Mr Driller finally makes his way to Xbox Live, but is this game worth digging up or should you leave it buried.
Mr Driller has been around for some time, popping up on a few consoles over the years and although I am usually a fan of this type of fast action puzzle game, Repton on the Acorn Electron is one of my all time favourites, I always stayed clear of this title. I think the main reason was I had one short go and thought it was quite a shallow title, just digging down to a set goal. Oh how I was wrong.
This title is very simple, just get your character to dig down as far as possible, you have a limited supply of air so when it starts to run out you need to collect canisters to top it up, run out if these or get hit on the head by a falling block and its a life lost. Whilst first impressions lead me to believe this was not much fun, I am now totally hooked, after the first few levels the challenge really ups itself, rather than just digging straight down, there are points where you have to go horizontal to collect power-ups or avoid unbreakable items and this is where the danger lurks as when you go under a block it will shake and then fall, here you have to try and find a safe area as quickly as possible or get crushed.
Mr Driller has 3 main modes, Standard mode, where you need to dig down to set depths in 5 separate countries, each country has a lower depth than the last and includes India, America, Egypt, Russia and an infinity depth at Tibet. The Quest mode is similar to standard mode but each checkpoint will have certain criteria to adhere to, such as time attack or only using so many air canisters. The Quest levels are again spread over 5 countries that include Japan, China, Germany, Hawaii and the North Pole.
The only real differences between each level is the colour of the blocks and the wallpaper at the sides. The overall look of the game suits Xbox Live, it is very colourful and has a good cartoon look. Each character is well represented and looks cute. There are 6 characters to choose from in total, each of which has an air rating out of 5, a speed rating out of 3 and also a special move. The classic Susumu character is average and has no specials, the robot Huringer-Z is able to take a hit on the head once which is helpful for beginners and the cute Puchi the dog is able to climb two blocks.
I like the way each character will suit your playing skills, and once you have mastered the easier characters, you feel compelled to try out some of the harder ones.
The final mode included is the Online multiplayer game, here you are able to join others in a game, however at the time of reviewing and as with most Xbox Live Arcade games I was unable to find any games.
As a single player experience I really enjoyed this title and would consider getting some of the other Mr Driller titles, the addition of online play seems pointless at the moment as no-one seems to be playing it, which is a pity really because it isn’t too bad.
