Review written by Mike Wagstaff
Chillingo - The Premier Games Publisher
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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:
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Easy to pick up and play
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Thoroughly addictive gameplay
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Well-designed levels, with the possibility to create your own
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Good presentation
Cons:
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Only nine built-in levels
Overall Score: 8/10
Many thanks to Robinson Technologies for providing us with our review copy.
You may wish to search for more reviews of games from Robinson Technologies. Alternatively, you can view all the reviews written by Mike Wagstaff.
