PLAYMAN BEACH VOLLEYBALL

PLAYMAN BEACH VOLLEYBALL



I’ve always loved volleyball. Ever since I first met the tight rubber ball in Grade 5, I’ve had a thing for it, either inside on a court or playing outside on the beach with my female friends. This game features the latter (including the ladies), and is a must buy for both fans of the sport and new-comers alike. It’s graphics, gameplay, sound, just about everything about this game makes it recommendable to any games.

After a range of outings including shooting and rock climbing, the Playmen are back for some beach volleyball action. The game puts you in control of two Playmen, and pits you against a range of opponents, in various locations. The game’s broken up to stages of around 5 matches each, and once you beat the stage you unlock a new location. The locations are actually quite creative, ranging from an innocent Australian beach to the Bermuda Triangle (featuring flying UFOs ). One complaint I have, however, is that the game isn’t long enough. Most moderately experienced players could finish it within a matter of an hour or two, even less for avid mobile gamers. Don’t worry though, as Playman Beach Volley offers some serious fun and you’ll definitely want to come back again.

Beach Volley recreates beach volleyball as best it can with all the basic rules remaining intact. The AI, in the later levels in particular, is challenging and won’t concede a point without a fight (unless that is, you get an ace, which in this game is quite easy to do). The controls are amazingly simple. You control the 2 players, one using the buttons 1 and 3, and the other using 4 and 6 (moving forward and back). To pass the ball, simply make sure you’re underneath the ball when it lands and don’t press a thing. After about a 10 minute learning curve, you begin to pre-emptively defending against smashes, and passing the ball for the other player to smash. It’s an excellent system, and once learnt is very easy to play.

The graphics in PBV are top notch. Everything from the hair on the players to the boats sailing in the background are extremely well detailed and animated, and the game employs some of the best animation techniques I’ve seen. Vivid and colourful, the game recreates the beach like no other similar game. Also, the animations are very fluid, something extremely important in a fast paced game like this. The shadows, the colours, the animations… It’s impossible to find a fault in the graphics.

Sound is normally an afterthought when it comes to mobile games, and it seems that Mr. Goodliving have tried to buck the trend. Music is present throughout the entire game, quite a few different tunes for different events. There are no sound effects, but believe me, that’s a blessing due to the number of hits you’ll have. The sound came through clear and strong (especially through the dual speakers on my E398), and won’t disappoint.

In the end, what’s not to like about Playman Beach Volley? It performed well in all areas, and left me completely impressed. I can only imagine the possibilities if multiplayer was available, but given the fast paced nature of the game, and the teamwork involved, I can imagine that being pretty hard to implement. No matter though, I had tons of fun by myself with this game, it was simple and quick to play, and by the 3rd stage I was absolutely hooked. I’ll definitely look upon the ‘Playman’ brand of games with a smile from now on, as the series is getting better with every release. Not only is this the best beach volleyball game I’ve played on a phone, it’s also one of the best mobile games I’ve played full stop. Highly recommended!

enjoy!!