Fun and frustrating in equal measure

GRAPHICS 4/6

Some nice sprites, but this mark is mainly attributed to the particle effects in the game, which were very nice indeed. Bomb arrows explode in a fury of yellow and black, as do mine arrows when hit. It's satisfying to see a line of mine arrows get caught in each others' blast radii and watch the effect. Sprites were generally OK, occasionally meh (to which I look at the cows ).

SOUND 3/6

Suitable music, which is always a plus, but little variation in SFX. This isn't really a massive bother, but more would've boosted this mark.

GAMEPLAY 4/6

The game's strong point. It's not overly difficult to figure out. Perfecting it, however, is another matter. Different arrows require different firing techniques, and different enemies require different arrows. One of the keys to success is making your player adapt to the game, and it's nailed here. At first it's a matter of simply hitting some slow ghosts (and simultaneously making sure none of them catch you unawares to the left). As the game, and each wave, progresses, stronger, and more difficult to hit, enemies appear, quickly steepening the learning curve. My only downer in this category is, of course, the difficulty, but that's meant to be there, so... eh. 4 stars here.

STORY 3/6

The story section got more than one star because, put simply, there IS one. You're a guy protecting your cows.

INTERFACE 4/6

Very nice indeed. Menus are easy to navigate, look smart, and the basic HUD gives you all you need (except time left in the wave, I'd've liked to see that, and I don't think I did). The shop was also great to look at, and was easy to work out what each arrow did an how much it cost (and for that matter, how much money I had). Online highscores are always going to be a plus point too, so there's another bonus.

OVERALL 4/6

A very nice minigame. With a couple more waves you could probably actually start to call it a full game, as far as GM games are concerned. Eh. Very fun, very difficult, and after getting beaten up in Wave 5 I wanted to kill myself.

-NAL