OXCGN Reviews Hasbro Family Game Night – Battleship
Abandon Ship?
by SithLordJim (Guest reviewer from www.thegamevine.com)
© 2009 Jim McIntyre
Outside of actual gameplay, there are several factors I find you can look at to determine whether a game was bad or not. If writing about the game was more enjoyable than actually playing it, it’s probably a bad game.
If you suddenly become acutely aware of every tiny mess around your home that demands your immediate attention, its probably bad.
And if you find yourself day-dreaming about introducing the broken remnants of the game’s disc to the flesh of it’s creator, it seems safe to assume the game is not a great game. EA’s Battleship only managed to hit two out of three, but whether that’s due to it not being available on disc for Xbox360, or because its not quite that bad is a matter of perspective.
Undoubtedly you are aware of the basics of Battlships: that or you were the victim of a very odd form of childhood neglect. You and your opponent each have two boards, on one represents your enemie’s area and the other yours. You place your ships on your own at the beginning of the game and then take turns guessing where your opponent’s ships might be. It’s a game of trial and error, where the crux of the tension and excitement comes from knowing your enemy is closing in on one of your vessels.
It’s also this core part of the gameplay that EA have removed in the translation from it’s board game form. You can’t see your boats after you have placed them. Meaning that unless you have an amazing memory you will often be just as clueless as your opponent when it comes to the location of your ships. This is the case whether your playing local multiplayer, online multiplayer, or even singleplayer. It’s obvious why this would be the case with local multiplayer, but it makes no sense in the other modes.
Aside from the standard game modes Battleshiip includes Salvo, and Super Weapons. Salvo provides you with as many shots as you have ships. In Super Weapons if you miss it will sometimes provide you with a special super weapon, such as a torpedo that will travel straight down through all the squares till it hits something. You can also set up a custom match using some of the rules from the other modes.
Visuals and audio are pretty much what you would expect from this sort of title: basic, and nothing to write home about.
Mr. Potato Head stands to the side of the board in case you forget it’s a Hasbro game.
As this is part of the Hasbro Family Game Nights pack it seems a fair assumption that the game is aimed at families and youngsters, and that is the only plausible way I can think of that any form of enjoyment can be derived from this title. It’s simply a bland title that offers nothing but tedious boredom and the opportunity to waste some money. One day game developers will learn that not everything can translate into a video game, and on that day you will see me crying tears of joy as I dance through the streets.
Until then avoid this crap.
“2/10
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Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, XBLA News-Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | Battleship, EA's Battleship, family gaming, Hasbro Family Game Night, Hasbro Family Game Night - Battleship review, Hasbro games, XBLA
