Angry Birds Space [ANDROID REVIEW]

The birds are back in town!

But sadly this extra-terrestrial adventure leaves a lot to be desired.

What's It All About Then?

Latest instalment of the Angry Birds franchise, launched at the end of March 2012, takes the series' usual formula of "Put bird in slingshot - Aim at pig in building - Let loose and *ka-blam*" and moves it into outer space. 


The story goes that some very mean piggies stole the nice birds' precious eggs. Ergo - kill them all and smash their homes to pieces. Capisce? 


The greater the destruction you cause - plus the fewer birds flung in order to achieve total piggie massacre - will give you a higher star rating at the end of each level. For an acceptable serial porcicide, you'll earn 1 star. If you totally demolish the place, destroying a couple of nearby piggie schools just for good measure, you'll earn the maximum of 3 stars.


The series always uses a variety of birds, and this set it unique in order to deal with the additional factors of being in space - with all the variable gravity fun that nearby asteroids (or lack thereof) may lead to. You are given a level-specific selection of birds in a particular order, which must be used to completely wipe out the level's pigs.


The types of birds used in Space are as follows:

1. RED ROUND - flies straight and does a bit of damage
2. LITTLE BLUE - after launching, another tap to the screen causes the bird to split in 3 (only causing a small amount of damage)
3. PURPLE TRIANGLE - after launching, another tap to the screen at a specific point will redirect the bird to do medium damage to that point
4. BOMB BIRDS - shaped like a bomb (weirdly) - these detonate after a few seconds (or after another tap)
5. BIG GREENS - huge but heavy birds that don't fly too far but caused massive damage if aimed correctly
6. FREEZE BIRDS  - these guys explode into a ball of ice, with all surfaces hit by the cold becoming vulnerable and brittle. Careful use of the birds that follow leads to major gravitational destruction.

There are 76 levels in total - meaning 228 stars to collect in total (at time of writing, I've collected just over 190). They are broken up into the following chapters:

1. PIG BANG - 30 introductory levels - easy basics. Showing you the ropes with set-ups involving most types of bird in easy configurations. There's a boss level at the end on the ground.
2. COLD CUTS - then there's a set of 30 tactical levels involving freeze birds and more complicated gravity systems. The boss at the end flies around and defends itself.
3. FRY ME TO THE MOON - 10 slightly more challenging levels that involve a lot of stone structures - difficult to knock down without clever use of destruction - and piggies that fly around in orbit.
4. EGGSTEROIDS - 6 bonus levels that generally pay homage to other videogames. There's a Pong level and a Space Invaders level that are both fun.  These are less of a challenge to beat - but to unlock them you need to fire at hidden black holes spread across the other campaign levels.

Later on, there are complex gravitational fields to work with.

So Is It Any Good Then?
+++ Fun New Setting +++
The new space setting is well-realised and all-in-all is pretty  good fun. The menus, birds and levels have all been tailored to fit the theme, with a lot of thought put into the graphical design and style of the game. Not a lot has changed since the last one - they've just been given a sci-fi overhaul - but each level certainly feels like it's in space.


The use of gravitational fields is brilliant - meaning that a lot of thought has to go into later levels and that there are often some less-obvious solutions to tough levels that can be found with clever/flukey "hookshots" around asteroids. Think Red Dwarf, where Lister has to block the black hole with a planet in a space-snooker-esque affair - you may sound all smart when you line it up and then look daft when your bird spins wildly around a nearby planet - but with a bit of luck it can collide in just the right way to lead to big points.


This means that every level is definitely worth a couple of playthroughs - trying out both different firing angles and different tactics - honing your skills and high scores until you've aced each and every one of them.


Special mention goes out to the bonus levels - they're all great fun and it's good to have some levels that are there for fun/variety rather than just for challenge. Mixing it up a bit was part of what made the original great - with a few simple gameplay concepts they made like 250 enjoyable levels. 

This is the Pong-themed bonus level -
not necessarily mind-blowing but quite sweet.

--- Short and Limited ---
And that leads neatly on to my first big criticism - it's too damn short! The 70 main levels are quite enjoyable and have  a good progression in difficulty and elements (static targets to begin - moving and protected targets later on). The issue is that I was just getting going at that point - expecting a whole bunch more after that and it just.... stopped.


Is this a case of "expansion pack sickness"? Are they giving us a taster of the new setting but leaving all of the content for additional, paid packages?


Therefore, the difficulty level was a bit lacking - I sort of expected there to be further challenges to play around with the gravity stuff but it just finished really early!


