I am a firm believer of style in my games. It is no longer good enough for a game of this age to just be focused on how many polygons each face has. Nor is it worth it to boast that you would need to upgrade to a computer capable of sending Droids to Mars of scouting expeditions. A game needs to not just be good to sell, it has to look good as well.
So when you decide to make a game about playing a member of customs trying to stop grannies from smuggling guns and bombs across America, you better have a damn good amount of style to go with it.
Funky Smugglers delivers this with a touch of elegance: Fast paced tablet based mobile game-play, a kicking soundtrack, and a very 70s feel to the game as a whole.
Travelers to strange places across the United states have to move across a large scanner, and it is up to you to quickly grab any contraband they have before they make it across and onto a plane. Three misses, and it’s over. So get ready to check afros, ghettoblasters, handbags and groovy flairs to find all those weapons that would make a hostage situation on a plane very, very real.
The game itself is 70s’tastic
Acolourful track plays while you sort out all these rather hip looking daddios (please forgive the use of the word) and cool cats from the gun-smuggling bad guys that are trying to cross your scanner. The game itself has a good blend of purple and pink with a bit of glamour added to the mix.
Gameplay
The game-play is solid – multi touch means you can grab more than one item at a time, and the longer you hold on to a set of them, the higher your score goes up. There is an option for left handed play as well. With the addition of power ups that do
things like slow time down or speeds up customers, along with a rising difficulty per level of the game that you play, you could be occupied for hours trying to build a combo with a set of timed bombs.
That’s not all, of course, the game has an achievement system that grants you points to use to buy upgrades, like longer power ups and extra health per level. There is also a WiiWorld-esque feature that allows you to pick a side of a team at the beginning of the week, where both teams compete for who would have more points at the end of the week. The winner gets rewards in the form of game-play currency for more upgrades.
Some flaws
The game does have some flaws of course. There is only so much play you can gain from going through the same level over and over again. The music is addictive, but can grate after the first hour. And trying the multi touch option to pick up more contraband can block your screen in such a way that you won’t see the next person coming onto the scanner, these problems pale in comparison to the hours of fun you will be having.
Go give it a shot. It won’t let you down.
Funky Smugglers is available at the android store for £0.69.
Other outlets may vary.
