Snails

.: By: Corn Bread :: Device used: iPAQ H3650 :: February 20, 2002 :: Buy this game :.

One of the most highly anticipated games for the Pocket PC ever, Snails managed to attract a strong following even way back in its beta stages, with the promise of being able to play a Worms clone on your Pocket PC being extremely hard to resist. I knew that Snails would be a great game, but I never expected to be completely blown away by the awesomeness of the final retail version!

If you’ve ever played either of the PC games, Worms or Scorched Earth, you’ll be able to play Snails in no time since they share very similar gameplay styles and have the same basic rules. For the uninitiated, however, Snails is a turn based game where two groups of soldiers (in this case, snails) blast each other to kingdom come with an array of wacky and deadly weapons. The battle is to the death, and the last snail standing wins.

All of the stages have different types of obstacles and elevation and in order to achieve victory, you will need not only need a good aim and a precise trigger-finger, but also the ability to take into account the different types of terrain you find yourself on and to react accordingly. Of course having the right weapon in the right situation is a help, too. The AI of the computer controlled opponent is adequately challenging. It's neither too smart nor too dumb, but good enough to give you a beating every now and then.

There are basically three game modes available, Mission mode, Deathmatch mode and two player "versus" mode. In Mission mode, you get to play out scenarios involving each of the battling group of snails, the Moogums, Lupeez and Noogins. By completing each of the scenarios in Mission mode, you'll find that more powerful weapons will be unlocked in the game (which you can also use in Deathmatch and two-player games), allowing you to kill enemy snails in yet more unique and satisfying ways.

The Mission mode also teaches you the background behind the game and the reasons why the snails are waging war with each other - these snails aren’t simply shooting each other for the fun of it. I won’t give away the plot here, but lets just say hidden treasure and lots and lots of root beer is at stake here. The story is not only very good but very humorous, too, and it's one of the reasons why I played the game right to the finish... I just had to know what happened next. I enjoyed playing the Mission Mode to such an extent, however, that I found it too short - it would have been nice if they could have included more missions.

The two player mode, as you would expect, allows you to pit your wits against a fellow human. Currently, the two-player option involves both players sharing the same Pocket PC, but the Snails team have emphasized that they will be adding IR, TCP/IP and WiFi multiplayer capabilities in the near future. The Deathmatch mode is very similar to the two-player Mode, but instead of fighting a human opponent, you play against the computer.

The action is viewed via landscape mode and control is made possible by the use of the stylus; there's no need to use the hardware buttons. The controls are very intuitive as the menu and commands are laid out in a straightforward and non-confusing manner and, as a result, controlling your group of snails seems like second nature. You can also tweak the game settings to best suit your playing style, enabling auto-heal, bouncing/exploding snails, as well as being able to adjust the orientation of the screen for left-handed players. These are just a few of the many customizable aspects of the game.

As if the addictive gameplay wasn’t enough, the graphics are mind-numbingly gorgeous. From the beautiful backgrounds to the special effects, Snails is a visual tour-de-force. You can’t help but love the cartoony feel of the game - it's graphics like these that make me proud to be a Pocket PC owner, as they can surely rival any Gameboy Advance game on the market. Who would ever have imagined that snails could be so darned cute!

The music and sound effects in this game are some of the best ever witnessed on the Pocket PC. Every bit of ambient sound fits perfectly into the game, and the audio-visual combination is a match made in heaven. Humor is also one of the principal elements that makes Snails so enjoyable to play. During the battles, for example, each of the snails will come out with funny one-liners and insert witty remarks at every shot fired. Added to that are the various cute and entertaining facial expressions and movements of the snails... this is a game that never ceased to amuse me! The humor alone makes this game stand out from every Pocket PC game ever made.

To sum up, this is a game with great graphics and great music, is totally addictive, easy to get into, and includes a bucketful of attitude and humor. Snails will have you hooked for hours to come. Here’s one game that is a “must have” for all Pocket PC owners, and it's pretty obvious that Syntact has shown great care and commitment in developing this game as they even made sure that it look and performs exceptionally well even on a Jornada 525. In addition, there was an announcement recently that additional mission packs will soon be made available and all registered members will get the upgrade for free. I strongly urge you to visit the Snails website and try out the demo of the game and, if you decide to buy it, you’ll be quite surprised to find out that you can have this game for a very affordable price of $11.95!

Snails is available for all major Pocket PC's and can installed in either the main RAM or onto a storage card. 3.9MB of storage space is required.

Pros:

• Gorgeous graphics.

• Music and sound effects are top notch.

• Clean and intuitive interface.

• Addictive gameplay.

• Reasonably priced.

Cons:

• Mission mode is a bit on the short side.
  
  

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