different kinds of walls who break in different ways, and a pseudo realistic physics engine that makes the walls behave (almost) as they would in real life and you get more and more fun. Not very original, but very fun for those few minutes on the bus you have to "burn", though once you start playing you're probably going to play it anywhere.
One thing I was missing, though, is the lack of .. Info? I don't know, there's no detailed information on what each bird is good for, strong or weak against, good way to use them, etc, they just show you how to use it.. And you figure everything on your own.. Also no real storyline.. I would have loved to have a small amusing cutscene after each level..
Compatibility is as to be expected- the game is touch based, and it's very intuitive- touch the bird on the sling, pull it back, release, and there you have it.
Overall- 7/10
Angry birds is, pure and simple, a mobile game. A very simple idea, wrapped up in simple graphics, simple gameplay, and it's simply addictive.. If we had been living a few cellphone generations ago this would have been perfect.. But today's games are much more complex than this.. At first I wanted to grade it 8 for being so much fun, then I wanted to grade it 6 for being too simple, so I'll just give it an 7 (If only the sound had been better). Yes, it's not very complex, but, hey, a good game doesn't have to be.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
The Ur Quan Masters
Graphics- 6/10
It's hard for me to say whether or not these are good graphics, because while they are very nice, the alien races you encounter are very well drawn, the space ships could have been more detailed, but still look very nice, but that's all true when compared to mobile games of older generations.. So, yes, they do look nice for a mobile game, but given the capabilities of today's phones and OS, I can't give it a high score. You see, while the alien races ARE very well drawn, they don't really change through out the game, they remain as speaking background photos, and while the ships DO look nice, they could have been more detailed (again, we are talking about a very old game, I realize, but for the sake of equality I have to treat it as if it was just developed), and on top of all that most of the game is spent in exploration, which is very low on any details, and is basically your tiny ship traveling through space, exploring planets.bottom line- looks nice compared to old gen mobile games (it's a computer game, after all), but the game's strength is not its graphics, if you ask me.
Sound and music- 8/10
Oh, the sound! If the graphics were a small taste of what games on maemo can be like, the sound is a direct peak to the future of mobile gaming. Every dialog (!!!) is dubbed, but simple dubbing is not enough for me, they are dubbed well. You see dubbing in games is a complicated matter, as it is much better than reading long lines of text, but at the same time it tends to suck. Really suck. When it is done well, though, it can be a selling point for a game, and that's exactly what happened here- Well written dialogs and awesome voice actors led to humorous, fun, interesting dialogs, and the acting is very versatile, very creative. Basically very good.
"So, wait, why isn't it a 10/10???!11" you must ask yourself.
The music.
While it is not entirely bad... It's not that good either, repetitiveness + average, uninspired, run of the mill midi sci-fi tracks = annoyance.
I got sick of them real quick. You will too.
Gameplay and playabilty- 7/10
The gameplay is where this game shines- this game is long, hard, interesting, and requires you to think, make choices that will effect the rest of the game, and the plot, as it reveals itself slowly, is very interesting.
The game itself is very RPG influenced- instead of a character you get a ship, instead of XP you use money to add different component to your ship- more fuel pods, stronger weapons, etc. All this makes your ship very versatile- you can make it a strong fighter, or a resource collector, or an explorer, or a bit of all. It's up to you.
The universe you are in does not remain constant, it changes with decisions you make- Alien races go to war against one another, unite with each other, their sphere of influence grows bigger or smaller, and it's all displayed on the star map.
The game itself is mostly spent exploring planets and star systems, and collecting resources to better equip your ship, which can be tedious, but soon it becomes just a means to an end- become stronger, make your ship better, only so you can explore and find new races and eventually free earth from being slaves to (what at first seems) an evil alien race with great powers.
Finding new races at first seems impossible, but the game itself will provide you with all the clues you need to finding all the alien races. Pay close attention to everything you hear, and take note of locations and names that are given to you- these will aid you greatly in advancing.
The fighting is another element of the game- if you choose to fight (and you might not be inclined to do so, for reasons explained later) you will enter the battle screen (.. thingy) where you get to choose which ship represents you in the fight- your mothership is a weak fighter at first, but with the right equipment can be turned into a killing machin, and then you also have the fighters of other races- each with its own unique abilities, advantages and disadvantages. Not all are powerful, but each is powerful in its own way. fighting is done by placing both you and an enemy ship somewhere next to eachother and making you blow eachother to bits, the winner gets to stay and fight the next ship, while the loser is, well, blown to bits.. Tactics also have an important role in the game as many weapons require different thinking to deploy- fast ships with short ranged weapons, ships with slow homing weapons, etc.
Right, so the gameplay is awesome, and again you ask yourself "OMFG why 7/10?!?1" well.. I am not here to review just the game, I'm here to review the game on the n900, and one thing that really made this game much worse than it should have been is the controls. Oh gawd, they're awful- this game has no touchscreen compatibility, fine, so we are forced to use the keyboard, and using the keyboard means using those tiny arrow buttons. Now, if I had one of those giant d-pads maybe I wouldn't have been complaining, but trying to fly a fast flying ship using just my thumb is a nightmare, and it makes fights a living hell. Other than that the game works well, no glitches, no crashes, the game goes silent when you put the phone in silent mode, which is nice, and the only thing is the game's sound effects (like when starting a conversation, or battle) will clash with your media player sound so if you're playing with background music, like I did, you have to go back to the desktop and turn it off once in a while, and go back in the game, as it gets unstuck once you do so.
