Game Reviews

Rick O’Shea

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| Rick O'Shea
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Rick O’Shea
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| Rick O'Shea

When you’re listing the world’s riskiest jobs, a few solid-gold favourites tend to crop up time and time again. Fire fighter, jet pilot, lion tamer - that kind of thing.

However, we’d personally consider the act of being fired from a cannon to be the most dangerous pastime known to man, and Rick O’Shea provides the proof.

Rick is a pretty fearless individual, and during the 120 levels available on this puzzle title he'll face all kinds of deadly threats. Amazingly, collision with terra firma after being launched from a cannon isn’t one of them.

You see, true to his jokey moniker, Rick merely bounces off any flat surface he comes into contact with. This natural springiness is so powerful that Rick will literally ricochet until he touches another cannon, finds the exit to the level, or hits something that spells instant death.

Blast off

Generally speaking, each level in Rick O’Shea requires you to get Rick from A to B by firing him from a series of both static and moving cannons. By touching and holding the screen you can adjust you aim, and releasing your digit discharges our plucky hero.

Dotted around each stage are three stars, and after collecting all of these you can truly consider the level beaten. You’ll also need to keep an eye out for mini-game tokens, which unlock mini-games to indulge in.

Early levels in Rick O’Shea sorely test your aiming skills, but later on you’ll have to fire the cannon under additional pressure. Some stages feature cannons that explode after Rick makes contact with them, which obviously means an early grave for our daredevil if you happen to dawdle.

Race against time

Other levels require you to open doors via buttons, and sometimes these mechanisms trigger a chain reaction throughout the stage, meaning you have to direct Rick to the exit before it's covered over by an obstruction.

Although Rick O’Shea is listed as a free download, there’s some hidden freemium-type retailing going on here. You get the first act entirely gratis, with the remaining four acts being sold as two 82p (approx) bundles.

Given the sheer volume of levels on offer, it’s hard to object to this way of selling the game - especially when you take into account that giving away the first act free means you can get a feel for the game before coughing up your cash.

This could be seen as a brave move by the developer, especially when you consider that it doesn’t take long for Rick O’Shea to progress from mildly challenging to hair-tearingly difficult.

However, the ‘just one more go’ appeal manages to overcome any bouts of frustration you may encounter, and the end result is a hugely enjoyable action-puzzler that will keep you busy for many days to come.

Rick O’Shea

Physics-based puzzle titles aren’t exactly uncommon these days, but Rick O’Shea manages to stand out from the crowd with its engaging gameplay and robust challenge
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Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.