Even the Rio expansion pack for the original game had around 160 levels in total - and that was just made to advertise a film! Admittedly, these were released bit-by-bit too - so perhaps I just need to sit tight and wait for the rest of levels to be released.


Now I'm playing the free version - so I surely I shouldn't really complain much about the small level selection? 


Well that really doesn't make me want to pay to upgrade now, does it? 


And how can I recommend the paid version to people when it feels half-finished? Well the problems don't end at the number of levels...

In this shot, the adverts are actually preventing me from seeing the game -
 and you can't zoom out on this level either!

--- Badly Built and Lucky ---
The game also has a looooooot of issues. The screenshot above shows the big problem with the adverts - they get in the bloody way! Steve Jobs' big ugly face is constantly blocking my view - adverts for Wonga offering me cash loans (I'd imagine so that I can afford the next expansion pack).


If you could move the advert to the other side of the screen when necessary - or if they just buggered off altogether - then I'd actually be able to see what I was shooting and I'd have a lot more fun with the game.


Then there's the numerous occasions where the game actually cocks up. See below for an example of this - where the gravity is meant to topple unsteady towers but parts of it just hang in mid-air. 


So - the game prevents me from winning in a quite annoying way.


Then the next major issue is the complete opposite: that due to the gravity systems you can regularly demolish towers with flukey shots! Bounce a bird off an asteroid - it will often spin round and round until it eventually crashes into a piggie tower. Just launching your birds in random directions can sometimes lead to a 3 star score - requiring no skill whatsoever.


That's the biggest problem of them all to me - when the pig killing was taking place back on Earth, if you missed a shot then you had to start the level again. There was a very rational pattern to proceedings - only one or two angles to launch birds at in order to get the big scores. In Space, there are dozens - if not hundreds - of different angles and shot power that will win you a big highscore. I liked that you could try out complex shots around planets - I just don't like a bird I fired five minutes ago to swing back around and smash everything to pieces.


Perhaps some changes to the way the birds work in the long-term? (disappearing after a few seconds to prevent these ridiculous fluke shots).

WTF is going on with the arrow-shaped block - how is it still floating there?
You can clearly see the gravitational field all around it!

Conclusions

The game is still great fun for absolutely zero pounds - if you don't mind infuriating advertising splashed all across your screen - but in terms of substance this game falls well short of its predecessor.

If this was a space-themed expansion pack then it may have been less disappointing - as the full sequel to one of the most popular mobile games of all time then they just haven't put the effort in. A true shame.

Feel free to post comments or contributions to improve the experience!
Any stock images in this review are subject to relevant copyrights and are kindly provided by:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gdeheemdbabpjapkmbpiocpjinickpcl?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon
All game screenshots were taken in-game using a HTC Nexus One and were taken by Brighton Games Trader.

DS Downloadable Games vol. 4 [DS REVIEW] [QUICK&SHORT]

What's It All About Then?

A cartoony, piratey tower defense game with a twist - you must defend against enemy pirate ships who want to steal your treasure!

+++ PROS +++

• Cheap - £1.80 on the DSi Store.
• Fairly bright and pretty - the graphics do well enough to show the action.
• Novel gameplay - the defense/offense tactics required take a little time to get used to but allow for fun, frantic gameplay.
• Nicely styled - the theme is very piratey and the weapons, music and graphics all complement this.

--- CONS ---

• Slightly poor tutorial - there's a few slides with very small text explaining what you need to do, but this is pretty hard to read.
• Slightly difficult to plan for attacks - ensuring you keep all your treasure and fight off baddies can be awkward - and takes seeing the route that the ships take a few times before you can effectively fight them off.
• Lags terribly when the screen is full - serious slowdown issues here.
• Very short - only 5 levels that will keep you going for a couple of hours at most.

What's It All About Then?

New and shiny poker and blackjack sim, with a whole bunch of game modes and really encourages you to get involved in the game.

+++ PROS +++

• Great variety of game modes - about 10 poker variations, plus blackjack.
• Lots of tournaments to try your hand at - from easy to hard - and then there's multiplayer.
• The graphics of the player avatars and environments look pretty good
• Having a customisable player profile allows you to feel engaged and keeps track of your progress well.
• Loads of achievements to aim for too (win with a straight, all-in before the river etc.) so there's some extra replay value.

--- CONS ---

• Not too cheap - £4.50 on DSi Store.
• Poor difficulty balance - the first 5 tournaments are all "super easy" and the final few are "super hard" - meant that I ended up playing the lower-level games for a bit of fun.

