Prank TV
Score: 82% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Wild Hare Developer: Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Themed/ Strategy
Graphics & Sound: Ever wanted to get back at someone? Not wait in a dark alley with a spiked Louisville Slugger type of "get back at." Don't get me wrong, they have to pay. Maybe you just wanted to play a prank on them. Now imagine the entire event was being filmed in front of a live studio audience, and you have Prank TV. Control a huge cast of characters to play pranks, exact revenge and entertain the audience. The 3D landscape is simple and minimalistic. The cartoon-like simplicity and generic animations snap from one place to another and are not very well synchronized. There are no transition animations between states, especially after you have completed a trap and they go into a rage, they simply pop back into their static standing state and then continue their robotic march around the screen. The music has an interesting fusion of old school, new beat and what I can only assume is ethnic Russian influence. It is clinically repetitive, but not boring enough to make you want to beat your own head in. The English monologue was fairly on par with what little British comedy shows I have seen. Benny Hill, God rest his soul, would have been proud. Funny they didn't stick with a Russian-influenced voice character.
Gameplay: The premise for Prank TV is simple. Move your character around a 3D landscape while avoiding your antagonist. While avoiding detection, collect items and apply them to the traps and pranks you set to punk your pursuer. While the premise is easy, the implementation can get tricky. Getting caught usually equals getting pummeled. There are twelve characters to unlock. Each character has their own level. Each level consists of areas or rooms where you set up your traps. Your target will stick to a routine, making them easy to avoid and easier for you to set up your traps. Timing is key to finding the items you need and getting them into place before detection. When all else fails, there is usually a place to hide until you are out of danger. That is all there is to it. As simple as it sounds, it isn't always that easy. If you don't pay attention to where your adversary is, you will get caught with your hands in the cookie jar. This is a point and click control system, and your character isn't extremely fast. Make sure you are out of the line of fire by planning your next move ahead of time. Click on the floor and your character will move there. Search the rooms with your cursor to find the items you can pick up and use and the places you have an opportunity to exploit with a trap.
Difficulty: Prank TV, though a puzzle game, is not as challenging as it could be. In this game, there is not a penalty for attempting to use the wrong item to set up a trap or prank. What this means is after you have spent the time necessary to locate all of the usable items and the areas that you will be allowed to apply those items to, you simply sit and do trial and error until you have successfully set the trap. There are some points in which the items you can trap with and the items that you use actually coherently coincide. Most of the time, you will have similar items that could intelligently be used to set the trap but don't. This makes it more frustrating than difficult. The trigger areas over items are sometimes a little small. You can pass over the graphical outline of the object and the cursor doesn't immediately perceive it as a usable or trappable object. Again, more frustrating than difficult.
Game Mechanics: Prank TV is one part puzzler and one part point and click adventure. There didn't seem to be much point of having the ability to stand anywhere in the game area. You could search other areas with your mouse while you hid, making it just a little pointless to be in a 3D environment without having proximity measures. It took away from the feeling of the game to be able to look around everywhere without having to at least be in the same room. Your progress was marked by a row of stars at the top of the screen letting you know how many traps or pranks were available in each level. After you completed each trap, it would fill in a star. This and the coinciding trap-triggered animation was your reward. They even had an option to replay the animation. I didn't find myself watching them over again, but maybe someone would. I would have rather seen them use the space better and the animations could be cleaner, but this is still a fun game to get into. This type of game has always had an addictive quality to keep you hooked. I have played similar versions of this type of game. I really like the concept and the gameplay. It is simple and easy, while still providing a challenge if done right. The addition of the 3D environment opens up the gameplay to a lot of possibilities. I didn't feel that they took full advantage of the game mechanics they could have in the space they created. I would like to see a larger, more realized version of the game. I was left feeling that this had so much potential, but the game as-is is fun. Definitely a niche game, but worth the pick up if you like puzzlers. If you'd like to see a bit of it for yourself, check out the trailer here.
-WUMPUSJAGGER, GameVortex Communications AKA Bryon Lloyd
Minimum System Requirements: Microsoft Windows XP with SP2, Pentium III 1.0 GHZ or equivalent AMD CPU, 256 MB, 1 GB free space, 64 MB 3D; compatible with DirectX 9.0C, DVD Rom, DirectX 9.0C required (included with game)   Test System: Windows XP Pro, 3.2 GHz P4HT CPU, 2 GB Ram, 512 PCIE 16 ATI X1600XT
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