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Review: Fun With Death - Wait Is That Title Correct?

Review: Fun With Death - Wait Is That Title Correct?

November 24, 2010

Overview

Who would ever have thought you could have Fun With Death, but that’s the case as you fling imps to get the red souls and protect the blue souls. It turns out Death has a rather boring job, and mistakenly messes up the elevators up to heaven and down to hell, and now needs to fix its mistake. The game is reminiscent of Angry Birds/Crush The Castle, but has a couple major new elements.

Features

There are red souls to destroy, and blue souls not to which would be like having certain pigs not to pop. There are also ramps, balls, and dynamite you can add in each level in certain locations as well as working with hammers, conveyor belts, launch pads, and more. You have three types of imps to use with the standard red, shield producing blue, and exploding green. There are 60 levels across three episodes, and each one is scored based on a three halo system. OpenFeint is included for online high scores and achievements.

The Good

The game is similar to Angry birds on the surface as you launch objects at structures, but the differences are much more important to the gameplay. The biggest thing is that you don’t try to just destroy everything in sight as you only want to target the red souls, and not harm the blue souls. Each level isn’t loaded with a destructible structure, and rather there are a few destructible pieces inside an indestructible fortress. This game truly embodies the puzzle aspect of a physics puzzler as each level has a particular set up for a certain solution. Granted you can solve it a number of ways, but the level design was for one particular solution as you see everything work together. You get to add ramps, stones, and dynamite to specific locations to attempt to hit every red soul while avoiding the blue souls in one shot. Not only do you add in pieces, but many levels have interactive elements like hammers, spikes, and conveyor belts to wreck havoc. The game is much more of a methodical approach to the genre with so many decisions to make before launching the first imp. Every level is scored based depending on the number of blue souls saved, the number of imps used, and the number of pieces unused so you’ll want to do the best in each of the three categories. There is great cartoon artwork for each soul, imp, and the Grim Reaper. The animations are well done to as you watch the intertwining mechanic work to completion after you launch the imp. The included 60 levels provide plenty of content, with high replayability to get three halos, plus the inclusion of OpenFeint for online high scores and achievements.

The Bad

The game does seem a little slow moving with a lot less destruction compared to Angry Birds or Trucks and Skulls, but that is also part of the appeal. Getting three halos on a level is quite challenging, and you don’t know how you’re doing until the level is already over. You really need to beat a level with one imp for three halos, so you may restart a level often, and there are a few pop-up menus instead of just replaying right away. The aiming and power meter doesn’t feel as intuitive as the other games mentioned. The item tray can get in the way from time to time, and adding the items requires multiple taps. The game doesn’t feel as finely polished as similar games, and 60 levels is a lot by most standards, but is half of the number included in Angry Birds and Trucks and Skulls. Also Fun With Death has an HD version for iPad as well as retina display, but it’s $4.99 compared to only $0.99 for the non-HD version. It’s not the $4.99 price, but rather the disparity between the two versions that is the problem.

The Verdict

Fun With Death adds many new and fun elements to the launching physics puzzle genre. The game is really different than what you would expect on the surface as you need to protect certain souls, add puzzle elements, and smash a lot less stuff. The game is nicely designed in most regards, but there are little hindrances here and there. Fun With Death is a should buy for only $1 for the non-HD version which will provide enjoyable and engaging puzzles that are surprisingly unique. The HD version is the same, and doesn’t seem to warrant five times the cost.

Mentioned apps

Free
Fun With Death Lite
Fun With Death Lite
Tornado Studios
$4.99
Fun With Death HD
Fun With Death HD
Tornado Studios
$0.99
Angry Birds
Angry Birds
Clickgamer.com
$0.99
Crush the Castle
Crush the Castle
Armor Games Inc
Free
Trucks and Skulls NITRO
Trucks and Skulls NITRO
Appy Entertainment, Inc.

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