What's It All About Then?

Point-and-click puzzle game where you must use subtle hints to progress through the many levels.

+++ PROS +++

• Cheap - £1.80 on the DSi Store.
• Around 30 levels that take a fair bit of time to get through.
• Ranging from fun little slides which take a few seconds to work out, right through to head-scratchers that require a bit more thought.

--- CONS ---

• Doubt that you'll want to play through this more than once - when you have finished the puzzles there is virtually no replay value.
• Some levels are just a pain in the arse. Not requiring any logic or cunning, a few puzzles need you to simply "click in the right order" and really can only be found through trial-and-error.
• The game keeps track of your clicks - so tapping frantically to work out an obnoxious puzzle will add to your counter (and probably raise your blood pressure too).

What's It All About Then?

Brick breaker game where you guide a ball bouncing around 1001 levels of destructible scenery.

+++ PROS +++

• Cheap - £1.80 on the DSi Store.
• There really is 1001 levels.
• Power-ups and bonuses keep things varied for a while.
• 3D graphics on the DS look pretty good - not spectacular but definitely nice to watch smashing around the place.

--- CONS ---

• All the levels are pretty samey - the game has 4 themes (forest, candy, Greek and stone age) which determine the objects you'll smash - but you'll always smash the same few objects.
• Slightly overwhelming! Having 1001 repetitive levels is a bit intimidating - it didn't make me want to get through all of them.
• If you like bouncing balls to smash things - you'll be in Heaven. If you prefer something more fun - this may get boring quickly.

Feel free to post comments or contributions to improve the experience!

Any images in this review are subject to relevant copyrights and are kindly provided by: 
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/pirates_assault_49336.html
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/1st_class_poker__blackjack_49093.html
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/hints_hunter_49170.html

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/1001_blockbusters_49075.html

DS Downloadable Games vol. 3 [DS REVIEW] [QUICK&SHORT]

GAIA'S MOON

+++ PROS +++

• Simple and effective play mechanic - you press 1 button to fly upwards - press for longer to fly higher.
• Use this to swoop and dive, avoiding a weird and wonderful assortment of "enemies"
• Enemies include jumping sharks, flying dolphins, floating skulls and puffer fish. All in the same level too.
• Nice graphics serve the purpose well - although not amazing
• 2 player mode too - one uses the top screen and the other uses the bottom screen. This can get a little confusing though
• Cheap - only £1.80 on DSi Store
• Infuriatingly catchy soundtrack will stay in your head for weeks.

--- CONS ---

• Your flight path to avoid some of the enemies can be a bit ambiguous - sometimes it seems only flying through the bottom of one enemy will get you through
• Hard to master - takes at least half an hour to get through the first 5 levels safely - and when you lose you have to start right from the beginning
• Infuriatingly catchy soundtrack will stay in your head for weeks.

3 HEROES - CRYSTAL SOUL

+++ PROS +++

• Bright and colourful strategy puzzler game
• On the surface is just a "Match-3" game but actually has some deeper mechanics to work out
• Novel gameplay and design - you must move your character around a grid map by attacking nearby enemies. When you attack, you will also defeat all adjacent enemies of the same colour and earn colour points.
• By defeating the enemies in the right order - and choosing the right colours to go for at the right times - you can earn enough points to pull off special moves and get even bigger bonuses and treasures.
• Enough levels to play through with 3 different (albeit fairly similar) characters - so you can kill a few hours with this. 

--- CONS ---

• Not too cheap for what you get - £4.50 on DSi Store
• Claims to have "RPG elements". In reality it just uses some basic RPG philosophy, fight for as long as you can until your health goes down - then run and heal/save
• Not really any incentive for playing through the levels - there is just the satisfaction of unlocking all the levels but certainly not what you'd expect from an "RPG puzzler"

GO SERIES - UNDEAD STORM

+++ PROS +++

• Basic zombie shooter with plenty of charm and appeal
• Cheap - only £1.80 on DSi Store
• 3 levels and 3 difficulty settings for each - and it is worth giving each of them a go!
• Easy is good for a laugh, just take some rage out on some zombies
• Hard is a challenge - you'll either need to have lightning reflexes or employ clever use of weaponry
• Nice variety of weapons - shotguns, machine guns, grenades, mines, molotovs, melee 
• And a diverse bunch of enemies to use them on!
• 4 characters to choose from - each with their own dialogue
• Plenty of choice for how to approach levels too - do you search for survivors to help you or just go commando?
• LOADS of medals to unlock - sort of like achievements on Xbox or trophies on PS3 - these are awarded for things like level completes or not using special weapons or taking no damage

--- CONS ---

• Simplistic graphics can make it difficult to see what exactly is going on when the screen fills up with baddies and explosions
• Sometimes the end-level bosses can wipe out everyone in your party very quickly - leading to some distressing game overs
• Sometimes the zombies can be a bit....er..... braindead? They just stand there and wait for you to kill them. Not that I'm complaining that much or anything....