Overall- 8/10
A very good game, both addictive (in a "Oh god, I NEED MORE MINERALS" kind of way) and fun (in a plot that sucks you in, funny dialogs that keep you interested even in the less important dialog options, puzzles to solve, and good RPG elements combined with star fights kind of way). Yes, graphics were not intended to be its strong point, and the sound makes up for it anyway.
All in all it's a great gaming experience if you're into RPGs, sci-fi.. And even if you aren't, you should give it a try anyway...
It's hard for me to say whether or not these are good graphics, because while they are very nice, the alien races you encounter are very well drawn, the space ships could have been more detailed, but still look very nice, but that's all true when compared to mobile games of older generations.. So, yes, they do look nice for a mobile game, but given the capabilities of today's phones and OS, I can't give it a high score. You see, while the alien races ARE very well drawn, they don't really change through out the game, they remain as speaking background photos, and while the ships DO look nice, they could have been more detailed (again, we are talking about a very old game, I realize, but for the sake of equality I have to treat it as if it was just developed), and on top of all that most of the game is spent in exploration, which is very low on any details, and is basically your tiny ship traveling through space, exploring planets.bottom line- looks nice compared to old gen mobile games (it's a computer game, after all), but the game's strength is not its graphics, if you ask me.
Sound and music- 8/10
Oh, the sound! If the graphics were a small taste of what games on maemo can be like, the sound is a direct peak to the future of mobile gaming. Every dialog (!!!) is dubbed, but simple dubbing is not enough for me, they are dubbed well. You see dubbing in games is a complicated matter, as it is much better than reading long lines of text, but at the same time it tends to suck. Really suck. When it is done well, though, it can be a selling point for a game, and that's exactly what happened here- Well written dialogs and awesome voice actors led to humorous, fun, interesting dialogs, and the acting is very versatile, very creative. Basically very good.
"So, wait, why isn't it a 10/10???!11" you must ask yourself.
The music.
While it is not entirely bad... It's not that good either, repetitiveness + average, uninspired, run of the mill midi sci-fi tracks = annoyance.
I got sick of them real quick. You will too.
Gameplay and playabilty- 7/10
The gameplay is where this game shines- this game is long, hard, interesting, and requires you to think, make choices that will effect the rest of the game, and the plot, as it reveals itself slowly, is very interesting.
The game itself is very RPG influenced- instead of a character you get a ship, instead of XP you use money to add different component to your ship- more fuel pods, stronger weapons, etc. All this makes your ship very versatile- you can make it a strong fighter, or a resource collector, or an explorer, or a bit of all. It's up to you.
The universe you are in does not remain constant, it changes with decisions you make- Alien races go to war against one another, unite with each other, their sphere of influence grows bigger or smaller, and it's all displayed on the star map.
The game itself is mostly spent exploring planets and star systems, and collecting resources to better equip your ship, which can be tedious, but soon it becomes just a means to an end- become stronger, make your ship better, only so you can explore and find new races and eventually free earth from being slaves to (what at first seems) an evil alien race with great powers.
Finding new races at first seems impossible, but the game itself will provide you with all the clues you need to finding all the alien races. Pay close attention to everything you hear, and take note of locations and names that are given to you- these will aid you greatly in advancing.
The fighting is another element of the game- if you choose to fight (and you might not be inclined to do so, for reasons explained later) you will enter the battle screen (.. thingy) where you get to choose which ship represents you in the fight- your mothership is a weak fighter at first, but with the right equipment can be turned into a killing machin, and then you also have the fighters of other races- each with its own unique abilities, advantages and disadvantages. Not all are powerful, but each is powerful in its own way. fighting is done by placing both you and an enemy ship somewhere next to eachother and making you blow eachother to bits, the winner gets to stay and fight the next ship, while the loser is, well, blown to bits.. Tactics also have an important role in the game as many weapons require different thinking to deploy- fast ships with short ranged weapons, ships with slow homing weapons, etc.
Right, so the gameplay is awesome, and again you ask yourself "OMFG why 7/10?!?1" well.. I am not here to review just the game, I'm here to review the game on the n900, and one thing that really made this game much worse than it should have been is the controls. Oh gawd, they're awful- this game has no touchscreen compatibility, fine, so we are forced to use the keyboard, and using the keyboard means using those tiny arrow buttons. Now, if I had one of those giant d-pads maybe I wouldn't have been complaining, but trying to fly a fast flying ship using just my thumb is a nightmare, and it makes fights a living hell. Other than that the game works well, no glitches, no crashes, the game goes silent when you put the phone in silent mode, which is nice, and the only thing is the game's sound effects (like when starting a conversation, or battle) will clash with your media player sound so if you're playing with background music, like I did, you have to go back to the desktop and turn it off once in a while, and go back in the game, as it gets unstuck once you do so.
Overall- 8/10
A very good game, both addictive (in a "Oh god, I NEED MORE MINERALS" kind of way) and fun (in a plot that sucks you in, funny dialogs that keep you interested even in the less important dialog options, puzzles to solve, and good RPG elements combined with star fights kind of way). Yes, graphics were not intended to be its strong point, and the sound makes up for it anyway.
All in all it's a great gaming experience if you're into RPGs, sci-fi.. And even if you aren't, you should give it a try anyway...
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