MineSweeper2

For many people who’ve been used to passing the time on their PC you’ll probably be familiar with the game Minesweeper.

This puzzle game which involves a certain amount of logic and a touch of Russian roulette has been given a modern feel and look to the developers credit. Rather than simply seeing the squares in a top-down style board, you see the grid marked out and have a guy who resembles more of ‘Wally’ from ‘Where’s Wally?’ than a trained explosives sapper who you must try and assist in his clearance mission.

What you must do is pick the square to start on and with a bit of luck try not to resemble just a charred pair of boots. If your first jump is successful you’ll either reveal a whole area of safety, or simply highlighted that one of the squares near to you is indeed booby-trapped. As in previous editions of the game, the number of mines touching a square within the grid is indicated by a bold number in the adjacent square.

Before you start your rather thankless task of clearing the dangerous land, you have the option of purchasing some select upgrades which you can use in-play to give you the advantage. ‘Free Mine’ will randomly select a mine on the field and reveal its location. ‘Body Armour’ will protect you from the blast of a mine automatically should you have the misfortune of treading on one – effectively giving you another chance to complete the level without having to start again.

‘Power Detector’ when activated the highlighted squares are cleared and any mines found are flagged. Lastly you have the ‘Field Scanner’ which will reveal all the mines on the screen for several seconds. So if you’re able to have a photographic memory you’ll be pretty good at clearing the level unharmed.

For the slower handsets out there and for those who prefer an experience closer to the original version of Minesweeper, you can switch off the animations. By doing this, rather than watching your hapless hero trot about the area and place flags or stomp on squares, you only see the end result (which does help save time – as he’s not the quickest mover).

Your reward for successfully clearing the level is money which you can use to better equip yourself and give you more assistance in the more advanced levels. If you manage to find all the mines within a time limit you’ll be given even more money as a bonus.

So in the end then how does this game stack up against its rather graphically challenged counterparts? Really well actually! The animation and sound all add a nice touch to game play and the helpful equipment you can buy are totally up to you to use whenever you’re feeling the heat. The challenge this game provides will last for hours and as every level is different and the mines located are totally random, no two games will ever be the same – whether you play on one of the smaller or bigger grids.

Rating 92%

Positives

Good graphics and cute animations which can be toggled on or off to suit

Sounds are good, as are the vibration effects for when you find a mine accidentally

Totally random mine placement ensures each game will challenge you lots

Negatives

Quite a repetitive puzzle in ways

The game can be nearly impossible to complete without the assistance of the purchased items