Hambo: One man army legend and pork combination physics based puzzler.
Casual game power house Miniclip have delivered a quirky mix of military and livestock themes to give us Hambo. A 2D physics based puzzle game which by no means ground breaking having seen many titles of this genre before it, most notably Angry Birds. Hambo nonetheless provides some refreshing aspects to the gameplay, read on below to find out what we thought!
Gameplay: You play as Hambo, a war veteran, on a mission to free his buddy from government officials who arrested him as they were returning home from the battle field. I suspect that he was arrested for doing something seemingly unjust but necessary to win the war. The setting is probably a little too complex for a mobile game as it resonates with many real life political and societal issues associated with war. However I don’t think you need to know about them to enjoy the game.
As mentioned above, Hambo plays similar to the original Angry Birds, where you are presented with a 2D side on view of the world. The aim of the game (no pun intended) is to shoot all the pig soldiers on the level with as few bullets as possible. Each of the levels are laid out differently with bullet deflecting walls, breakable ice floors and suspended platforms. You will need to look at the level and placement of the enemy swine to analyse the optimum way to turn them all into canned meat. As you progress through the levels, you will obtain more weapons for your arsenal which will become essential for you to carry on advancing. Uzis, pistols and exploding arrows are just some of the weapons at your trotter tips.
The controls in Hambo are simple, point to where you want Hambo to aim and press the weapon icon to shoot. Disappointingly I found it quite difficult to aim accurately as I can never tell where the exact position of my touch is and had to constantly readjust causing some frustration with the gameplay. It’s missing a separate crosshair that should pop up on the screen away from your finger location as successfully demonstrated in the iOS game Siege Hero (I’m still waiting for the Android port of this). Another negative is that levels always fit onto one screen which causes level sizes to feel too small especially the more you play. It also felt limiting that you cannot control the position of Hambo, as there is no logical reason why he couldn’t walk around the level freely. I can understand why the game designers didn’t allow this as it would have made it more action based rather than puzzle but perhaps a solution would be to have Hambo be an injured war veteran.
In game currency exists in the form of gold coins which are earned on completion of levels. Coins allow you to unlock various features such as new costumes, new levels, solutions and even the ability to skip levels. As expected you can buy more coins if you part from your own cash which is more likely than not if you want to unlock all the features since the coin rewards on level completion are measly to say the least. However none of the features really add much to the game so I can’t imagine many people reaching for their wallets.
Verdict: 3/5 Hambo is a well presented 2D physics puzzler with an interesting if not slightly uncomfortable theme. The constant display of pigs killing pigs and the image of sizzling bacon in-between loading screens hints a bit of cannibalism which I am not sure the designers intended. Nonetheless, Hambo provides good entertainment value for fans of this genre and with over 200 levels will keep you entertained for some time, even whilst you eat your Hambo-ger!
Hambo Promotional Youtube Video
Hambo tips from Android Games Review
- Take your time to plan out the level as time is not a factor in obtaining gold medals for level completion
- Although Hambo cannot move himself, he can move if things bump into him or if the platform he stands on is destroyed.
- Watch out for ricochet bullets as they can kill Hambo, even stationary bullets cause harm!
- Use solutions to the levels only when necessary as you only have a limited number
Hambo QR Code
(Click on the image or scan the barcode with your Android phone to goto Google Play)
Developers: Miniclip