If you're in the market for a Nintendo DS - and 45 incredible games to go with it -

then check out my eBay auction.

Ends Sunday 8th April at 8PM BST!

LINK TO THE AUCTION >>>> HERE

Feel free to post comments or contributions to improve the experience!
Any images in this review are subject to relevant copyrights and are kindly provided by:
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/gaiaacutes_moon_47538.html
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/3_heroes_crystal_soul_47787.html
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/go_series_undead_storm_47758.html

Journey [PS3] [RETROSPECTIVE]

As an extra review for this week, I'm doing a review of the art exhibit/platformer game - JOURNEY - and so thought I would take the time to do a little retrospective of the two other PS3 titles by the same developers - thatgamecompany.

I'll go through them in chronological order, starting with their 2007 release, FLOW.

Flow is a top-down 2D strategy game where you control a little microbial fish/sperm and evolve yourself by consuming other, smaller microbes and avoiding bigger, nasty microbes. It was a very artistically-styled game, with audio effects delicately chiming in as you progressed. Controls were simple - and the presentation didn't bombard you with help text and Heads-Up Displays (HUDs) - which is rare and was very nice to see.

It began in the sort of environments as shown above ^^^ - where you were this fish-type floating creature and you guided yourself around levels until you were the biggest fish-sperm in the ocean. There was an almost "natural" or intuitive quality to the levels, you could tell that you weren't big enough to take on certain floaty things - and you were helpfully egged-on by sound effects until you eventually ate everything up. It was a very serene and pleasant experience.

The levels then progressed so that there was a greater variety of things floating in your vicinity, and a greater number of tricks required to beat them. From simple things like having to swallow them at a certain point in their floating pattern, or when you had powered up by eating a lot. Although fairly simplistic, the game wasn't trying to offer anything more. It was sort of like the game Snake on mobiles - there isn't any variety in gameplay features but the fun of floating around and beating levels in good enough.

Flow was well-received by gamers - the Flash version of the game got 100,000 downloads within its first 2 weeks of release and the PS3 version was the most downloaded PSN title of 2007. The style was colourful and elegant, and the controls were simple enough to get non-gamers interested. The developers then followed Flow up with one of the most beautiful titles ever made - Flower.

Flower was released in 2009, and stunned audiences upon release. Never before had a studio released such a fantastic display that straddled the line between gaming and art. The gaming community was united in its praise for the graphics - this could be one of the best tech demos ever created - and the impressive use of colour and animation.

You started off each level in Flower as a single stalk in a field. Every stalk of grass is animated, and blows around in the wind to absolutely stunning effect. You are then given  control of a gust of wind, and use it to blow the petals off the flower head and send them swirling through the field. There are then a whole bunch of other flowers in the field - and by swooping over them you combine their petals with your own until there is a giant, swirling mass of coloured petals that you control by the end of the level.

The game utilises motion-sensitive controls, so tilting the controller left and right swirls the group of petals left and right. Pulling back causes the petals to rocket upwards and swoop over in a loop - with each and every petal detailed and animated. Oh yes. They really did. Both petals, grass and backgrounds are drawn and displayed beautifully. If you ever need a game to silence an art critic who disapproves of gaming - forget Braid, that's still a platformer - show them Flower.

The game actually has a strange story played out through the advancement of the levels and small cutscenes at the beginning of levels. There's a very strong environmental/green message to the story, and  during the second half of the game you are tasked with activating wind turbines and smashing dark, metallic, industrial structures. It alludes to city life killing the planet and causing suffering - which is solved by getting millions of players to use 8-chipped superconsoles to burn through the night displaying the game on 500-inch super HD screens? Logical. OK so the artistic message doesn't quite work but it's still frikkin gorgeous and immensely fun to play through - technicolour swirling around, trying to catch the wind (cue Donovan track).

Then we move on to Journey, released in March 2012.

