[Online Game Review] Double Wires

Game Reviewed: Double Wires

URL: http://onemorelevel.com/games3/double-wires.swf

A simple screen with what looks like a mouse-drawn title introduces this interesting game. The basic concept of 'double wires' is nothing that hasn't been done before; the idea being to travel as far along the 'terrain' as possible without falling off the bottom of the screen. Similar to one of those games where you control a flying helicopter, holding down the mouse to make it rise.

What's different about this game is the method of propulsion. Instead of only controlling one aspect of motion, you shoot two 'wires', (think sticky strands of spaghetti) which hook onto the walls and pull him on. Spiderman meets classic flash arcade concept. You can take a minute to get used to the idea on the intro screen before you head in to the game.

There's more to this game than a blockbuster-inspired theme. See, there's not many games that are this - there's no better word for it - polished. With fluid animation, a well crafted background and a polished camera, you might be stuck playing this game for quite a while. Of course, there're no noticeable bugs in the game.

Did I mention the fluid animation? Good graphical programming keeps the limbs of your 'virtual self' moving at all times with a realistic feel. The same goes for the 'wires'; apart from the fact that they don't look like wires - like I said, spaghetti - they are amazingly animated, with fluid and realistic motion.

There is, as always, a downfall. In achieving polished simplicity, the creator of this game, (D_oP_I) has sacrificed replayability value. There's nothing to keep you interested in the game for more than about half an hour, as you'll keep swinging through the same terrain to get to where you died the last time. A good idea here would be the addition of checkpoints, where you could restart from after dying. Another possibility could be the introduction of power-ups; they might detract from the simplicity of the game, but they would add some variety to it.

In the end, this game is a simple game that's done well but lacks any ambition to move beyond the 'arcade' genre. A well-executed and polished concept, but without any ambition. Somewhere from 73% to 78% I think. That's 5/7 for the IB students and a B for the A-Level students.