Absorbed Review

Costas Stephanides’s Review

An original game that sits well alongside Bounce.

Original IP is a big issue in the mobile games industry. We've played dumbed down versions of console games and obviously it is difficult to create a decent mobile game with a few hundred kilobytes compared to its cousin that fills an entire DVD. The hunt for the mobile Mario is on. While Playman has probably achieved this, there is still plenty of room for original games and ideas. I know this is a bit of ramble but it's just to give an insight into the industry and why Absorbed deserves its plaudits.

In Absorbed, you play a blob of goo (or Schmoo as they call it). Schmoo can stretch up and down and obviously move left and right. The aim of the game is to collect all the balls of the specified colour. Schmoo may be hungry but he has a small mouth and you have to push up/down to hit the balls to make them split into smaller ones. Once small enough, you can walk along and collect them. There's a pretty good tutorial although you will need a bit of practice to get to grips with it and figure out all its intricacies.

Schmoo can only touch balls that are the same colour as him/her/it although there are places where Schmoo can change colour. After the first few easy levels, the game soon hots up with lots of differently coloured balls. Also, destroying some balls can release bombs (which instantly burst all the balls) and other bonuses. The game gets very tactical, very quickly. Similar to Bounce, the game does auto save and you can try and solve your latest level as many times as you want. Unfortunately, there is nothing to indicate what level you are on, so overall game progress is impossible to judge. I am currently stuck on a level and I don??t have a clue on how to get past. As there??s no level number, asking for hints could prove a little tricky.

Controlling the Schmoo is very easy and can all be done from the D-pad. The game is more about timing and tactics rather than finger gymnastics. I note from the help section that 5 can be used to fire but there??s nothing to say what item you need to collect to activate this option.

Graphically, the game is ok. It's not been developed from a huge multi-national developer and is squarely aimed at the mid-range handsets and it to be honest, it does show. The graphics are simple but it does the job and doesn't detract from the game. Add to these cooperative Bluetooth play and online scores via RumbleX and you have a good package that should please a lot of people.

There are a few niggles but if you are a fan of Bounce, then prepare to get Absorbed.