Introduction:
Today’s game Last Samurai is a 43.5Mb download, that once installed is 49.5Mb. The default location is C:\Games, so if you like your games kept in the same place that they are usually installed you’ll need to change the installation pathway during the self extracting process. If you’re not sure of the usual path it’s:
C:\Program Files\
There are no desktop or start menu shortcuts created, so you’ll have to create your own. If you’re not sure how to do this, just right click on the games executable that looks like a yellow cross on a blue circle background. And scroll down to ‘send to' then select ‘Desktop (create shortcut)'. If you want a shortcut in the start menu, you’ll need to go to your root directory (usually C:/) and click on Documents and settings. If you want a shortcut on each account you need to open up each one n turn and select the start menu, create a folder called Last Samurai (by right clicking anywhere on the desktop then copying the shortcut you created earlier. There’s no uninstaller, so to get rid of the game if you decide not to keep it, you just simply delete the installed folder. The game is free standing, so the only orphan registry entries you’ll find in the registry are those pertaining to the zip file. These can easily be removed by going into your registry editor (by going to the start menu, selecting run, type in the command box – regedit, then going to edit and select find from the drop down menu. Type in Last Samurai in the field provided and click on okay. It’s quite safe to delete any of the values that are highlighted. Once you’ve deleted the first value just press F3 to continue until it says you’re finished or words to that effect)
The Game:
You’ll find a ‘Game Help’ document in the games installed folder which simply reads:
Quote:
- The aim of the Game is to find all Girls in each level.
- Use arrow keys to move your Samurai.
- Hit "Esc" during the game to return to main menu.
Graphically the game looks like it was released about 8 years ago. The main menu consists of the usual options menu and help , though the help page is basically the help page I mention above superimposed over the games start up screen which is a view of the maze and Samurai warriors.
The game is basically a glorified game of pacman with you playing the warrior, who has to rescue number of maidens while avoiding the enemy warriors. While attempting to rescue the fair maiden (which are just about distinguishable from the warriors via the different dress and the fact that they hold swords), you can pick up a number of power ups that appear from time to time. These include speed up, time, sword and fire. The latter two enable you to kill enemy warriors. The sword allows you to kill one and the flames allow you to kill as many as you can within a specified time.
The game is saved as you progress, for example, so if you finish level two, then die in level three, when you restart the game you will automatically restart at level 3 unless you create a new profile. Controls are arrow keys for movement and the mouse for menu selection
Video and Images:
I’ve only taken a few images, but they will suffice to give you a good impression of the game.
Slideshow:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Last%20Samurai/?albumview=slideshow
Video to follow later (once I’ve had more sleep)
Conclusion:
This is a very basic game of 3D pacman, with a Japanese flavor to it. If you don’t have a pacman clone then this will be worth downloading. It’s very dated by today’s standards, and although the cost of the game is half the usual price of a game, I still thing it’s not worth the money (if you were paying for it) when you compare it to the likes of Ricochet Infinity, Luxor 3 or Treasures of Montezuma, all of which have superb game play and much more playability than this effort by ‘Some Company’ I really think it’s worth a maximum of 4 out of 10, but would actually score it lower due to the clunky controls. Several times while testing the game I was unable to turn fast enough to escape an enemy warrior. The games responsiveness need to be improved if this game is to be any success (IMO)
Other Information:
I posted a better (IMO) freeware game over in the forums yesterday; which, if you are disappointed in today’s game, you may find more agreeable. It’s called Marble Arena and have loads of levels and even an online multiplayer mode:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/3856
I’ll be posting a reasonable freeware game every day during the weekdays for the next couple of weeks and hopefully for longer if I can find what I consider decent games.
