Harbor Master - Review - Childress Inks1998

Harbor Master lead

Touch-screen gaming has its advantages and disadvantages. Nosotros've all played games like Earthworm Jim that try to replicate traditional console controls on the touch screen with limited success. But edifice a game around the advantages of a impact screen can produce wonderful results and even new genres. Such was the example with Firemint'south Flight Control – the first line drawing game. It played like aught else and sold like crazy on numerous platforms, including Windows Phone. Every good idea can be improved upon, equally programmer Imangi shows with Harbor Chief. Its nautical theme and new mechanics will proceed Flight Control fans and new players alike enthralled for quite some time.

Chart a course by the pause for our full review.

Master and Commander

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Harbor Master places the actor in control of a harbor'south shipping traffic. Each level consists of an island or coast with one or more docks. Cargo boats enter the screen from random directions. It'southward up to the player to direct them to port while preventing collisions. To do this, tap on any boat and draw a path for it to take. Different Flight Control, ships don't disappear later on they've docked. Y'all'll need to directly them safely off-screen while managing oncoming traffic. All sorts of circles, back and forth scratches, and wiggly lines volition ensue.

Land ho!

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Harbor Main as well differs from Flight Control in that boats can't travel over country. Thus the shape of each map actually changes the manner it plays compared to other maps. Some map layouts only allow ships to enter and get out the screen from a few different places, while others like Cyclone Island are far more open. Speaking of land, ships mercifully don't crash when they bear upon it. They bounce safely away; information technology's other ships and hazards that players need to worry nearly. One wreck results in a game over.

Information technology'south not the size that counts

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Harbor Master's ships come in four sizes and behave from one to four cargo units a piece. Larger, slower ships frequently pose a threat because they take and then long to safely reach port and exit the screen, but at least they deliver the most cargo. Skillful players will learn to plot a path to port for a large ship and and so accept a small, fast send slip in and out of the same dock before the big 1 arrives.

Multitude of Maps

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Harbor Main includes seven unlike maps – one more than Flight Control. Besides their unique land configurations, several maps have their ain hazards and conditions that add dearest variety.

Fishing Bay: The standard level has two docks on a declension at the top of the screen.
Cyclone Island: An bogus island with three ports rests at the middle of the map. Cyclones randomly appear in the water, sending any ships they touch in random directions. Despite the danger of these twisters, many people find Cyclone Island to be the easiest map due to its wide open layout.
Sturgeon Creek: A river port with two docks on each side of the river. This is the first map to feature multiple colors of cargo: purple and yellow.
Cannon Beach: Pirates! This map comes with three docks on one side of the screen and a single cannon on the other. Pirate submarines attack incoming boats, stealing their cargo or sinking them, which ends the game. Fight dorsum past sinking the pirates with the cannon. What should be one of the most fun maps is semi-ruined by an extremely annoying Achievement. More on that in a bit.
Smugglers' Reef: Ships here can acquit ii different colors of cargo, so they'll demand to stop off at both types of ports before leaving the screen. Not easy.
Monster Cove: Tentacled sea monsters randomly appear inside this map's three docks, scaring off or capturing ships. Tap them rapidly to scare them away.
Cargo City: The most circuitous map, Cargo Metropolis has a whopping vi ports and three unlike colors of cargo. Finish by for a challenge.

Graphics and sound

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Like Flying Control, Harbor Master features a very simple fine art fashion rather than flashy graphics. It fits the game's piece of cake-to-learn nature. But the Windows Telephone version of Harbor Chief looks a chip rougher during game play thank you to the actual lines that players depict. Hither lines come out angular instead of smooth, though it doesn't actually bear on game play.

My other complaint is the water: it's completely stationary. Not-blithe water just doesn't look right to me. If Imangi e'er releases a sequel, some subtle waves or glistening furnishings would be welcomed.

Harbor Master may look a little worse than Flight Control, but information technology sounds much meliorate. Both games just play a single vocal during gameplay, but Harbor Master'southward tropical melody is tricky rather than annoying. That's a win. More musical variety still would accept been nice though.

Achievements

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In score-based games with no definite endings, Achievements serve the important role of giving players goals to aim for. Harbor Master has a handful of artistic Achievements that enhance the feel, like Speed Demon, awarded for scoring 100 points on Fast Forward. I also enjoyed going after Perfectionist, which requires the player to acquire fifty cargo without receiving any warnings (allowing ships to get too close to each other). About of u.s.a. are unlikely to become those on the first try, but they'll come up with a footling practice and the proper map selection (Cyclone Island).

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On the reverse end of the fun spectrum lies the Pacifist Achievement. Information technology involves delivering 50 cargo units on the Cannon Embankment map without sinking any pirate ships. The phase soon swarms with dual pirate ships that must be avoided at all costs. But tiresome moving larger ships can't outrun them, then they're goners unless you manage to distract the pirates with a smaller transport. Pirates and large ships often spawn adjacent to each other with no manner for the player to escape unscathed (exterior of using the cannon and declining the Accomplishment run). The random and unfair nature of this Achievement means it tin can take hours of retries to earn.

As gamers work on the tougher Achievements, they'll as well brand progress towards the big one: Harbor Master. Flight Command had an Accomplishment for earning 10,000 lifetime points, simply Harbor Master ups the ante to a whopping 50,000. Sure, it rewards true (and perhaps unhealthy) Harbor Master dedication, but a smaller number would accept been far more than merciful.

Overall Impression

Harbor Master'southward Achievements may ask for crazy amounts of players' fourth dimension, only at to the lowest degree they're non incommunicable like Doodle Spring's. Nigh importantly, this game is just incredibly addictive. Even when you become a game over, it always feels like you could exercise better on your next endeavor. Harbor Master builds on the solid foundations of its aerial inspiration by adding a handful of unique game play mechanics and more varied stages. This is easily the all-time line-drawing game on Windows Phone and an impressive debut from Imangi.

Harbor Main costs $2.99 and has a free trial. Pick it upward hither (Zune link) on the Market place.

I like 'em big ... I like 'em mesomorphic

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