PC Games « Premier Software Reviews

Oh you don’t know the half of what’s planned here for the future!

Not just a good morning, but a happy morning to you all! You have no idea how playing games in the morning before work can cheer you up, as long as you can exercise self control and still get to work on time. Then again, I work from home, so no biggie for me!

This collection of games is a little misleading by its title as none of them are ‘board games’ as we know the definition to be. They are in effect, arcade games.

Developer: GameOver Games

Supported Languages: English

System Requirements: Windows 98/Me/XP

Additional Requirements: Pentium 400; 32Mb memory; 8Mb video card.

Tested on: Windows XP Pro.

This collection of games includes:

Speed Lines;

Super Blocks;

Fast Balls;

Real Clicks.

The game opens in window mode and displays an animated background screen displaying choices of Play; High Scores; Options and Exit. The ‘objects’ seems to be what I would have described as ‘little thingies’ flying around, however I looked up the web site to find that they were called “chips.”

Options:

These are brief and standard;

There are individual sliders for both music and sound;

Toggles for both 3D mode and Full screen.

3D was on by default but I turned on full screen, as well as slightly adjusting the sliders to a more preferred volume.

Playing Field:

At a quick glance at all the games, I inwardly groaned at the thought of more cloned games, however, though this looks very similar to other games – some great twists have been added and original power-ups too, to make the games more enjoyable.

All the games tend to have similar playing fields, with information to the right, displaying what stage you’re up to; your score; recent high scores (I think!) and a button to return to the menu.

Graphics:

The graphics were actually a nice surprise after the graphics we’ve had in some games over the past few weeks. With lovely bright colors, there were no anti-aliasing issues that I could see, and the animation was smooth, without any jerkiness appearing.

Help File:

The help file is just terrible! I understand that the developers themselves may not be English – but they need to hand the entire file over to someone who can efficiently translate and spell in English from the developer’s native tongue.

Music:

The music is lovely – almost ethereal at times and great to have in the background of this game. It reminds me of something I’ve heard in the past, but I can’t put my finger on it. If this music doesn’t appeal to you though, you can replace the music file with an Mp3 – you may have to rename the Mp3 to the same name as the music file that was in there first.

Features:
Four games in one;

Each feels like a new game;

You can add your own Mp3s.

Negatives:

Just the help file, which must be translated properly and have all the spelling errors corrected.

Points:

Originality: 7/10

Functionality: 8/10

Intuitiveness: 7/10

Fun Factor: 8/10

Summary:

I enjoyed playing all four games and really had to tear myself away to type up this review. I think this game will have its players coming back time and time again to play each of the games.

Price: US19.95

It’s not often that you’ll hear me say that the game I’m reviewing is worth the asking price, because most times it just isn’t, unless it’s something wild like World of Warcraft (also lovingly known as WoW.,) or something else such as a 3D game, with fantastic graphics and animations, that usually have your heart thumping fast and hard.

However, if you pop on over to the Game Giveaway of the Day web site, you’ll be able to download a fully licensed copy for yourself. Get there soon, as there are only a few hours left, before the giveaway ends.

Recommendation:

I do definitely recommend this game, not only for adults, but for children as well. They will gain just as much entertainment from these four games, as any adult in your home. In fact, when the kids begin to play with this collection, you’ll probably find yourself cursing, because you can’t get them to the dinner table, even after you’ve asked nicely, they yelled eight times, making that little vein in your forehead pop!

Thank you again for reading my reviews, I’d like to think that someone is getting something out of them, but judging by the lack of comments, I have to wonder if I’m writing to satisfy my own sense of being productive.

If anyone is visiting me, please remember that comments are always invited, appreciated and needed.

Enjoy all the games and give me some feedback afterwards!
~ Swan