National Geographic: Herod’s Lost Tomb Lite
by Eric March on December 4, 2008 at 5:00 pm
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(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
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App Name: | National Geographic: Herod’s Lost Tomb Lite |
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| Developer: | I-Play |
Version: | 1.0 | |
| Publisher: | I-Play | Size: | 8.4 MB | |
| Category: | Logic & Puzzle Games |
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I wasn’t really sure how to classify this one, but being what it is I guess it most closely fits into the “puzzle” category.
Based on National Geographic’s television special, this game puts you in the ostensible role of an archaeologist traveling to various dig sites to search for relics and clues to the location of Herod’s fabled lost tomb.
Each level essentially consists of a rather nicely rendered archaeological dig site around which are scattered all sorts relics and things. The challenge lies in the fact that many of them blend into the scenery, so you’ll have to hunt around the scene carefully to locate them. The keys to what to look for are listed in a scrollable list at the bottom, and not everything on each given level is in your list of things to find. In that regard it’s a lot like a series of biblical Where’s Waldo? puzzles.
It does to a bit beyond the simple seek-and-tap mechanic, as once per level there will be an object that’s hidden such that it requires a tool to find. Usually it’s an archaeologist’s brush that you must use to sweep away conspicuous piles of dirt to uncover the primary artifact for that level which will serve as the key to finding Herod’s tomb. On another level you’ll need to search the waters with a sonar, and still another with a metal detector.
As I alluded to, the graphics here are very well done, though they’re all pretty much just static scenes with objects stuck to them, so there’s nothing that could be considered animation of any useful sort. Still, it’s nice to look at. Sounds is decent. The gameplay, as I mentioned is pretty simple, and you’ll be spending more time with your eyes on the screen than your finger. The game does let you zoom in an out either with pinch or double-tap gestures, so you can get in close to do serious searching or zoom out to see if anything catches your eye that way.
It’s not a bad little game. Gameplay is a little limited, but since it varies the objects you need to find on each level it does have some replay value. It does not change the object locations however, so once you know where they all are there’s no longer any useful challenge left. This lite version gives you approximately half the game, which itself is pretty good and is plenty enough to give you a good idea of everything the game is about. By “half the game” though I mean that it cuts about half the locations you can visit out of the game, but it still lets you find Herod’s tomb. It’s just a short-cut. The full version will set you back $3.99.
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Posted in Games: Logic & Puzzle
