Review: Ming Zhu
Score:
69%
Imagine a world where you had to get to the exit. A world of squares in a grid. A world where you could never set foot on the grid but have to create safe havens by pushing over tower blocks. That's the world of Ming Zhu.
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That description sure makes Ming Zhu sound a bit like an arcade actioneer ready to happen, but what's on offer is a cerebral cross of puzzle and maze game. With no digital avatar, you control a flashing cursor on one of the squares with the goal of getting it to the exit square. The path, as hinted above, needs to be made before you can go anywhere. And you do that by pushing over tower blocks (by having your cursor on the numbered block and pushing in that direction).
The height of the tower blocks is represented by the number on the block - if it's a two, when you push it over it'll be two blocks long, and you can run along those squares. Hopefully, you're smart and make sure that when you push the block over, it touches another tower block you can push over. Chain enough of these together (and with no white space, you can't jump the void in this game) and you'll have a path to the exit square.
The idea that you can only move where you make a path leads to some inventive thinking as you try to solve the level beforehand, and then put it into practice. It's a similar way of playing that I saw in Escape (reviewed on AAS last week), but there's something more rewarding and honest in the design of Ming Zhu. One issue though (and us reviewers always tend to find one) is in the graphical presentation. I think Ming Zhu misses a trick by only having a cursor highlighting the square you occupy. A basic character could have done wonders here for the immersion into the video game. As it is, the world feels more like a table top game than an abstract puzzler.
While that is to the detriment of the game, it's not a huge loss, because this is a nice little thinker that appeals to me. The graphics are both clear and reflect the Far Eastern theme that subtly influences all the graphics through the game, and while (again, like Escape) I'd like to see more thought put into the controls, rather than having four big direction buttons propping up the screen, it feels right that you have direct "button" control over the game. A tilt control might have been too awkward in action.
Before and after, making a path to the exit.
Ming Zhu can start to feel familiar after just a few levels, and that might put some people off. After you play it for a while, one of the other flaws becomes clear - most levels only have one solution, and there are very few points where you have to decide to go one way or the other. Get your eye used to playing, and the complexity of the game takes a huge drop. That doesn't happen straight away, but when it does a lot of the appeal could be lost - that's certainly the case while I was playing.
Even then Ming Zhu is fun to play, becoming more like a solitaire game. It's recommended, but you have to be a real puzzle nut to actually enjoy it - have a look at the free trial before deciding yourself.
-- Ewan Spence, Sept 2011.
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at