10:19 AM
Unknown
Posted Thursday, January 19th, 2012 at 10:00 am by Paul Wilks Comments
Balliland XL is a cunning and engrossing logic-puzzle title from RebelCrew Games. Within lush environments your simple task is to line up three balls (actually Balliland residents.) It’s a straightforward objective, but it gets progressively harder to achieve as the levels advance. There are some 120 colorful levels to work through so, if you’re a logic puzzle fiend, you might certainly want to check this out.
Price: Free, with optional In-app Purchases
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros
Nice graphics!120 levels of well designed puzzles!Great music!Variety of obstacles!Unlimited undo’s!Cons
Familiar gameplay can get repetitive or perhaps frustrating for some.Balliland is the bright and colorful world inhabited by a variety of balls. To progress through the levels, you must line 3 of these balls up. Who knows why?! You control the movement of the balls by sliding your finger over them in the direction you want them to move. Initially there are boxes which help you manoeuvre your balls into line, but in later levels are the various obstacles and enemies which you have to avoid to complete the level.
There are quite a number of these types of logic puzzles in the Android Market, but while gameplay might be familiar, Balliland XL stands out with its highly polished feel. The music and graphics are exemplary for this kind of game and the balls have a distinct depth and character. The music too is really nice; works well with the game and is never annoying or oppressive.
Level design is always crucial here. The developers claim that the game was 8 months in development and you can really tell a lot of effort has gone into creating a top-notch puzzler. The levels obviously get harder and harder as the game progresses, but the learning curve is sympathetic and it also allows for unlimited undo’s.
If you’re a logic game fan, you will have played games similar to this before. It’s quite an acquired taste, and certainly not a genre that picks up gamers just through neat design and canny puzzles, but Balliland XL is a brilliant addition to the logic-puzzle fraternity and will be absorbed I’m sure by hardcore Android puzzlers and casual fans alike.
Puzzle fans will rightly revel in this challenging puzzle experience. It doesn’t reinvent the genre or add much to it, but it’s genuinely engaging and often very tough! The character of the game and the sounds, in addition the 120 levels and clever design make for a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Once you get into Balliland XL it’s not particularly easy to put down. There will be people who just really don’t enjoy these kind of puzzles but, given the chance it gets progressively more addictive as you play. I think the various obstacles and diverse elements of the game prevent it from becoming too repetitive, but the nature of the puzzle; sliding items around logically to line the 3 balls up, might get boring for some players.
For the kind of game it is, the graphics in Balliland XL are extremely good. Certainly not the best we see on other Android games, far from it, but the visuals are beautifully rendered and very colorful.
The in-game music is impeccable. There is little worse than playing a good game which is all but ruined by a tinny and repetitive sluice of horrible music. Balliland XL however has a thoroughly enjoyable music track which compliments the game perfectly.
Updating...
