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PocketSlay
.: By:
Mike :: Device
used: iPAQ
H3650
:: March 6, 2001 ::
Buy this game :.
Update:
Since I wrote this review, a new version of
the game has made available which includes the following features:
Original review:
If you've ever played Risk, you'll appreciate
the idea behind Slay.
It's quite simple, really. All you have to do is conquer the world.
Unlike the classic board game, the playing
area (the world) is divided into hexagons, each occupied by one of six armies,
each army conveniently having a different colour. Your colour is light green, so
if you're not a fan of light green... tough!
Where you own two or more territories that are
next to each other, you're given a little hut which enemy peasants can't attack.
Likewise, they can't move into any territory of yours adjacent (i.e. next to)
the hut. The same applies for squares occupied with peasants and, needless to
say, the same rules apply when it comes to moving your peasants into enemy
territory.
When it comes to invading enemy land, you have
two options. The first is to attack with a superior unit - for example, a
spearman can kill a peasant, a knight can kill a spearman, and so on. The second
is to move one of your units into an enemy hexagon that isn't adjacent to any
enemy unit or building.
Things are complicated slightly by trees
which, bizarrely enough, are a bad thing in this game. Eco-friendly this game ain't! Any hexagon you occupy without a tree automatically produces resources
which help to keep your troops alive. However, should a tree sprout up on an
area of land, then you don't receive anything from that particular hexagon.
Worse still, trees can gradually spread, expanding virus-like from one territory
to the next.
The amount of resources that your land
produces is vital to the survival of your army for, should you have more troops
than resources, then starvation will inevitably follow. To complicate matters
further, better units use up more resources - whereas peasants will quite
happily survive on just two resource units per turn, spearmen require six and,
likewise, more advanced units will require yet more. It's all too easy to
overload your land and watch your fighting force be reduced to a graveyard!
Moving your troops is easy. Simply tap the
unit you want to move and drag it to the destination of your choice - all you
have to remember is that units can only make one move per turn. To attack an
enemy territory, all you do is move your unit onto that territory. You will only
be allowed to invade if you can, so if your unit is weaker than the enemy, or
the enemy has a nearby building or unit preventing you from invading, you won't
be allowed to.
Crucial to winning the game is beefing up your
fighting force, progressing from peasants to spearmen, from spearmen to knights,
and finally on to the all-conquering barons if needs be. To upgrade a unit, you
drag one troop member onto another. For example, dragging a peasant onto the
same hexagon as another peasant will give you a spearman, dragging a peasant
onto a spearman will give you a knight, etc.
Slay's
playing style is ideally suited to the Pocket PC, being turn-based. No need to
worry about button problems or whether your reflexes are up it, this game is all
about brains, not brawn! The user interface is simplicity itself once you've
mastered it and there's really very little to master.
Once you get into the game, you find yourself
hooked. Slay
is a classic - easy to learn, impossible to master but, most important of all, a
great deal of fun to play. There's something immensely satisfying about seeing
the map gradually be dominated by light green; let's face it, we all like a bit
of power!
Nevertheless, the game is not without flaws.
For starters, on my iPAQ
version, moving the stylus upwards on the main screen resulted in the map
display moving down, and vice-versa. Perhaps these inverted movements were
deliberate, but it felt totally wrong. It would have been nice to see support
for the iPAQ's
joypad, too.
The game's help system can only be described
as rudimentary at best. All you're given is a couple of small dialog boxes
explaining the basic objective of the game and the various levels of resources
that each unit requires. Some sort of more detailed help system would have been
useful, perhaps along with a tutorial.
Also, for reasons unknown, the game refused to
show up as a running program under the task-switcher that I currently use, WIS
Bar. This is only a minor point, however, and may not be the fault of the
game's.
One question that does spring to mind,
however, is: Why no multi-player option? Surely, this would not have been hard
to include and it is all the more disappointing given that it exists in the original
PC version.
To the game's credit, one advantage of its
simplicity is that it occupies under 80 Kb of storage space. This isn't at the
expense of presentation either. While Slay
certainly won't win any graphics awards in the near future and there are no
sound effects of any kind, good use of colours mean that it is pleasing to the
eye.
The differences between the registered and
shareware versions are minimal. In fact, the only difference that I could spot
was the option to play at harder levels. Fortunately, this adds immensely to the
lifetime of the game given the easiest level - the only one you can play at on
the shareware version - is no challenge at all once you have a couple of games
under your belt.
Slay
is, like every game, a title that won't appeal to everyone. If action is your
thing, steer clear. However, for those who enjoy puzzle and strategy games, then
this game is guaranteed to please. It's relaxing and taxing at the same time,
easy to pick up, even easier to enjoy.
Pros:
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Excellent gameplay.
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Addictive.
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Polished presentation.
Cons:
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PocketGamer.org score: |
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.: Game category:
Strategy Games :: Reviews
Index ::
Buy this game :.
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