Journey continues thatgamecompany's trademark style - stunning visuals - refined, orchestral soundtrack - simple play mechanic. This time you are an unnamed, robed figure who wakes up at the start of the game in a desert and looks towards a distant mountain. Through directive cameras, the game indicates which way you should head, carving a path up one side of a sand dune and then sliding down the other side. You make your way to a large arena, where the first of the "puzzles" begins.

The puzzle mechanic in Journey concerns lift - i.e. how high you can reach. You can initially only jump a tiny amount, but through manipulation of the environment you gradually unlock the ability to get higher and higher - and the game allows you to move forwards. You can spend as little or as long as you like carrying this out - Journey is much more about experience than challenge. 

It is in this area that you learn of the game's new unique feature - one of the most novel co-operative modes ever implemented. In the game world, there are other real players who are just working through a Journey in the same way you are. Their actions affects your game world and your actions theirs. You can, if you so choose, sit back and let the other traveller take over. You can just race away and ignore the other traveller totally. If you want, you can stick with that player for the whole Journey - It really is up to you. And there's no chat function, no in-game messaging, no stats, no experience levels. Just players, interacting with the game and passing each other by on their own adventure. It's a wonderful mechanic that allows for some very unusual and touching elements of co-operation and communication between players - you have to try it to fully appreciate how it works.

The very small amount of communication possible is achieved through "shouting" - tap the circle button for a little yelp and hold it down to let out a loud, harmonious tone - or mix it up to create a strange, almost speech-like noise. Weirdly, as you experiment with the shouting function - which also acts as your main tool for interacting with the game world - you will often find that your online companion will start to "shout" back until the two of you are almost chatting. It's essentially baby-talk, yes, but it's novel to reduce your lines of communication down to semi-random noises. It feels almost personal..... as I said, it's quite weird.

You play through a few different types of environment during the duration of a Journey too - there's an underground, dark levels where you slide through sand in a sort of artsy racer game - there's a snowy setting where your character really feels the cold - and then there's the finale where you finaly ascend to the summit. 

The Journey can take as long as you want it to really, but most players will reach the summit within around 2 hours. So it's short - very short. The fun is then in going back - beginning a new Journey and seeing what else you can discover, what you can do differently, how else can you interact with other players - and just experiment!

There's a few challenges set as trophies - such as sticking with the same player throughout - so these add some focus and replay value to the game. It's certainly worth 2 or 3 playthroughs (just finished my 2nd at time of writing) and when it's release price was £10 then you really can't go wrong.

Conclusion

This is about as refined as you can make a game before it gets classed as an interactive movie or an art exhibit. It manages to be both compelling and beautiful - with gameplay so easy and enjoyable that you won't be able to resist just starting one...more....Journey.


There's really no other game like it - as unique as it is intriguing. Journey rewards exploration and experimentation and is much deeper than you may initially think.


To top it all off - it's cheap enough for it to be worth giving a go - and trust me, it's worth giving a go.



thatgamecompany have a wonderful gaming philosophy and style which shines through all 3 of these titles - and they stand out as some of the defining games of this generation. 
Well done.

Feel free to post comments or contributions to improve the experience! Any images in this review are subject to relevant copyrights and are kindly provided by:
http://thatgamecompany.com/games/flow/
http://thatgamecompany.com/games/flower/
http://thatgamecompany.com/games/journey/

Trine 2 [PS3] [QUICK&SHORT]

Absurdly pretty, fantastically colourful game 

that ticks nearly every box.

What's It All About?

The Trine is a magical object which binds three people together and grants them special powers.  These powers will be required in order to get through the puzzles the game world presents - with goblins, trolls, living forests, giant creatures.... and a witch with a dark secret to uncover. The 3 characters brought together in this fantasy tale are:

1. A Wizard - he has the ability to conjure objects and levitate them from afar
2. A Soldier - he has a sword, shield and hammer to fight and throw at destructible objects
3. An Archer - she has a bow and arrow, plus a grappling hook that can be used to swing to higher areas.

The action plays out as a side scrolling 2D-frame but 3D-graphics set-up - with extra powers earned by collecting hard-to-reach gems and beating baddies - and the story unravelled through small, sparse segments of text and a normally a small cutscene at the end of each level.

So Is It Any Good Then?

+++Spectacularly Colourful+++ The visuals are the big winner here - fantastic use of colour all around means that even the backdrops are worth a few minutes to stop and take a look at. Each scenario has its own colour scheme - with lighter and greener levels at the beginning, moving through to purple and blue mystical and aquatic levels through the middle, right through to black and red as we approach the climactic finale. It's great to see a game use such a variety of colours and settings in such a short game - it means that the environments never get boring and hold your attention for the duration of the story. The characters are funny and enjoyable enough to keep you interested as well.

