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Dicky Noddle Reviews
Author: Arthur Robert Phillips
Date: 2001
ADRIFT 3.9
Reviewed by David Whyld
Some detective games are good, some are bad. Dicky Noodle, alas, falls somewhere
towards the latter of the two extremes.
The premise behind the game is
the search for the main character's uncle who has, apparently, gone missing.
Strangely, this isn't actually stated in the game itself but in the readme file
accompanying it so when I first played Dicky Noodle I went straight to the game
without bothering with the readme first and as such had no idea what I was
supposed to be doing. Then again, even knowing what the plot is doesn't help you
a lot.
Right from the start you know this isn't going to be a game
you're going to enjoy much. There are descriptions for precious little aside
from dynamic items and the location descriptions themselves are sparse and
unimaginative. Worse still, the very first location in the game tells you you're
standing in front of a large castle (examining it fails miserably as "you see no
such thing") within whose walls dwells your uncle, the Mayor of Noodleville. Yet
venturing inside takes you to a guardhouse. Wander around the rest of the town
of Noodleville and you'll find an amazingly empty place devoid of things to do.
The lack of descriptions for items you can plainly see very quickly becomes
frustrating.
There is next to nothing to do for the better part of the
game aside from walk around the locations. There are also strange bugs which
really don't do Dicky Noodle any favours. In a room with three cows I was told
that eating one of them would kill me whereas eating another would allow me to
progress further into the game. I ate all three. Nothing happened. Reloaded from
a previous save and ate them in a different order. Still nothing. In another
location I found a house and was told that if I had the key (which I did) I
would be able to walk north into the house. I tried to walk north and instead
was told that I couldn't go that way. Things like this tend to discourage people
from playing games further. They certainly did for me.
Even for a first
effort, Dicky Noodle is a pretty dire game. Little care has been taken to ensure
that things make sense and the lame graphics and sound don't add a thing to the
gameplay. If anything, they just make for a longer download which would be a bad
thing for even a good game but for a game like this they're just the final nail
in the coffin.
Logic: 3 out of 10
From location descriptions that
say one thing but mean another to a "puzzle" involving eating three cows (?)
this is one of the least logical games I have ever played.
Problems: 3
out of 10 (10 = no problems)
It's never a good idea to have items that can't
be examined. A few missed ones are just about acceptable but being able to
examine precisely nothing leaves a lot to be desired.
Story: 3 out of 10
You're a detective searching for his lost uncle. That's the entire story in
a nutshell.
Writing: 3 out of 10
Poor and quite offensive in places.
Game: 3 out of 10
Unfortunately not a game I could really recommend
to anyone.
Overall: 15 out of 50
Reviews should be considered copyrighted by their respective authors.
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