Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Lock and Load...Your Shell: Snails v1.9 Reviewed
Posted by Kevin Remhof in "SOFTWARE" @ 09:00 AM
Are you ready for some old-school video game action? If you haven't tried Snails 1.9 by Syntact, check out my review to see why you should.
Snails 1.9 is a classic ballistics game with a wry sense of humor. In it, you get to blow up your fellow snails with 20 different weapons. It has missions, stand-alone, and networked gameplay modes. It's a great game that is a worthy addition to any Pocket PC.
How to Crush Snails
So, what's this game all about? If you've ever played Scorched Earth or Worms, you probably know what you're in for. Two teams of 1-5 snails each fight to the death using projectile weapons. You can pick which weapons to use or let the game choose for you. These snails really know how to arm themselves. You can choose from guns, bombs, aerial strikes, and my personal favorite, napalm.
Figure 1: Here you see the different weapons that you can choose from. Watch out, some of the prices are a little steep.
After choosing your weapons, it's time to fight. You can use the hardware keys or the stylus to navigate through the game. The game is turn-based with the two teams alternating. When it's your turn, you pick your snail, weapon, and aim.
Figure 2: The in-game weapon selection.
After you fire your weapon, the real fun begins. The game developers really had fun with this part. Not only do you get to watch your snails explode, you get some great taunts from the game. The humor in this game is just a little warped. Strictly G, but a lot of fun.
Figure 3: Napalm does its stuff.
Ways to Play
Figure 4: Game Mode selection from 1.9 beta 2. Multi-Snailer, here I come.
There are three main ways to play the game (four if you download 1.9 beta 2 or greater). You can play “Robot hunt,” which is a set of single player missions. These unlock the weapons in the game. “Swap and kick” is multiplayer fun for two people. “Computer life” lets you sit back and watch automated snails at work.
And finally, “Network multi-Snailer” where you can play deathmatch online. I have to say though that the multi-Snailer is a bit weak. If no one else is online, you're stuck.
Gotchas
The online multi-Snailer is not all that great. It might be better with a wireless PDA. But, this feature is only in beta so this is a very minor complaint. The only other issue I've found is that the game doesn't always behave well with the OS. It can be frustrating trying to clear alarms while the game is running since Snails writes over them on the screen.
Where To Buy
Snails 1.9 can be downloaded from Handango as a free trial version or purchased for just $9.95! [Affiliate]
Specifications
Snails is available for Pocket PC, Pocket PC 2002 and HP 720 (HPC2000). It requires 2 MB of storage memory and 5 MB of program memory to run.
Conclusions
Snails is a great game. It's easy to play and provides a quick game fix. Since it came out, the team behind it has continued to improve the game. With features like online multiplayer, it just gets better and better. For $9.95, you really can't go wrong with this game.
Snails 1.9 is a classic ballistics game with a wry sense of humor. In it, you get to blow up your fellow snails with 20 different weapons. It has missions, stand-alone, and networked gameplay modes. It's a great game that is a worthy addition to any Pocket PC.
How to Crush Snails
So, what's this game all about? If you've ever played Scorched Earth or Worms, you probably know what you're in for. Two teams of 1-5 snails each fight to the death using projectile weapons. You can pick which weapons to use or let the game choose for you. These snails really know how to arm themselves. You can choose from guns, bombs, aerial strikes, and my personal favorite, napalm.
Figure 1: Here you see the different weapons that you can choose from. Watch out, some of the prices are a little steep.
After choosing your weapons, it's time to fight. You can use the hardware keys or the stylus to navigate through the game. The game is turn-based with the two teams alternating. When it's your turn, you pick your snail, weapon, and aim.
Figure 2: The in-game weapon selection.
After you fire your weapon, the real fun begins. The game developers really had fun with this part. Not only do you get to watch your snails explode, you get some great taunts from the game. The humor in this game is just a little warped. Strictly G, but a lot of fun.
Figure 3: Napalm does its stuff.
Ways to Play
Figure 4: Game Mode selection from 1.9 beta 2. Multi-Snailer, here I come.
There are three main ways to play the game (four if you download 1.9 beta 2 or greater). You can play “Robot hunt,” which is a set of single player missions. These unlock the weapons in the game. “Swap and kick” is multiplayer fun for two people. “Computer life” lets you sit back and watch automated snails at work.
And finally, “Network multi-Snailer” where you can play deathmatch online. I have to say though that the multi-Snailer is a bit weak. If no one else is online, you're stuck.
Gotchas
The online multi-Snailer is not all that great. It might be better with a wireless PDA. But, this feature is only in beta so this is a very minor complaint. The only other issue I've found is that the game doesn't always behave well with the OS. It can be frustrating trying to clear alarms while the game is running since Snails writes over them on the screen.
Where To Buy
Snails 1.9 can be downloaded from Handango as a free trial version or purchased for just $9.95! [Affiliate]
Specifications
Snails is available for Pocket PC, Pocket PC 2002 and HP 720 (HPC2000). It requires 2 MB of storage memory and 5 MB of program memory to run.
Conclusions
Snails is a great game. It's easy to play and provides a quick game fix. Since it came out, the team behind it has continued to improve the game. With features like online multiplayer, it just gets better and better. For $9.95, you really can't go wrong with this game.
