To prevent the balls from reaching the skull, the player can eliminate the balls by firing a colored ball from the stone frog idol's mouth towards the chain of balls that will continue to push forward until the player fills the yellow bar, which is when the balls will stop producing off-screen. As soon as one ball reaches the skull, the rest follow and the player loses a life. The player can carry two balls at a time and can switch at any time. The game is in beta now, but should be available to everyone in the near future.The objective of Zuma is to eliminate all of the balls rolling around the screen along a given path (the path is clearly visible in all of the levels except for the last level) with other balls before these balls reach the yellow skull structure, which will open to varying degrees as a warning of oncoming balls. If you've played the game before, it's hard not to get twitchy fingers just by hearing the sounds of the balls clacking together. Once again, PopCap proves its power in keeping our attention, even with well-worn mechanics. Still, this is a free application, and it's one that can suck up your free time. The one nod to capitalism is the limited number of lives you're given you can of course buy more or earn more with time, but it can still be annoying if you're chasing a highs score and you have to sit out a few minutes before you get more lives. Microtransactions can be annoying, and this is the best way to do them: offer players buffs in a casual game, but allow those of us who don't want to pay a way to move up the ranks without them. The few times I was able to climb to the top of the scoreboards past the other gaming writers and PR people who have access to the game, I found myself checking the scores every few hours to see if I was still number one. The scoreboards reset every week, and you're given a new level to master, which means that you always have a shot of coming out ahead. Since each round is only 60 seconds long, you can quickly pop in and take a few stabs at beating your prior score. AdvertisementĪs an application it's hard to find anything to complain about. A skilled player will be able to reach great heights with the add-ons and buffs, but they won't make a lazy player good. Learning how to grab combos, aim at the fruit, shoot through lines of balls, and other tricks to pad your score are more important than many of the powers anyway. I never felt hobbled by the natural progression of the game. The hyper-competitive may want to buy things to help them progress, but you'll gain enough powers and Mojo by simply playing that you'll never need to dip into your wallet if you're moderately patient. Not leveling up quickly enough for your taste? You can spend some real money to help yourself along. This adds a virtual cost to using the various buffs to help your score. Each round earns you Mojo, which you use to power your special abilities. The rounds go by quickly as you try to best your friends, and as you play you unlock new items and abilities to help you gain the upper hand. In Zuma Blitz you have one minute to go after a high score, and the scores of your Facebook friends are shown to the right of your screen. Now the game has come to Facebook, and it's going to get its hooks into you one more time. It's a casual game that anyone can play, and shows off PopCap's skill at taking simple concepts and presenting them with flair and skill. Zuma has always been an addictive game, with the simple premise of a frog shooting colored balls to line up three or more of a single color, making them disappear.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |