Time to kill? Here's your solution
Written: Jul 06 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wonderfully simple, addictive to play
Cons: hours pass when you're playing and you don't notice
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| ginomctien's Full Review: Barrack |
My brother downloaded Barrack one afternoon, and I was watching him play it. How could this possibly be fun, I asked myself? Put yourself in my shoes…I’m watching him play this game where he’s got this goofy little dual shooting gun that’s really cool, but he wasn’t shooting anything. In fact, he was doing the exact opposite… trying to desperately avoid shooting anything. And the enemies…they’re little balls. Not little gremlins, hobgoblins, wild animals or aliens, but little soccer-golf ball hybrids.
I was trying to get everything straight in my head…as your gun (which is kind of like this floating pong-style paddle that can move anywhere) shoots across the screen out of both ends, beams come out that divide the screen. If there’s nothing in the division that you just made, the computer marks you as having cleared a percentage of the screen; reaching a certain percentage of cleared screen space advances you to the next level. If one of the little golf-ball looking guys bounces into your beam, then you lose a life. It’s kind of like a multimedia version of the old-school pen and paper classic dot game, similar because you’re trying to block off portions of the screen to win the game. Again, I found myself asking, “How can this possibly be fun?”
I suppose you can guess how this story turns out…after he left, I sat down to give it a shot, and the next time I look at the clock, three hours have gone by. In the same vein as Snood or Tetris, this game is incredibly addictive. The pace of the game changes slightly as the levels advance, with balls that move faster or have slightly different properties, but the premise of the game stays the same. Things built into the game like the bonus counter (that increases your score for clearing the level quickly)and various enhancements that you can get for your gun make it especially fun to play.
Like all Ambrosia games, Barrack has some simple, but incredibly detailed graphics. The sound track is great, with creative sounds for the gun, the bouncing balls and background music. Overall, it’s a great diversion, because it makes you think, but not too hard. I’ve found it’s great for playing while you’re on the phone, or when you have those unmanageable fifteen minute intervals of time before your next appointment where you don’t want to start anything else. Quality shareware was one of the reasons I fell in love with the original Mac, and this program is one of the last representatives of a proud legacy…please support shareware by registering it. Everything of Ambrosia’s is worth downloading, but if you only get one, this one should be it.
On a slightly different note…I wanted to post this but didn’t have a good place to do it. Why is the Mac game section so anemic? It would be nice if at least they could put links for games with Mac versions in this category, Starcraft and Diablo being notable examples. If you care enough to have an opinion on this, maybe if enough of us politely harass the category manager, we can make it happen.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ginomctien
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Location: Arlington, VA
Reviews written: 17
Trusted by: 3 members
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