Open Source Gaming Review: Frozen Bubble (Page 1 of 1)
Written by
Steve Lake
Posted on: Oct 12, 2007 at 02:05pm
Section:
Gaming
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Frozen Bubble is a pop-cap style game that puts the user into a world of colored balls,
ice and penguins. While that might sound a bit silly, that's the whole point. The game
works on the same principle as several very popular pop-cap style games such as "Dinosaur
Eggs" and even the classic game "Puzzle Bobble" that started it all. The
concept of Frozen Bubble is simple. The screen is filled with colored balls that hang down
from a gradually descending press plate. Your objective is to aim your igloo cannon at
these balls and fire your own colored balls at them. If you match 3 in a row of the same
color, any attached colored balls of the same color, or any below them, immediately fall.
It's almost like playing connect three in reverse. Of course, if the balls that haven't fallen yet touch the igloo, it's game over.
While that might seem a bit too simple, that's actually intentional. You're meant to
have that one basic task to perform within the game. Since it's a pop-cap type game,
you're typically not going to be confronted with complex puzzles or crazy hoops you have
to jump through to win. Simple is the key. This way anyone from two to seventy two will find the
game fun and relaxing to play. But to some extent, I think the creators went a bit too far
to keep the concept of simple.
I say this because the game really provides you with essentially no challenge for the first 15 or 20 levels. It's not until you get up around level 20 that things start becoming a
challenge. And even then you're not really truly challenged until you reach level thirty. In fact,
some of the levels are so simple that just one single well placed shot and the level is
over. Being able to win a level with just one shot seems a bit counter productive to the goal
of making a fun and entertaining game in my honest opinion. Not all the levels are like
this though, but there are a couple. There are a few more than only require two or three well
placed shots and the level is over.
But that doesn't mean the game has to be boring. Since it's flexible, if you want, make your own challenges. Also, if single player isn't challenging
enough for you, then you may want to look at the multi-player option. You can do player vs
player side by side battle on the same machine, or over the internet. So if you ever feel up to it,
you can challenge your friends to a quick game. Given the extra features of the
multiplayer side of the game, it should provide you with more than enough of a challenge
to keep things interesting for a long time to come.
Frozen Bubble, while overly simple in many ways, is still a very good game and
certainly worth your time to at least look into and maybe even play. If nothing else, it's
a good time killer when you're bored or have little to do. It sure beats playing
solitaire or minesweeper. ;)
If you would like to try Frozen Bubble, you can get it by going through your favorite
Linux or BSD package manager or repository. The game is currently available only for Linux and
BSD, but a Windows and a Mac port are both in the works and should be available at some
point in the future.
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Average vistor rating: 4.9 out of 5 (7 total votes) | |
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