A Bad Day in Space

Reviewed on 28th November 2004 by: Alex

Précis:

Beautifully rendered in 3D; with well thought-out gameplay, humourous intermissions, challenging gameplay and a very apt name (for reasons I shan't get into - plot spoiler), it is ultimately only manages an "average" score; let down by the lack of a save game feature, mediocre replayability, lack of a trial and a high price. This is a good demonstration of the actual 3D capabilities of Symbian phones, but certain frustrating gameplay elements rather detract from the experience.

Review:

This is you, and you're about to have "A Bad Day in Space." (very very bad) Basically, a whole boatload of asteriods is about to come our way, and You Are All That Mankind Has Left! (I exaggerate.)

Sound is executed very well, with convincing explosions and laser bursts, and an entertaining musical track; although a little loud (and jarring) at any volume other than quiet. There might have been benefits to separating music volume from sound effects, because it is mainly the laser burst effect which gets on my nerves. Stability is also excellent; there is a "continue" function, and being interrupted by a call results in the game putting itself automatically into the "continue" mode. The game also remains stable in switching to and from the standby screen or other applications.

The graphics are also immediately striking. On the title screen (above right), that red blob around the protagonist's shoulders is a 3D-ship, which circles merrily around. It has a glowing rear exhaust, and three different user-selectable colour schemes. This graphical impressiveness carries into gameplay, albeit only for a little while. The starfield generated as a background is pretty, but that backdrop changes almost not at all during the entire game. Your ship is also reasonably well done (considering this is a mobile phone), and transitions between gameplay modes are initially very attractive.

This transitioning is what, really, makes the game really 3D, and is a testament to the ingenuity of the developers. It would obviously be a nightmare to contol an actual 3D ship (a la Wing Commander) , so to accentuate the three dimensionality of their title, 3D Arts have included what is, in effect, three different views. In the first view, you are looking at your ship from the side. The second, from the back, and the third, from the top. (see screenshots below) This works fairly well, and for the transitions between them the game zooms up close then far away from your ship.

Unfortunately, all you do, in all the different modes, is the same thing. Dodge rocks, shoot rocks and pick up stuff from between the rocks. While the different styles of play do require different skills (for example it is easier to dodge rocks and more difficult to shoot rocks in the back view than in the other views), this gets old rather quickly. In addition to this, you will have to be pretty good not to die, and while there are upgrades and wingmen to look forward to, as well as rather amusing intermissions (remember to press the right menu button to read it), these do not detract from the fact that you will die. Often. At least several times.

This is usually not such a bad thing, because - hey - you have unlimited credits. Unfortunately, there is no "start at level x" feature. This means that every time you die, you will have to spend time playing the first two levels. These levels are truly awful, because they take quite a long time, are not very challenging, are not very interesting, take a long time, and take a long time. This is a major major flaw. The situation would be alleviated somewhat if there was a "save game" feature, but this is also missing.

Developers - allow people to select the level they start at according to what level the died in! With this feature, the game would gain a whole extra point in our review. An example of a very good level is level 4: you start of with a great weapon and a wingman, but eventually will lose both the weapon and the wingman, and are reduced to picking up energy bars. Exciting!

Replayability is also questionable, because if you have completed the game once, you *really* don't want to have to slog through the levels again. The only other thing which should be mentioned is the fact that the player will be pressing a key continuously to fire; but this is the norm in most games, and in this instance is necessary as part of the gameplay mechanics - you have a weapons energy bank which recharges more slowly than the possible rate of fire.

If this game cost USD 10.00, and had a "select level" feature, it would gain at least 20%. Unfortunately, the high price and high frustration level collude to reduce the score rather drastically. It is also a pity that there is no trial available. However, this is not a bad game, and should you like shooting naughty rocks, you should definitely get it.

Score: 65%

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Screenshots: