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Reckless Thief
.: By:
Mike :: Device used:
iPAQ H3650
:: June 12, 2001 ::
Buy this game :.
There are some game concepts that seem so
simple that you wonder how it is they haven't been used before. Reckless
Thief from Robinson Technologies Inc. is
just such a game.
Put simply, the game is a hand-eye
coordination test. You may well remember the classic wire loop game where your
objective was to guide a small metal ring around a wire loop twisted
deliberately to make life difficult. If your hand slipped and the metal ring
touched the wire loop, a buzzer would sound signalling game over. Reckless
Thief is essentially the twenty-first century version of that game.
The plot behind the game is, as tradition
dictates, suitably implausible. You are a thief (yes, and reckless to boot)
attempting to steal a diamond located at the end of each level. Touch any of the
walls or obstacles, however, and the alarm will sound, sentencing you to a life
behind bars. Your character is represented on the screen by a small purple dot,
movement being controlled via the stylus. Simply drag your character where you
want him to go.
Things are complicated by the fact that the
levels are deliberately designed to make life difficult for you. Just as the old
wire loop game would see you having to navigate horrendous twists, so Reckless
Thief's levels will see you weaving left and right, up and down and
diagonally. What's more, there are also various moving obstacles - whether it's
revolving, plunging or expanding, you'll need to be on your toes!
The final element in the game is the time
limit. Not only do you need to watch where you're going, you also need to keep
an eye on the clock. Fail to reach the diamond before the time expires and it's
game over.
The combination is intoxicating. The game
manages to achieve a sense of excitement and suspense that, apart from one short
break, had me playing right through to the end. For a game with such a seemingly
simplistic concept, I found the gameplay to be both highly enjoyable and deeply
addictive. The levels are, by and large, beautifully designed, with obstacles
and traps a-plenty, and enough variation to keep you hooked.
Presentation, as we have come to both expect
and demand from Pocket PC games of late, is excellent. While the graphics are
nothing spectacular, they are crisp, clean and well-drawn. Likewise with the
sound; it's good to hear a game with background music. It's even better to hear
a game with decent background music. Also worth a mention are the comments when
you lose; they are invariably funny, and well worth reading.
So, where's the catch? The major catch is that
there are only nine levels that come with the game as standard which, if you
enjoyed the game as much as I did, will leave you slightly unsatisfied. It was
as if I was being allowed a tiny nibble from an enormous chocolate bar... I want
more! Having said, at the time of writing this review, the price was a mere
$4.95 and, for the amount of fun that this game provides, I would say that you
should snap it up without hesitation.
Furthermore, there is the hope of more levels
on the horizon, for, armed with no more than a paint program, you can create
your own levels. The Reckless Thief
site has a User Levels
section ready and waiting for third-party contributions. What's more, Akiko
Robinson, who was responsible for the nine built-in levels (and makes sure you
know it in level eight!), is apparently working on a new set of free levels
which will hopefully be released soon.
I did experience one crash playing the game,
this being caused a small memory leak that the game authors (who seem very
friendly and approachable) have identified and are set to release a fix for.
Ironically enough, I only noticed this because I had been playing the game
solidly for about an hour!
If you like action games, Reckless
Thief is a must-buy. Complicated gameplay is thrown out of the window and,
as if to prove that the simplest ideas are the best, it's an instant classic.
The only real downside is that you'll be left demanding more.
Pros:
Cons:
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