| Not long after “MMORPG” became a common household acronym, both the media and the games industry rushed to declare that massively-multiplayer was the wave of the future. The general prediction was that soon, every new game would have some sort of online component, and within a few more years, they would all somehow evolve into magnificent and compelling virtual environments that absolutely everyone would want to play in. Like moths to a candle, game companies spent an awful lot of money chasing this shiny dream, and MMO games started popping up everywhere.
Well, now it’s ten years later. And looking around, I’m still seeing a lot of single-player games. Yes, massively-multiplayer titles have flourished, but they haven’t conquered. And the reason, at least as I see it, is that not everyone wants to make the sort of time commitment necessary to excel in these games, or to explore an improbably huge, open-ended world, or frankly, even to deal with other players. I’ve enjoyed the occasional MMO game session with friends, but given the choice, I’d still much rather sit down to a nice single-player strategy game. Or a console role-playing game with a compelling storyline. Or a casual game that really makes me use my brain.
I am very happy to wish the massively-multiplayer genre a successful tenth anniversary… but I’m equally happy that “the next big thing” didn’t actually turn out to be “the only big thing”. Long live Text Twist, Tradewinds, and Jewel Quest!
Fifteen wonders of the ancient world
Sequel time! You may recall that, as a dedicated fan of good match-three games, I practically went rabid over 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. Not only was it a thoroughly enjoyable game, but its theme – building the seven wonders by releasing stone blocks from the game board – was uniquely intriguing. So now we have 7 Wonders II, and I’m all fired up to start playing again! Even if I hadn’t loved the original 7 Wonders, I wouldn’t be able to resist a peek at its sequel: after all, you created all seven wonders of the ancient world in the first game. So what does that leave to build in the new one?
As it turns out, the ancient world had a lot more to offer, architecturally speaking, than the seven structures commonly regarded as “wonders”. Even the ancients had trouble deciding what should be included in the list! Several lists were made over the centuries; the one that stuck was merely the earliest list to survive until modern times. In addition, there were man-made marvels that the Greeks and Romans would never have seen, stashed away in distant lands or still waiting to be built. To my delight, 7 Wonders II features two of the structures I always felt were conspicuously missing from the ancients’ list – Stonehenge and the Great Wall of China – plus five equally worthy masterpieces: the Colosseum in Rome, India’s Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar, and Easter Island’s enigmatic statues. Play the game particularly well, and you can even unlock a bonus wonder: Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas.
Of course, even the coolest of themes is wasted if the gameplay isn’t exciting enough to keep you playing all the way through; fortunately, the 7 Wonders team kept everything that was fun about the first game, and even expanded the challenge a bit to keep veteran players interested. Bonus puzzles add to your score if you can solve them in a certain number of moves. Special moves are unlocked as you build each wonder. And the boards change shape to become more and more fiendish as the game goes on. All in all, I’ve enjoyed it so far and I’m planning to play it all the way through. Gotta finish all the wonders! | |
