Ziro ReviewBy: Chris MeichtryPublished: December 19th, 2009
Over the past couple of years, the casual gaming market has been on a rather steady incline. It is more popular than ever and there is some fierce competition out there. As such, we have been treated with a number of excellent titles, but we have also been subjected to a massive flood of shovelware and clone games that never quite live up to those they are imitating. Everyone is out to make a quick buck and it’s making it more difficult to know just which games you can actually trust. It is because of this that I am happy to present Go! Gaming Giant’s Ziro review today.
Ziro is an interesting puzzle game that plays much like those ball-and-peg games in which you have to guide a ball, one direction at a time, into a hole. Once you choose a direction, the ball rolls that way until it either hits a peg or falls off. Although terribly frustrating at times, they are quite fun and Ziro is very reminiscent of this type of gameplay. Instead of a ball, however, you have to direct sets of dice in order to match up like-numbered pairs. Once two numbers have been matched, those dice disappear from the playing field. As you can imagine, the object here is to effectively get rid of all of the dice.
While it may not sound like much from the description, the concept is as fun as it is simple. And thanks to several interesting gameplay elements, the game can also be satisfyingly challenging at times. Simply matching a few numbers is a tad too easy, so this has been remedied by levels that often have mismatching numbers, which requires you to combine certain dice in order to create the appropriate numbers. To spice things up further, there are also several special dice/blocks that can act as obstacles or aids. Some can be moved around as often as you like while others can only be moved once before they become a permanent part of the board. Wildcard dice are particularly helpful when you are stuck with an odd die that can’t be paired with any others.
Best of all, Ziro features over 300 levels of dice-matching fun. Most levels will only take a couple of minutes to complete, but with this much content, you will easily get several hours of gameplay, something that is lacking from many casual titles as of late. Of course, when you attempt to take on such a high number of levels, a lot of elements and designs are going to be recycled several times, which may leave you with a feeling of déjà vu every now and then. Thankfully, being faced with multiple similar boards doesn’t get boring, even in some of the later levels. If anything, it is nice to see familiar formats because it gives you a chance to see how your skills have improved over time.
The game features about 40 minutes worth of music, so you’ll be hearing the same tracks a lot over time, but most of it has a good beat and it stays pretty fresh, so it was never much of a concern for me. Besides, a game like this isn’t meant to be played for hours at a time anyway. The best way to play the game is to go through one or two sets of puzzles and then come back for more later. But if you’re ever bored and want to play for an hour or two, there is plenty of content available for you to do so. In addition to the 300 levels, there are also three different difficulties. The harder settings don’t make the puzzles any more difficult, but they do challenge you to complete each one as quickly as possible and in as few moves as you can manage.
Also available is a Skill mode, which is basically Ziro’s version of Quick Play. If anyone finds that navigating through the map during the Quest is too cumbersome or time-consuming, Skill mode comes to rescue by allowing you play through all 300 levels—one right after the other—while facing against the clock and collecting various powerups along the way. This feature is excellent because it adds yet another option, basically giving you four different ways to play through the entire game. And if you ever find yourself stuck, or you want to play a specific puzzle, there is also a Practice mode that lets you choose any level you have encountered during your gameplay.
On top of being a solid and fun game, it also looks quite nice. Many of the levels don’t vary much in appearance, but they sure are nice to look at. The game would be great on its own without any fancy visuals, but these are a welcome bonus. There is one drawback, however: people with slower processors and/or video cards without decent pixel shading will most likely experience some lag, and aside from adjusting the resolution, there isn’t a whole lot you can do about it. It is important to keep in mind that the minimum system requirements are minimum and not recommended. Thankfully, a demo is available on the official Ziro web site, which can give you an idea of how well the game will run on your computer.
Another drawback is that the game doesn’t really explain itself too well. The story behind this lengthy puzzler is that humans have spent so much time with technology and sapping up the Earth’s natural resources that the planet has been neglected and injured, which has led to massive climate changes. While these cries for help go unnoticed by the humans, the suffering has certainly caught the attention of a young snowman guardian named Ziro. With your help, he hopes to cool down Earth by solving a series of dice puzzles. It doesn’t make a lot of sense in context with the gameplay, but it is an interesting premise and it at least explains why snow is constantly falling and all of the level designs are deserts. It also explains why Ziro occasionally chimes in with advice on helping the environment.
Without reading the synopsis available on the game’s site, the motives can be rather confusing. Really, though, the main draw of Ziro is the gameplay itself, so I don’t think a logical storyline is all that important in this case. What is important is that this game provides a lengthy, fun, challenging, and addictive gaming experience, something we don’t find in casual games nearly as much as we used to. And this very much epitomizes what makes a proper casual game: it’s fun, it’s easy to pick up and play, you can play at your own pace for as long as you like, and you can always come back for more. It isn’t perfect and perhaps it isn’t the best game available, but for just under $10, it is worth every penny.
Score: 9/10Pros:- With over 300 levels, Ziro will keep you entertained for quite some time.
- Fantastic visuals adorn each level.
- Helpful tips just may help you save the environment.
Cons:- The levels are somewhat graphic-intensive and may cause lag on lower-end machines.
- The story isn’t adequately explained, which may make certain aspects seem confusing.
Random Fact:- Whether or not you believe in the dangers of global warming, walking or riding your bike as much as possible is a great way to help the environment and keep yourself healthy.
http://www.gogaminggiant.com/2009/12/19/ziro-review/
Author