+++ Co-op Physics Puzzler +++ Well I can't get enough of these - the use of clever tricks such as weighted platforms and levers that build in difficulty as the game progresses is great. You can get through the game on your own quite easily, and even using just the one character - but the fun lies in switching things up and getting a friend to join in and play along. There are some issues with the physics - momentum doesn't work properly and there's a glitch with the wizard's conjuring skill that I call the "magic carpet trick" that means you can fly through most of the puzzles in the game - but these flaws don't actually make the game any less playable. It isn't perfect but it works well enough to still be enjoyable.

--- Short and Unambitious --- The big problems with the game - other than it's a physics puzzle platformer with a buggered physics engine - are that the game is over too quickly and doesn't really take off. The story is well paced - revealing itself slowly until all is revealed at the end - but you reach that level so quickly that a lot of the suspense is lost. Added to that the lack of any real improvements over the original Trine and it means that while the game is very good - its graphical shine isn't matched in the rest of the game.

Conclusion

Trine 2 has charm, humour, great puzzles, spectacular visuals and a novel concept that makes for a brilliant all-round experience.

The game is great - and worth a play through for anyone - but the game isn't ground-breaking nor polished enough to grant it too revered a place in the Gaming Halls of Fame.


If they could double the size and number of levels, add in a few new gameplay mechanics and really go wild with the story - then the game would do the visuals justice.

Feel free to post comments or contributions to improve the experience!
Any images in this review are subject to relevant copyrights and are kindly provided by: http://trine2.com/site/index.php?page=media#screenshots

Nintendo DS Downloadable Games [Vol. 2] [DS] [QUICK&SHORT]

Bird & Bombs

PROS:

• Cheap - only £1.80 from the DSi Store.
• Enjoyable story - you are a special forces bird sent in with your bombs to rescue the president's daughter from a house full of ghosts. It's for kids but it's still fun.
• Simple premise and controls - you only control the angle and power of your bombs in each level to bounce off the walls, ceiling and obstructions to get the bombs into the ghosts mouths, thus blowing them up.
• Good for a while - there's 50 levels to get through with bosses at key points to keep the action varied. Aiming for perfect scores will take you a fair while longer. After you beat the main story there is Story+ mode, where you have limited bombs to complete the story levels, again increasing lifespan. Finally there's Challenge mode - essentially a tough survival mode to see how many levels you can get through before you fail.

CONS:

• Sometimes annoying definition of what "going into the ghost's mouth" actually is - due to the nature of firing bombs that bounce off walls, sometimes a bomb can pass over the mouth of a ghost and not go in. On other levels, it's almost like the ghost has a magnetic mouth drawing the bomb into it.
• The more difficult levels may make you want to smash your DS onto the floor. The deflated sigh that Bird with bombs makes every time it misses is saddening - and on the tougher challenges you will find that you fail a whole lotta times before you get it just right.

Cut The Rope

PROS:

• Cheap enough - £4.50 on DSi Store.
• The idea here is that you have to cut the rope that is holding a sweet such that it falls into a worm-thingy's mouth (bit of an object-in-mouth theme going on here). That's pretty much it - only the rope will be attached to a whole bunch of stuff that will make this a lot more tricky than it sounds.
• Some pretty complex physics puzzles later on - elastic bands stretch, balloons rise and pop and gravity keeps things in check. There are around 8 distinct puzzle elements that you will need to master - and you'll need to complete them speedily if you want the best scores.
• 125 levels of increasing difficulty - with 3 stars to collect on each level. Getting 3 stars on all 125 levels is not impossible but certainly a challenge.

CONS:

• Touch controls aren't perfect - this means that the more complicated levels requiring quick, coordinated responses regularly end in failure.
• This is a casual game, admittedly, but what exactly is the motivation to play this? To feed a fairly annoying green blob. 125 times. Could of done with a bit more than that really.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords

PROS:

• It was free! The whole thing cost precisely zero pennies off the DS Store!
• It's a colourful affair that has all of the fun and creativity of a Zelda title.
• Great use of the touch screen for controlling the characters - using the gadgets and interacting with the environments works well.
• Excellent multi-player and online features - playing with other gamers to fight through dungeons and earn the most treasure is enjoyable and rewarding.

