An Actual *gasp* Puzzle Game (Review Of: BOB)

BOB is a game created by mat7772

Game created by: Mat7772

Preface/Rambling:

Let me just say, after looking at recent reviews on Sploder, I have concluded that most reviewers give none of the actual analysis or necessary thought to their reviews. Nonetheless, I'm back to show them with my overly critical and arguably pretentious attitude in my reviews. I am going to be switching up my format this time around so that I can give more valuable and readable feedback.

Overview:

Bob is a puzzle game made in the PPG creator where you play as what is either a poorly drawn bumblebee or a poorly drawn robot (controlled with arrows/wasd). Each level requires the player to collect every coin. The coins, however, have a twist to them; when they are collected a lethal red wall appears to prevent the player from backtracking. As the levels progress, new elements like one-way arrows that you can only pass through once, crates, and keys are added in. As the game progresses, the player must plot their movement carefully to ensure that they don't trap themselves.

Level Design:

The design of the puzzles is solid and each level required a little more thought than the last. None of the levels hide key elements from the player or do anything to stop them from being solid logic puzzles. Level 5 in particular was excellently done, requiring me to spend about a minute thinking of a solution to it. Sadly, the game only has 6 levels, and only the last 3 are really interesting. The first three levels all have almost the same exact challenges in them and levels 2 and 3 require the player to notice a quirk in the wall spawning. Only level 5 had an extraneous item in it. I wouldn't say it's perfect, but it is pretty bloody/dang (depending on whether or not you hunt alligators for a living) good for Sploder.

Puzzle Elements:

The coins, arrows, and keys all blend together quite well and each of them serves a unique purpose all based around the player's logic and path-finding skills. The crates, on the other hand, are entirely useless simply because mat7772 could have either just removed them or replaced them with keys. I wouldn't mind the crates so bad if they didn't break. I had to retry level 6 a grand total of four times because the crates broke so easily. The crates also required an entirely separate control to work, further damaging my enjoyment.

Functionality:

The game works and has generally few "bugs" in it. The only major issue with the game's ability to be playable is the fact that the hitbox for the player and arrows is a bit hard to gauge. The fact that the crates move when hit by red circles is annoying because it makes them even easier to break when you correct them.

Presentation:

Remember when I called the player character poorly drawn? Well, that's this game in a nutshell. The visuals are devoid of interesting colors and textures; instead opting for a grand total of 2 custom graphics; ugly brown, default crates; solid, black walls; and a bland gray/grey (depending on whether or not you wake up to tea and crumpets) background. The only thing more laughable than the visuals is the music, which has no rhyme or reason to it. Overall, the game has disgraceful presentation.

Summary:

The game design is mostly coherent and it forms some solid levels. Sadly, the game is marred by a plague of minor polish and presentation issues. The game's short length and annoying late-game addition of crates clearly spell out the fact that the game was rushed. It is worth a shot if you want an enjoyable and fair puzzle game.

Overall: 79/100 (C )

!ADDENDUM!

Mat has changed the crates so that they should no longer break at all. Please disregard my comments regarding breakable crates being an issue.

This review has been added to R.A.R. and if you want me to be more likely to review your game, feel free to suggest it at: http://forums.sploder.com/index.php/topic,392702.new.html#new