 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: Frozen Codebase Publisher: THQ |
When it comes to creating an artistic game that is unlike anything that has come before it, players can expect it to be hit or miss, especially when it comes to Xbox Live Arcade games. Unfortunately “Screwjumper!” falls
into the miss category as a game that simply shouldn’t have been met. It has a poor design; graphics that will make players think they are starring at a game from the past and sound that could have been produced in a
Super Nintendo game. The game should have stayed on the designer’s sketch pad rather than earning a spot in the Xbox Live Arcade.
The premise of the game is a fairly inventive one. Players take on the role of a former mine worker who is currently unemployed because of the advent of automation in the mining industry. Players have joined up with a
group of other screwjumpers who are on a mission to take down the mine shafts of the EAC, their former employer. The plot sounds like it is very involved, but the only way players will learn about the game’s story is to
read through the various tutorial screens. For those who don’t go through the tutorial won’t have any idea what the game is about, then the game has no point and no direction other than to send players down through
20 different mine shafts across four different environments.
Every level begins with players taking a leap for a ship into a mine shaft at which point the player will need to engage in the tedious task that takes up the major portion of the game. The game is all about smashing
through green objects in order to bring down the main reactor shields which lie at the bottom of the shaft. Once the shields are down, it is time for players to toss a stick of dynamite in and then get out of the mine shaft
as fast as possible. In the player’s way are several red objects that include mines, lasers, lava, grinders and power cores, all of which can spell certain doom for players.
Since players will be falling down or shooting up through a mine shaft for the entire portion of game play, players would assume that there would be some fairly realistic physics at work in the game. While the game
does give players the sense of slowly moving through the air, it doesn’t feel authentic at all, it is extremely inaccurate. Sometimes players will be in direct line with a green object and somehow will drift off of target and
smash into an undesired object. This gets to be quite annoying.
Lucky for players, the game offers a way to avoid the task of smashing through all of the green objects in order to break down the shield. Since players start each level with twenty sticks of dynamite, all they need to do is
save them until the reactor is in sight, slow the fall with the air brakes and then throw every piece of dynamite at the reactor until it blows up. This of course defeats the entire purpose of the game, but it actually makes
more sense and is easier than trying to smash through the green objects. It really doesn’t matter how much shield the reactor has left, players will be able to take it out with the dynamite they have left.
The game furthers its failures by giving players an aiming mechanic that is very difficult to work with. The aim reticule is constantly resetting itself to the middle of the screen, while it might help players keep track of it,
this is very frustrating when players want to leave it on a targeted item for any extended period of time. There is also the inclusion of the first person viewpoint that the game uses when sending players back out of the
mine shaft. There is no need for it and it is much more difficult that it should be.
There is a multiplayer portion of the game and it does a offer players with an online or local play against a friend. Taking the game online allows players to play with three other people on any of the 20 levels in the game,
whereas playing locally limits players to seven levels against only one friend. Either way, none of the multiplayer modes are much fun that is if players are even able to find anyone online.
The look and sound of the game are two pieces of the puzzle that could have used a little more time in the development stages. The visuals are similar to something for a system of the past, but are what should be
expected from a $10 game on the Xbox Live Arcade. Also, having level designs that aren’t mirror images of each other would have been nice to see. When it comes to the sound in “Screwjumper!,” players will be
disappointed, techno music has very few spots that it fits well into, and this isn’t one of those players that it works well. The explosions feel very forced and tinny, more like something that players would expect from a
game on the Super Nintendo, not a game for the Xbox 360.
While it is nice to see game developers attempting to do something new on Xbox Live Arcade, but this game is a sure sign that it wasn’t ready for release. There isn’t anything that would warrant players to give this
game a second look, and absolutely offers no real reason to spend the ten dollars necessary to download it in the first place. With so many games on Xbox Live Arcade to choose from, it is one game the players will
want to jump over.
into the miss category as a game that simply shouldn’t have been met. It has a poor design; graphics that will make players think they are starring at a game from the past and sound that could have been produced in a
Super Nintendo game. The game should have stayed on the designer’s sketch pad rather than earning a spot in the Xbox Live Arcade.
The premise of the game is a fairly inventive one. Players take on the role of a former mine worker who is currently unemployed because of the advent of automation in the mining industry. Players have joined up with a
group of other screwjumpers who are on a mission to take down the mine shafts of the EAC, their former employer. The plot sounds like it is very involved, but the only way players will learn about the game’s story is to
read through the various tutorial screens. For those who don’t go through the tutorial won’t have any idea what the game is about, then the game has no point and no direction other than to send players down through
20 different mine shafts across four different environments.
Every level begins with players taking a leap for a ship into a mine shaft at which point the player will need to engage in the tedious task that takes up the major portion of the game. The game is all about smashing
through green objects in order to bring down the main reactor shields which lie at the bottom of the shaft. Once the shields are down, it is time for players to toss a stick of dynamite in and then get out of the mine shaft
as fast as possible. In the player’s way are several red objects that include mines, lasers, lava, grinders and power cores, all of which can spell certain doom for players.
Since players will be falling down or shooting up through a mine shaft for the entire portion of game play, players would assume that there would be some fairly realistic physics at work in the game. While the game
does give players the sense of slowly moving through the air, it doesn’t feel authentic at all, it is extremely inaccurate. Sometimes players will be in direct line with a green object and somehow will drift off of target and
smash into an undesired object. This gets to be quite annoying.
Lucky for players, the game offers a way to avoid the task of smashing through all of the green objects in order to break down the shield. Since players start each level with twenty sticks of dynamite, all they need to do is
save them until the reactor is in sight, slow the fall with the air brakes and then throw every piece of dynamite at the reactor until it blows up. This of course defeats the entire purpose of the game, but it actually makes
more sense and is easier than trying to smash through the green objects. It really doesn’t matter how much shield the reactor has left, players will be able to take it out with the dynamite they have left.
The game furthers its failures by giving players an aiming mechanic that is very difficult to work with. The aim reticule is constantly resetting itself to the middle of the screen, while it might help players keep track of it,
this is very frustrating when players want to leave it on a targeted item for any extended period of time. There is also the inclusion of the first person viewpoint that the game uses when sending players back out of the
mine shaft. There is no need for it and it is much more difficult that it should be.
There is a multiplayer portion of the game and it does a offer players with an online or local play against a friend. Taking the game online allows players to play with three other people on any of the 20 levels in the game,
whereas playing locally limits players to seven levels against only one friend. Either way, none of the multiplayer modes are much fun that is if players are even able to find anyone online.
The look and sound of the game are two pieces of the puzzle that could have used a little more time in the development stages. The visuals are similar to something for a system of the past, but are what should be
expected from a $10 game on the Xbox Live Arcade. Also, having level designs that aren’t mirror images of each other would have been nice to see. When it comes to the sound in “Screwjumper!,” players will be
disappointed, techno music has very few spots that it fits well into, and this isn’t one of those players that it works well. The explosions feel very forced and tinny, more like something that players would expect from a
game on the Super Nintendo, not a game for the Xbox 360.
While it is nice to see game developers attempting to do something new on Xbox Live Arcade, but this game is a sure sign that it wasn’t ready for release. There isn’t anything that would warrant players to give this
game a second look, and absolutely offers no real reason to spend the ten dollars necessary to download it in the first place. With so many games on Xbox Live Arcade to choose from, it is one game the players will
want to jump over.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
