Pac-Clone 2
by Nuno Freire
The classic pellet munching game that everyone knows and loves is cloned again,
this time in Nuno Freire's Pac-Clone 2.
| It's the year 2000, and you've been cloned! As all the other clones, you have no rights, so you were given an assignment which you can't refuse: you have to gather all the magic pills in the universe. These pills are in the mazes and inside each one lies a Ghost, a keeper which will try to stop you from accomplishing your mission at any cost. | |
| Basically, this is a variation of Pac-Man but somewhat limited. It easily installs and loads, so there is no need to try and figure out the directory system, which is a plus. There are options to read the story, change the AI between two settings (dumb and smart), and a password system to start off on a level you last played. There are three levels, in each of which there is a maze and one ghost. The difference is that the maze is one room without any transport tunnels and lots of dead ends and the ghost is able to go through walls. The dead ends kind of get in the way, and the ghost is tough to avoid on the smart AI level. Also, the Ghost programming shows almost no effort. It occured to me when I was writing this that the AI is just too simple to make. Without any walls to hinder the Ghost, it is easy to just send the Ghost in the direction of the player. While it creates a new way to play the game, it was not implemented as well as it could have been. The rooms don't seem to have much of a design to them, other than that they seem symetrical, and that is a problem. The bad structure just doesn't seem to fit in this game, which otherwise would have been decent. This game had plenty to improve upon. | |
| This game's graphics are obviously made using PixelPlus256
since many of the images are taken straight from the demo from it! Unfortunately, there is no credit given to the use of this program, which kind of cheapens this game. The game is in screen mode 13 with 256 colors.The graphics look great, until you try to play the game. Then they get in the way. The tiles take up a lot of space in the game, and the scrolling for the entire map is constant. The Pac-Clone is always centered, so the entire screen moves every time he moves. To make up for the small play area, there is a nice little map in the bottom right corner, but it is tough to use when playing since you have to constantly watch out for the ghost. All in all, the graphics are nice, but they kind of prevent the game from coming to its full potential. | |
| Basically, you move left, right, up, or down. Very simple and intuitive. The only problem is that while it is easy to play on a technical sense, the actual game play is difficult only because of the graphical limitations and the fact that there are so many dead ends. The game's main layout makes it seem like you are constantly exploring what's ahead of you and forgetting what you just left behind. This makes it easy to run away from the ghost into a dead end. Since the control was a little difficult in this sense, the scoring for this category has been dropped a little from the initial ease of use score. | |
| If you play with your computer under your desk, then there might as well be no sound. This game uses the PC speaker, and it is a very limited use at that. There are simply little sounds when you eat the pellets. No sounds when you die or anything. Shouldn't ruin anything that much, but it would have been nice to have some kind of sound. Eh. | |
| The challenge for the dumb AI level is kind of cheesy. The smart Ghost's AI seems to be a hunt and destroy. The dumb AI is the same, only making a few extra movements in opposite directions. It is quite dumb, and the levels are quite easy to get through. Unfortunately, the smart AI was too difficult. The ability to go through walls gives the Ghost an added advantage, which starts the frustration. The dead ends and poor map design also add to the challenge, which is unfortunate since it should not do that. If they were meant to do that, then the graphics hinder the ability to see the map. Either way, the challenge is unjustly increased. | |
| This game is kind of fun initially. There is some originality, although it might be a technical issue rather than a design issue. There are only three levels, which prompts one to play the game on the smart AI level. Unfortunately, this is the problem, because it becomes frustrating (although mildly) to play. It then becomes a game that people play and then forget. The replay is limited, and so the rating starts hurting here. Of course, it is fun to play if one wants a quick game. | |
| This game had some strong points, such as good looking graphics and ease of play. There were plenty of things that could have made it better. This game had a lot of potential, but it was not given a chance. | |
| .zip size: 69.5K | |
| V Planet |