Review: Snow Lines
Score:
79%
Snow Lines is the first seasonal Symbian game this winter but it doesn’t mean that it wins credit only because there is no competition. Read on for the full review of Herocraft’s latest addition to the genre of mobile-puzzlers.
Version Reviewed: 1.1
Buy Link | Download / Information Link
Not so long ago Ewan reviewed Happy Lines and was really happy (hehe) with Herocraft’s Lines clone for s60. Now that the cold season is here, the balls are back(!) and they try to lure you back into their friendly world with revamped graphics, music and a bunch of new levels.
Herocraft decided not the change the rules of the game, your task is still the same: move the balls around through empty spaces to group them into clusters with pre-defined shape and size. Every time you meet the requirements of the map, the group of balls disappears, giving you more space to manoeuvre, but every time you just move a ball without scoring, 3 more appear to randomly picked but pre-marked positions. You get clear instructions for each and every one of the 40 different levels: you may have to create vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines from 4, 5 or more balls, or blocks of 4 or 6 balls; you might have to do this in a certain time limit or just collect a minimum score on that level before you can move on.
Although the combinations of these game modes are far from endless, the diverse level design helps a lot to make this game not just challenging but also varied in these challenges. The game won’t really test your reflexes, but rather your planning and strategic thinking. It’s definitely not chess, but with some of the latter levels you do need to think ahead a bit further than the next round of incoming balls to make sure you don’t block routes or close down whole sections when you have less and less space to move around.
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The other strong side of the game – beside its obvious easy to pick up and hard to put down nature – is the quite simply outstanding presentation. Herocraft is a company well known for their attention to detail and Snow Lines is a good example to back this impression up. Just as in Happy Lines, everything is clearly visible and cleanly presented. The choice of colours gives the game a unique atmosphere that is emphasised by the funny animations. The balls have dressed up for the season too, they have different faces for every action, they are sad when just sitting alone but become happier as they gather, they make pleased noises when they get close to each other – and the bells just keep jingling in the background like there is no tomorrow. Make sure you don’t turn off the background music – you don’t want to miss out on those tunes! This is one of those rare games where sound effects and music are not annoying after the first five minutes - in fact, you will probably end up whistling the melody after putting the game down. It also supports 5 languages, all screen resolutions and a bunch of platforms, plus you can download a demo version and try the game for yourself before buying it.
If you have played Happy Lines, you know what to expect – you will get more of the same great fun that captivated you in the summer’s big hit, but with new levels and new looks. If this is your first Lines games, you will definitely enjoy going through Progress mode to open up every level in Arcade mode, so you can re-visit your favourite maps and try to beat your scores again and again.
Attila Katona, AllAboutSymbian, 20 Nov 2007
PS. Just to top it all, you will be happy to know that all Happy Lines customers can get Snow Lines for 50% off and everyone who buys Snow Lines can also purchase Happy Lines for half price - to take advantage of this permanent offer you just need to send e-mail to smartsupport (at) herocraft (dot) com and Bob's your uncle!
Reviewed by Attila Katona at