A brave new world for Nokia as they bring forth a first for the next-generation platform. Bowling. And very well programmed it is too. Unfortunately “well programmed” and “a good game” don't always mean the same thing.
AMF Bowling: Pinbusters is of course the only bowling game on the N-Gage, so what can you compare it to?
To be honest, the golf genre, such as Pro Series Golf (reviewed here), is brought to mind, especially when you consider the control scheme of bowling your ball. You line up your bowling pitch with a left and right on the d-pad; click the fire button to start a back-swing, and a second press at the top of the swing. The longer you wait the more power the pitch will have, but the more risk you have of going over and throwing a wild shot. Once the shot is taken, you can lean on the D-pad left or right to impart spin on your bowling ball.
Unlike golf though, there are no changing circumstances on each shot. You have a regulation sized bowling lane with the ten pins hoisted at the end. You get two bowls to knock down the ten pins, and unless you've managed to get a strike on the first bowl (i.e. knock down all ten pins) then your second bowl will be to pick up the stray pins – this is where the skill in bowling is, in understanding spin and dynamics to get those last pins.
In marked contrast to Pro Series Golf, the static gaming area (the bowling lane) lends very little variance in AMF Bowling: Pinbusters, and this is the nature of bowling itself, and not a fault of the game. But good game design should make allowances for this. Pinbusters does its best, adding in various different characters, which each have varying strengths and skills.
Each character does have their own rendering, and the first few times you throw a bowling ball down the lane you'll get a camera spinning around them from the rear (where you can attempt to line up your shot) through an arc to a side view, where you can see the power of your shot. This is impressive the first time you see it (and shows off the 3D environment of each bowling hall), starts to slow the game down in subsequent viewings, and eventually becomes a pain seeing it over and over again.
It would be nice if this could be switched off.
The venues themselves don't seem to change the game-play by a huge amount, but what they do provide is an unlockable system that, if you can get into the swing of the game, provides a fair amount of drive to go forward and carry on playing the game.
There are a number of game modes for the single player, including a quickstart mode to get you playing straight away, as well as more in depth and longer games including a World Cup monikered competition where you take on the best bowling players in the computing world.
But I get the feeling that Pinbusters is not going to be about the single player games, unlocking new characters to play with in new arenas. No, Pinbusters could be one of the games that really appeals to those looking for multiplayer play, especially those who love to play online.
As well as the by now de rigeur 'hotseat' mode, Pinbusters is one of the few current N-Gage titles that allows for gaming to be played via the N-Gage Arena. After logging in through the game, you have the choice to look for opposing players through simple filters, or via a ranking system to find people of similar skill to yourself. This is something that N-Gage has consistently promised but has only delivered patchily, so it's great to see it on Pinbusters. Expect lots of tournaments to be organised on the N-Gage forums!
The big problem with the multiplayer part of Pinbusters is actually finding other people online. Admittedly we review the games very early after their release, but even then there were long periods of time when there were no other players online. As well as the rooms available, it would be great if we could send challenges to our friends to "get their gear online to get walloped!" Maybe Nokia need to program up some online bots so people aren't waiting all that time. Who knows, perhaps the bots might even win a prize in the online tournaments!
The other cause for concern is that when a game relies on multiplayer to get it above average, it might be nice if the free demo would allow you to try out multiplayer - alas, this game mode is only available for people paying cash.
AMF Bowling: Pinbusters is a mixed bag. The core game itself is not that fascinating and can be very repetitive. As a standalone game, it's a nice diversion but ultimately unfulfilling. Add in the online multiplayer and it becomes much more than the basic game. Admittedly not a brilliant game, but one that will have appeal to a nice core of players.
This is a title where the provision of the free demo is very much to the benefit of the end-user. It means people can see if there is enough of a hook in the title for them. It's also to the benefit of Nokia, as people buying the game will not feel cheated in getting something unexpected. It's not a classic, but neither is it a clunker.
-- Ewan Spence, June 2009.