Let Me Give You A Hand

Review by troyio on Sunday, January 27th 2013
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Click to play Helping Hands

Helping Hands is a game created by blackhole2

What up everyone this is ya boy Troyio here for my second review! I am going to be reviewing Helping Hands by blackhole2. It is a lesser known game released a few months back.


Intro

I am always on the lookout for games to review like most active reviewers. Some reviewers search for pure quality, some look for overwhelming graphics. I prefer to filter out games that already get a lot of attention and find ones that differ from the pack. Games that possess concepts that are updated tremendously or completely original. I stumbled upon Helping Hands by blackhole2 and knew that this game was different because of cool game idea I hadn’t seen before. I was looking forward to see whether blackhole2 would thrive in promoting the concept or fail miserably. I had no idea since I am not greatly familiar with him. I know he is a mature forum member and intelligent at that. He has a feature I believe and by the look of his other games, some immense game making potential. Though the thumbnail made the game look sloppy in my honest opinion, I had positive feelings going into this game.



Review

I always like to begin judging games by the imagery. Many people claim that imagery does not make a game nor does it have to be essential for the game to be good. I agree, there are plenty of excellent games that lack in that department yet are stunningly awesome. But as humans we often like things by the way the look. It is also the first thing your senses come in contact with. So imagery is pretty much your first impression. That’s enough with that little insight of my opinion. Helping Hands does not really give off a good first impression. The color scheme was very basic and did not really click in my mind nor draw me into the game. Basic designs can add to the game sometimes so I looked forward to see how it would affect the game play with the cloud-like edges. The portals though made up for the lack of design. They really intrigued me and I could not wait to see what was going to happen when I reached them.



Like an idiot I didn’t even read the instructions and I dove straight into the game. I pounded my arrow keys ready to get at this game. Nothing happened. I tried clicking on the green eye ball thing. Nothing happened. I decided to go back like a good boy and read the instructions this time around. I instantly picked up on what blackhole2 was trying to make the concept become which tied into the game title. The complete concept of Helping Hands is to push one circle with another circle to the goal. The circle you could not move directly could not touch certain walls and portals in some cases. Blackhole2 did exactly what I, or any other good PPG maker, would do if we had thought of this concept. He set up a course for us to navigate through.



At this point I felt as though I was ready to see the most important part of the game which was the game play. I had already seen all the aesthetics and figured out how to play. Would blackhole2 succeed in bringing his concept to full tilt? I was not sure. Blackhole2 had several different types of obstacles, things such as sharp turns and moving objects. I was really impressed by the amount of different ways blackhole2 pushed the player to progress throughout the game. The fragile game play made me get completely indulged in the game. The cloud edges brought me such uncertainty it made me want to scream! I had my neck bent, arm steady, and eyes fully focused. I just feel bad for my laptop when my finger slipped causing me to lose so close to the finish.



The difficulty in Helping Hands was a little bit over what I thought was necessary. The first two levels were near perfect but reaching the third was too far of a jump for difficulty. I think the player needed to stretch some more before going into a dead sprint instead of pulling their muscles, if you know what I mean. I got to the later parts of level four and I wish I could have seen a little more. This was really the first thing that irritated me about Helping Hands but it still could not get me to dislike the game at this point. I felt like a hungry monkey but I was not good enough of a climber to reach the banana. I wanted more but I did not have the skills to get there.



I am not sure but I think blackhole2 didn’t intend to make Helping Hands revolve around the portals. The game didn’t, which is good because there are many games already like that out there. But I felt that the portals set it apart. It was something so unexpected that just added a new factor to the game. Whether it was blackhole2 or mat7772’s idea (person who helped him), it was a great idea and Helping Hands truly benefited from it.



As I said before, I look for games that have original concepts and promote them really well. I found what I was looking for if I may say without sounding corny. Blackhole2 came up with a solid idea and put together a very entertaining and addictive game. I don’t know how much mat7772 contributed but he should be proud of blackhole2. Many may overlook this game because it is rather short and not extremely fancy but it is now one of my favorites!



Ratings

Creativity: 9.5/10 (Great concept)

Effort: 5/10 (Could have had more levels)

Gameplay: 8/10 (Pretty well made)

Scenery: 5/10 (Portals brought it up)

Fun: 8.5/10 (Very addictive)

Overall: 36/50



Feature Worthy? Yes, it’s close but I choose fun and originality over length any day



Conclusion

In conclusion, you probably already know I am very fond of Helping Hands. I think games like this are what the Physics Puzzle Maker is all about which is the new concepts and fun game play. Though it had its negatives because it’s short and lacks in imagery. It has more positives than negatives and I hope to see more PPG’s with great concepts and especially more games coming from blackhole2! Thanks for reading everyone!

 
 


Helping Hands Reviewed by troyio on Sunday, January 27th 2013. Let Me Give You A Hand - A game review written by troyio for the game 'Helping Hands' by blackhole2. Rating: 4