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CIS 587 Game Review Fall 2008 Michael Quist

CIS 587 Game Review Fall 2008 Michael Quist. BOOM BLOX. Electronic Arts and Steven Spielberg Exclusively for Nintendo Wii “Wild and action-packed block-busting extravaganza” 50/50 puzzle and action minigame aspects Priced at $49.99. Overview (1).

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CIS 587 Game Review Fall 2008 Michael Quist

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  1. CIS 587 Game Review Fall 2008 Michael Quist

  2. BOOM BLOX • Electronic Arts and Steven Spielberg • Exclusively for Nintendo Wii • “Wild and action-packed block-busting extravaganza” • 50/50 puzzle and action minigame aspects • Priced at $49.99

  3. Overview (1) • Physics-based game in which player stacks / knocks over / blows up blocks • Several basic modes of play • Explore -- puzzles • Adventure -- story mode • Create -- level editor • Multiplayer -- cooperative and competitive • High production value • Music and sound • Clean cartoon-y visuals, with animated clip scenes advancing the adventure mode • Well-written manual • No apparent bugs

  4. Overview (2) • Within each level, player interacts with blocks with a specific tool, controlled using Nintendo Wii motion-sensing remote • Throwing baseballs, cannonballs, bombs • Spraying with hoses, shooting with guns • Pushing and pulling with “grab” tool • Variety of block types • Exploding bomb blocks • Chemical blocks that explode when they hit other chemical blocks • Vanish blocks that disappear when struck • … etc.

  5. Overview (3) • Level-based gameplay • Player awarded medals for completing levels in few enough throws / losing few enough lives / fast enough • Criteria given before each level determine whether medal is bronze, silver, or gold • Finishing levels and collecting medals unlocks new content (characters, tools, levels)

  6. Screenshot (1) Player goal: protect sheep from monkeys Vanish blocks Chemical blocks Bomb blocks

  7. Screenshot (2) Player goal: clear path from gorilla to babies

  8. Screenshot (3) Player goal: remove point blocks without dropping penalty blocks Point blocks Penalty blocks

  9. Other play modes • Multiplayer • Compete or cooperate… mostly turn-based, with players alternating attacks on one another or manipulations of a puzzle • Create • Full-featured level builder, with ability to share created levels with others over the internet • Content unlocked in single-player mode available for use in Create mode

  10. Game Review • What is fun • Block physics are excellent; many puzzle levels are challenging and have interesting / clever solutions • Interface (Wii remote) works well for throwing balls, grabbing blocks, and rotating camera angles • Blowing things up • Creating new levels

  11. Game Review • What is not fun • Some levels reduce to trial and error or just throwing hard, leading to “Wii elbow” • Wii-mote control not precise enough for delicate movements; can be frustrating • Multiplayer is slow-paced • Story is “laughably stupid,” according to at least one reviewer… more charitably, is intended for a young audience • Can only use one tool per level… seems as if combined throw/shoot/grab levels would allow much greater diversity

  12. Game Review • Genre comparison • Puzzle/minigame genre includes WarioWare, Mario Party, Zack & Wiki • Boom Blox is much better single-player game than Mario Party, much weaker multiplayer • More solid production than WarioWare, but less diverse, and humor aimed at younger audience • Story purely decorative, and puzzles all of the same type, unlike Zack & Wiki

  13. Summary • Fun and cute puzzle game, making good use of Wii’s capabilities, and with characters and visuals that will appeal to children • However, levels are too similar, and tacked-on story does little to distinguish different sections of single-player quest • Could be improved by introducing more advanced tools (firehose, etc.) earlier in quest and by replacing “throw and throw some more” levels with levels requiring more than one tool • Worth purchasing at $30 or $40, but $50 is high price point for puzzle game

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