Something has gone terribly wrong in the universe. Aliens are popping up in cities, movie villains are appearing on tropical islands and mad cows are mixing it with the Mayans. A strange race known as the Zoorgs have caused distortion in time and space, taking unfortunate beings from their place of origin and scattering them in all manner of locations. Complete collapse of space-time beckons if they aren’t found immediately and returned back to their rightful place. It’s time to recruit the Time Geeks in this unique hidden object game.
You are tasked with 8 missions, split into over 100 challenges and set in a beautifully designed world of pixel art. Successfully finding your target amongst a bustling screen of characters completes a challenge and you are awarded a number of stars based on your overall time. With 318 stars to collect, all of which contribute to Game Center and OpenFeint achievements, this game packs quite a punch. Missions are not only loaded with cute references to games, television shows and movies ranging from Lost to the Legend of Zelda, but with a cheesy soundtrack that is quite frankly brilliant.
A host of minigames, which are played between each mission, add a change of pace and offer a nice break from normal gameplay. Penalty shootouts, abducting aliens in a UFO and escaping from ‘the black smoke’ are just a few of the 7 side challenges you will be asked to complete. An arcade mode is included for those who want even more competition and pits you against a ticking clock, as you set out to discover all of the hidden Zoorgs. Whilst up against the clock it’s near impossible to admire the scenery in this game, something which should be admired, so there is a mode for that too. As you progress through the main game, you unlock themed editor packs which can be used later on to create your own scenarios. Multiple islands can be created and re-edited, as well as being shared on Facebook or saved to your iPhone’s photo collection.
The game boasts two main control sets. One giving you the ability to pan with the drag of your finger and the other allowing you to use your device’s in-built accelerometer. You can get closer to the action by either pinching to zoom, or with the icon in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. Personally I didn’t use the zoom function as it limits your view greatly on the iPhones tiny screen. Both control methods require a simple tap once you’ve found a hidden item, but be aware, if you tap the wrong area you will receive a time penalty. After testing the two methods thoroughly, I can say that they both work equally as well. That being said I used the accelerometer a lot more as it kept my fingers from obscuring the screen.
I had a couple of issues whilst playing through this game, but in the grand scheme they were very minor. During missions the Time Geeks constantly hover around in their helicopter and although this is actually a nice touch, they do have a habit of blocking your view slightly. My other issue, and my biggest gripe with the game, is the level of difficulty throughout. To gain 3 stars in a challenge you often have to complete your objective in 8 seconds or less, depending on the number of hidden objects. This can often seem a little too difficult and an extra few seconds would slightly increase the fun without diluting the challenge.
In Conclusion
With so many game modes and the fact that hidden objects randomly generate in different places, this game offers lots of re-playability. The developers are currently working on free updates for the game which will bring new missions and ultimately more play. Hopefully this will also bring extra achievements along with it too, as well as new editor packs for customizing your island. I played this game on my 2nd generation iPod and it ran without a hitch, for the price, this game is an absolute steal.
