So, I played this for a few hours and I'm TERRIBLE! But, I was getting better.
A few things of note:
(a) The game's interface is really interesting in that it's unusual! Rather than emphasize the touch aspects of the DS in a dynamic way - e.g. "Slide the stylus hit the balls" it's a really "technical" interface - you adjust angles, position on the cue ball and there's a force meter you raise/lower. Then you hit "play" and off the ball goes. I really liked this interface and I feel it plays to the strengths of the stylus without falling prey to the worst parts of the weaknesses of the stylus-as-input. I'm still not very good at the game - though I was getting better the longer I played.
(b) The balls/table are all on the upper screen and for some reason I had a hard time distinguishing the balls from each other (playing pool, you need to tell colors from stripes AND not sink the 8- or 9-ball depending on the mode). I straight up lost two games for sinking the 8-ball (confusing it with another colored ball like the green solid on (7?). I also hit the 8-ball first (when going for colors) a few times giving my opponent a free hit. That was really annoying. It might have been worse due to light conditions - but still...I was also playing on a DS-XL, so larger screen than usual!
(c) I thought about representation in videogames mostly because all of a sudden I realized I was playing against a Filipino player (a real-life champion, I know nothing of pro pool!) and I realized, wow...this must be SUPER rare! I remember being excited to see a Chilean pro tennis player in a videogame some time ago (Fernando Gonzalez) and it just got me thinking about how representation (national/ethnic/racial in this case) can vary from sport to sport and that the more "obscure" (to me at least) sports might be better at this? I have no idea how the world cup of pool works - is it always a player per country (representing that country) and countries qualify (like FIFA world cup soccer)? Or do the competitors qualify as individuals? Anyways...
The game's grindy in the sense that you need to get resources to unlock city buildings. I'm ok with that, what I don't enjoy is that the resources you collect on a level that you end up losing/failing at (time ran out) aren't collected. That feels more frustrating than it should.
What I did find interesting is that when you fail a level you play the same layout (level shape, background characteristics, locked things, etc.) BUT the resources that appear are different! So, you might go from being able to match the dynamite (that lets you destroy one tile) to matching the lightning bolts instead. The lighning powerup is better than the dynamite (mostly?) so I wonder if - when I played - trying the level again gave me access to a better power up the 2nd (or 3rd) time around? I'm not entirely sure, but if true this would make for a cool design element.
Huh. So, this game's structure is essentially the same as Jewel Master: Cradle of Rome (which I played not too long ago). It's a match-3 game with progression in that you're "building a civilization" (in this case Egypt, but it was Rome before). You complete levels - moving up - and also gather resources (from matching during levels as well as bonuses for clearing levels quickly). All of this from the story/campaign mode - I haven't explored anything else yet...
Played this co-op with the kids about a week ago and we had fun, but...so much swearing. I felt a little embarrassed but, to be fair, that's my own fault.
I don't think I've seen the movie the game is based on and I know feel a little obliged to watch it with the kids just to contextualize the game a bit better? To be honest, I'm also a bit curious about the movie as well because of some of the game's levels we played - specifically one where you meet an old lady, protect her from attacking zombies (how is she still alive?). She then decides she wants to go visit "joe" (a friend, I forget the name) who's having a cookout. It turns out "joe" is actually a zombie boss and it's all a massive fight. I don't remember what happened to the old lady...
As for the game - we had fun, but weren't terribly impressed. It's a twin-stick shooter, you find weapons from crates/backs of cars, equip them and then go... Weapons have ammo/use limits (even the melee weapons you can find) and there are also grenades, firebombs, and more. Fortunately there's no friendly fire (I think? perhaps we're just really careful...?) I got really excited when I picked up a mini-gun but it was a huge disappointment - it takes too long to "spin up" by which time my co-op partners have killed almost everyone! We had a similar experience with environmental hazards you can switch on to help kill zombies - they're interesting in principle but hard to use effectively and, in fact, some can also injure friendlies.