CONS:

• Not quite a fully-fledged Zelda. There's a lot on offer here - and I can't really complain because it's free - but although it will keep you going for a few hours it isn't as ridiculously enormous as a usual Zelda title.
• More than once I have had level elements not work - usually in online games. This means that you can't go any further and the level timer ticks on regardless. Restarting the level normally sorts it out but it's still a pain when it happens.
• Possibly not available now to download - can't see whether it is available to purchase now that the free download period is over.

Images on this review are copyright of Nintendo and can be found at:
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/bird__bombs_16120.html
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/cut_the_rope_44901.html
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/the_legend_of_zelda_four_swords_anniversary_edition_44936.html

Tomb Raider: Underworld [PS3]

Nearly gets the classic Raider formula spot-on. 
Underworld has gorgeous environments, novel puzzles, grappling rope fun - but in the end, terrible design choices made this a chore to finish.

Initial Buzz

You know what? 

If I based my review on the first level of this game, the conclusion would be: 

"Stunning and great fun - feels like the old Tomb Raider!"

Sadly, the game did not stop at the first level......

The game starts by throwing you in at the deep end (quite literally) when you dive into tropical seas in search of an underwater temple. Right from the start, there is much more of an open feel to the settings: you swim/run/jump around all over the place until you get the hint of a trail and then start to climb up a cliff face that looks promising. This sense of exploration, crossed with ancient ruins and local animals feels just how Lara's adventure is meant to.

The underwater sections are easily big enough for you to feel "out of your depth".

At the bottom of this giant underwater temple, 

you meet the first big bad - a giant octopus!

And the level works! The whole section feels natural - like you're playing around in a room until you figure out the secret that allows you to move on. The puzzles and climbing sections have a much more organic feel to them... that sounds weird, so I'll elaborate - the ledges and crumbled ruins look ancient, meaning that you spend your time searching for the gap in a wall or hand holds rather than have neon strips highlighting where you need to go (a-la Uncharted). 

There isn't some of the other modern additions to action/adventures either, like giant floating arrows telling you which way to go, or help messages reminding you that you've picked up the Skull-shaped key, which may go in the skull-shaped lock... 
(hint hint, nudge nudge, know what I mean?)


Although I'm happy for the game to let me find my own way through the levels, it could have made more of an effort guiding me through the storyline:
Someone who killed Lara's mum/dad has kidnapped an angel, who is evil, and they're all trying to get hold of Thor's hammer. We're all jetting across the globe to find Thor's gloves (hidden in Thailand) and then we'll use the gloves and hammer to get into Valhalla. Oh, and there's a Lara Croft clone in the mix too. Chuck Norris may or may not make an appearance.
Makes you miss the good old days of "Bad guys to the right - keep moving that way".

I can tell you this for free, Lara - that pistol ain't gonna' do jack to Monsieur Octo.

Tarzan, Eat Your Heart Out

One addition that really boosted the game's appeal for me was the grappling hook. Used in a variety of ways (some wonderfully clever), the grappling hook allows Lara to swing, climb and drag to progress through the levels.

I really can't emphasise this point enough: it really does work. The swinging, the physics of Lara and the rope, the applications of the grappling hook - all spot on.


So, after climbing to the top of the giant octopus chamber Lara then swings across a daunting gap to make her way out to freedom. I shamefully uttered little yelps as she slipped on the edge and struggled to climb up - 

"EEEEK! Shit I've missed! Oh no! She made it! Boy, do I hope no-one heard that!".

Lara is as athletic and gymnastic as ever - but still forgot to put a waterproof on.

Sleek, Shiny and Manageable
As I said before, the environments all look the stuff - ruins seem to crumble before you, water shimmers in the sunlight, and the trees look....er....like trees. Each setting has a distinctive feel to it as well, with Thailand's jungle looking noticably different to Mexico's. 


As you complete puzzles, ancient mechanisms groan into life and open up to reveal new areas. The cutscenes that show these changes taking place often use wide, sweeping shots that show off the supreme shiny prettiness of Underworld. Getting to leap around them afterwards should be a massive bonus. Surely? You'd think, wouldn't you?

This area evolves as you progress through the level - finishing in the state shown below.

Maybe these captures don't do it justice, but the fire and rain do look amazing.

Poltergeists (or Invisible Walls)

OK so, after finishing that glorious introductory level it's time to get out of the sea and take the adventure on to dry land. Well, actually the next step is to get on a boat.

The boat section(s) are one of the main problems in the game, lasting for far too long and spending far too much time shooting at appalling AI characters. I'll talk a bit more about the shooting sections later on.

