Archive for May, 2006

Direct Link : Galaxy Gate
Publisher : Inscenic

Price : $7.95

Graphics : 7 Out of 10
Sound : 7 out of 10
Gameplay : 8 Out of 10
Longevity : 8 Out of 10
Overall : 7.5 Out of 10

You can always tell a good game. It’s the one that over the years, keeps coming back again and again. I’m not saying that as anything against Galaxy Gate, it just goes to prove that simple gameplay is sometimes much better than all the latest bells and whistles. Just take a look at Tetris for a case in point. In fact, I think that being able to describe a game in just a sentence or two, is a great testament to a games design.

The gaming pedigree of Inscenic, Galaxy Gate’s publisher cannot be denied. They are the company behind one of one favorite Pocket PC games of all time, Warring Nations, so it was with nervous excitement that I installed the game. OK so this is no Warring Nation, but it’s not designed to be. This is a puzzle game, pure and simple, but that’s about the only simple thing in this devious game.

The basic premise of the game is to collect all the gems in a 9×7 grid. However if it was as simple as that, you’d probably only play this game a couple of time. The 9×7 grid is filled with crates that can contain either contain gems or bombs. You must determine what they contain, by firing your laser across a row or column. If it hits a gem, the laser beam will deflect and change colour, to either green, blue, or red. If it hits a bomb, the beam will still deflect and change to yellow. Your job is to collect all the gems and mark all the bombs for deactivation. Whilst the gameplay is deceptively simple, it soon progresses at a rapid pace. I like to think I’m pretty good at these games, but man I’m not half as good as I thought I was, but you know what they say, practice makes perfect.

As always the presentation is top notch. The graphics are bright and colourful, if a little on the simplistic side. The sound is also very well done, with some great spot effects and some really groovy music. Registered users also get a game editor, allowing them to create their own levels. The only niggly point I had with the whole game is that I would often click on a bomb location, without first having the bomb locater selected, thus ending my game. If there were some kind of confirmation before clicking on each square, that would be a good way to prevent this, but you’d need a way to switch that off, if it got too annoying.

Conclusion : This is one of those games, where you just need one more go. At just $7.95 this is a must buy, as it will keep you entertained for hours.

Direct Link : Pocket Mini Golf 2
Publisher : Momentum Games

Price : $19.95

Graphics : 8 Out of 10
Sound : 7 out of 10
Gameplay : 9 Out of 10
Longevity : 8 Out of 10
Overall : 8 Out of 10

The Pocket PC is such a great platform for golf games, as lightening reflexes aren’t usually required. The main prerequisite for these style of games is hand eye co-ordination and a good understanding of basic physics.

PMG2 takes the more arcade style of mini golf, rather than the more traditional style and shoe horns in a myriad of courses and play options. You have the ability to play using the as any one of 6 players, each with their own individual characteristics. There’s also 3 different levels of play, which should give you a nice introduction to the gameplay at the lowest level, but provide a lasting challenge at the higher levels. The levels are:

• Amateur - Where you have one extra stroke to complete each hold
• Semi-Professional - With normal par per hole and user controlled power bar
• Professional - Normal par per hole, with moving power bar.

There’s also 3 different game types:

• Standard - Get around the 18 holes in as few shots as possible
• Arcade - Get around the 18 holes as quickly as you can and in as few shots.
• Practice - Practice a hole as many times as you want in as many shots.

The game play is just about right, being easy enough to get you started with the game, but difficult enough to keep you coming back for more. As well as the many options included in the standard game, are a whole host of un-lockable features, that so far this reviewer isn’t good enough to unlock. The courses themselves are very well designed, with some holes being very tricky indeed. There’s also 5 expansion packs available for purchase, which give you a whole host of new holes to test your skill.

The game mechanics and physics are very smooth. The graphics are nicely done, but at times a little on the small side, which is no surprise on a mobile device. There is no VGA option, which would be a bonus, but the graphics do not detract at all from the gameplay. The sound is also nicely done, being mostly confined to ambient or spot effects.

Conclusion : This is a great game, with features up to the yin yang. There’s enough here to keep you busy for quite a while. Pricing is a little on the high side, I would have preferred the cost to be around the $15 mark.

Direct Link : Warring Nations
Publisher : Inscenic

Price : $14.95

Graphics : 9.5 Out of 10
Sound : 9 out of 10
Gameplay : 10 Out of 10
Longevity : 9.5 Out of 10
Overall : 9.5 Out of 10

Set in medieval times, Warring Nations gives you the opportunity to rule and expand your empire by any means necessary.

You begin the game by selecting who you wish to play as. You can choose to play as the Franks; Germans; Italians; Normans; Saxons; Slavs and Spanish. Each nationality gives you 3 rulers to choose from, except the Saxons where you are presented with 5. The range of historical characters you can play as include Robin Hood; Richard the Lion Heart; Joan of Arc and Pope Julius II. Choosing a character isn’t just a matter of choosing a name you like. No, each character has varying skill levels for each criteria, Combat, Spy, Diplomacy, Trade and Building to which each has a value of between 0 and 4, so choose carefully.

Once your character is selected, you choose to select to play on one of three maps of different sizes, populations and opposing players and can also select from 4 different levels of difficult, Trivial, Easy, Normal and Hard. There are also additional maps you can download from the website, giving an enormous boost to the playing longevity.

You then finally need to select whether you want the resources in the game map to be random or stay with the predefined settings and lastly how many players you want to play against, between 2 and 5.

So you’re all fired up and ready to go, now the real fun begins.

For anyone who’s played Risk (the game of world domination) before, the basic gameplay will be fairly familiar. The map is split into several pieces, these are provinces and the provinces are split into further smaller lands. Build up your forces and take over freeland to build your empire. When you feel you have sufficient forces, start to attack opposing sides by either plundering money or taking control of the land and adding it to your empire. All this happens in a turn based fashion, so you make various decisions, end your turn and one by one, the opposing players do the same.

The first thing that hits you is the superb graphics, that goes for both the standard 240×320 QVGA and the 480×640 VGA versions. During the gameplay there’s many things to tweak and play with, but this almost becomes second nature, due to the thought that has been put into the user interface.

This is such an amazing game, with so many facets, it’s almost impossible to go into any great depth. Suffice to say, if you like Risk or any kind of world domination or God game, you will definitely enjoy Warring Nations.

Conclusion : This is almost the perfect game. I say almost, but just can’t part with that elusive 10 out of 10. Every game has some room for improvement, but with Warring Nations, we’re talking minor tweaks, rather than radical changes. Surely an all time classic game for the Pocket PC.