Pandemonium (N-Gage)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.0 stars Mediocre
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 4.4 (2.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Jeff Gerstmann
• Reviewed on: 10/09/2003
• Updated on: 09/29/2004
• Released on: 10/06/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: Pandemonium (N-Gage) Review

Pandemonium is one of the first games to come out for Nokia's new handheld game system, the N-Gage. But it isn't an entirely new game. The game has its roots on the PlayStation, where the game was first released by Crystal Dynamics back in 1996. Back then, the game had a pretty good look to it, but it wasn't much of a game. Here and now on the N-Gage, the dull gameplay comes across loud and clear, and the graphics aren't as impressive as they were seven years ago, even when you take into account the N-Gage's portability.

Pandemonium is a side-scrolling platform game that lets you select one of two characters. Nikki is a female with the ability to double-jump. Fergus is a court jester of sorts, and he can execute a cartwheel attack that will take out enemies. The game opens with 10 pages of text detailing the duo's misadventures, which start with them unleashing a giant beast that swallows a town and sets them on their way to find a wishing well to wish away the evil creature.

While the game may have a somewhat psychedelic look to it, the gameplay is pretty straightforward. You don't have many moves at your disposal, so the main tactic is to simply take it slow and make sure you don't incur too much damage. You have three hearts--you lose one every time you're hit--and three lives. Like in most games, you can opt to continue after you run out of lives, but unlike most games, Pandemonium starts you out with the number of lives and hearts you had at the beginning of that level. So if you finish a level with no remaining lives and only one heart, you'll basically have to play to perfection until you can acquire more of each. Hearts can be found in a few spots on most levels, and you earn lives by collecting coins that are strewn about the levels. Unfortunately, boss fight levels tend to be devoid of those items, so if you reach a boss fight in a dire situation, you'll have to be at the top of your game to proceed. Needless to say, this is a pretty annoying way to handle the continue feature.

The most damning thing about Pandemonium is that there really isn't much going on. The levels are rarely packed with enemies or any sort of terrain that is difficult or interesting to cross. Instead, you mostly run to the right and stop whenever you see anything moving to make sure you don't accidentally run into it. After jumping on top of or over the enemy, you carry on as before. Some levels have multiple paths or secrets to find, but there's rarely anything interesting to be found. The boss battles are slightly more interesting, but as you'd expect, they're all exercises in very, very basic pattern recognition.

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