So anyway, the next climbing/adventure level is more of the same searching for a hand hold, climb, leap, grapple and so on. The issue arises when the environments get a bit more cluttered and the climbing/grappling sequences get more complicated. Climbing turns from fluid joy to plunging leap of death far too frequently - the game has a tendancy of aiming Lara towards a climbable ledge half the time, and jumping off into thin air the other half.


The next major grappling section involves swinging between two large boulders, and if Lara comes within 2 metres of either one - SPLAT - she collides with an invisible wall and plummets down into a spike pit (which is badly animated too, maybe trying to avoid showing any blood).


After trying some of these sections 3 or 4 times, and certain that my aim was fine, I became convinced that there was some sort of poltergeist at work, sabotaging my progress to loot ancient tombs (though for the life of me, I cannot think of any motive for this).


The final straw came at one of the final "puzzle rooms" in the game, where there was a leaping section necessary to move on that required both accuracy and timing to leap from a bar onto a moving chain. Lara then needed to climb along the chain, against the movement, to get over to a ledge. 

Would she carry out this simple set of instructions? Would she buggery!  

Hanging and climbing kept making her fall off. Leaping as far as she would go at the right time led to some long falls as Lara aimed at her old friend thin air. Trying to climb on the chain and walk along it and boosh - INVISIBLE WALL (slash POLTERGEIST). 


Something was in the way - Lara would walk halfway along and then just freeze, causing her to be pulled back by the chain until she fell off and died. I repeated this enfuriating chain of events in sequence, testing each one to find out what I was doing wrong, for nearly an hour. 

An hour of my life spent trapped in a room in the body of Lara Croft.... and I was having a horrible time.

Looooooong Way Down

The middle section of the game - Mexico - has a lot of time spent speeding around on a motorbike. After some really annoying grappling sections, I was in the mood for a change of pace (actually I was about to turn the game off once it had autosaved, but carried on once I saw Lara was on a big bike). 


So there's a few areas that you need to get between in this area, connected by long roads which have nasty spike pits. The best way around them? Going top speed on a motorcycle (obviously). Then you fight some bad blokes or vicious animals, and search around to find a puzzle piece to solve a main puzzle back at the centre of the map. You are therefore expected to speed backwards and forwards around this map for quite a long time, especially in the beginning while figuring out what exactly you are up to.


And I am sad to report that I got bored of this too - especially at the end when one of the already adjusted puzzle mechanisms "slipped back out of place", as the game smugly told me. "Waste a bit more racing around on a bike in the jungle", it should have said.


Thus far, Underworld has managed to take all the fun out of grappling physics and motorcycle stunts. What else can it ruin before the end?

I quite liked the puzzle shown here - until the second and then third time I had to do it

Pea Shooter Vs. Puma

During most of the levels, there is a large great thick shooting section. The targets on offer range from small animals, such as bats, to large animals, such as pumas. Now bats, I can just about accept... but pumas? Two of them at once? While wearing nothing but a tank top? Really? 


Later on, Lara takes on heavily-armed guards and undead demons - again with no body armour or any significant firepower. As if the ridiculous situation wasn't enough, the way the game handles the shooting sections is just crap. You lock onto targets with auto-aim, and the guns fire pathetically and do virtually no damage per hit. You have to shoot at the same enemy for several minutes, frantically firing weak-as-piss shots to eventually wear their health down.

With the undead enemies, you then have to smash their motionless corpse to bits by jumping on it once it has fallen to the ground. When three enemies swarm you while you are trying to do this, and the bastard just gets straight back up again, you get the joy of shooting him a few thousand times more. Lucky you.


Sufficed to say that I really didn't enjoy the shooting sections, and hated the fact that about half of my time in the game was spent drudging through them. So that's swinging on ropes, motorcycling and shooting ruined now - Arnold Schwarzenegger films are looking less  appealing by the minute....

The shooting sections are one of my biggest annoyances with Underworld - totally unnecessary filler.

Conclusion

So very nearly a return to triumphant form for Ms. Croft. 

All the elements are here - but the developers felt the need to pad the game out with shooting and bike sections that were laborious and unnecessary. 

Add to that climbing sections that are actually broken and the magic is lost. 

Nearly, Lara, very nearly....

All images used in this review are courtesy of: http://www.gamercenteronline.net/2008/06/20/tomb-raider-underworld-screenshots/ and also http://www.realmofgaming.com/screenshots/xbox360/TombRaiderUnderworld

Please note: I do not own the copyright to these images.