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| Robo by Herocraft |
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Computers have come a long way since Edgar first fell in love in “Electric Dreams”. However, it would appear that matters of the heart are still an issue for robotic romantics, as evidenced in Robo, the latest offering from HeroCraft. Robo is sort of a hi-tech rock-paper-scissors game that is sure to provide logic minded gamers with hours of challenging gameplay.
The evil Discharger has captured your girlfriend Eny, and now you must traverse 76 levels of cleverly crafted traps in order to get her back. There are up to 4 different types of items for a given puzzle, which can include lasers, mirrors, rocks and bombs. Lasers are both friend and foe. A well placed laser can clear a nice path to the exit, but one extra push in the wrong direction and a reflected beam can really sizzle your circuits. As you can imagine, mirrors are used to deflect the laser beams. Just be sure the slant of the mirror doesn’t redirect the beam where you’re standing! Rocks are good for simply stopping a beam in its path. Finally, bombs can be used to blow up an object for one square in any direction of where the bomb is (north, south, east or west). To activate a bomb, push it in front of a laser beam and run… As long as there is nothing in the square next to it, all objects are movable. You just need to figure out where to place everything to achieve optimal results and get to your exit.
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Some levels are tough, others are simple, and a few are deceptively simple. You might make several attempts at solving a level just to find out that the solution was much easier than you thought. In the end though, the beauty of this type of game is that you feel a sense of accomplishment when moving to the next level. The game is controlled with either the D-Pad or the stylus, and to move an object you simply place Robo on the opposite side of where you want to move the object and walk into the object. From a mechanics standpoint I found it easier to use the D-Pad to control Robo, but my D-Pad is a bit sensitive, so I often found myself pushing objects too far and having to start the level over. An undo feature would have been nice for situations like this. The only other real frustration I had with the game is that as the levels get bigger, it gets harder to visualize everything you need to do to beat the level. They do give you the option to scroll around the level without actually moving, but for me that didn’t help too much, as it’s still hard for me to grasp the bigger picture when I can only see a small subset of the playing field.
Graphically Robo is quite nice. Just about anything that can be animated is animated. Depending on the levels you’ll see a lion sitting in the sun licking its paws, or a dancing snowman cheering you on, or whatever might be appropriate for the particular environment you’re in. Even the expressions Robo makes while he’s waiting for you to do something are amusing. While the images can be a bit small, everything is very detailed and colorful. The overall look of the game is very consistent and professional. And as with any other HeroCraft game, the menu system is very nicely rendered.
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The music is pretty decent, though you really have to crank it up in the settings to even be able to hear it. What sound effects exist are good, but are basically limited to lasers being fried and your cry and sizzle when you accidentally step in front of a laser.
With Stolen In Sixty Seconds, HeroCraft provided a unique but - for me – ultimately overwhelming puzzle experience. Robo, on the other hand, doesn’t really break any new ground. What it does do, however, is take a familiar concept, throw it in a new environment, and make it fun. For die hard puzzle fans there will be plenty of challenge in the later levels, and for the casual gamer, the concept is simple enough that you’ll probably get hooked before you realize how difficult it’s gotten. Add on top of that some slick visuals and a decent soundtrack, and you’ve got one puzzle game that you shouldn’t pass by.
Overall Score: 8/10
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