Game Reviews

Bucketz Ride

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iOS
| Bucketz Ride
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Bucketz Ride
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iOS
| Bucketz Ride

The original Bucketz was packed with zany ideas, but its lack of focus and rather forced attempts at humour meant it wasn't quite as compelling as it possibly could have been.

Developer Picnic Hippo has returned with a sequel in the form of Bucketz Ride, but it hasn't taken note of the criticisms levelled against the first title - if anything, this follow-up adds even more ideas and consequently makes things even more overwhelming.

As before, the aim is to dunk objects into colourful buckets. These buckets are balanced on a platform, which means you have to be selective about which bucket to drop objects into - overload one too much and the platform will tip over, ending your game.

Ticket to ride

The twist in Bucketz Ride is that the platform is moving, which potentially makes it harder to manage all of the on-screen items.

Most things will score you points, but objects like bombs and grenades you'll want to avoid - the former end your game while the latter cloud the screen with gas, making it impossible to see what you're doing for a short period of time.

You'll need to be careful how you dunk - large items won't fit into small buckets, for example - and keeping track of everything soon becomes a taxing affair.

Special items - such as a clock which slows down time and a yin yang symbol which magically restores the balance of the platform - occasionally drift into view, but grabbing them isn't always easy, especially when you're desperately trying to drop things into each bucket in order to manually restore equilibrium.

Moving on up

Coins are used to purchase items in the in-game store, and while these are awarded during normal play, in-app transactions predictably tempt you with a faster option.

To be fair, if Bucketz Ride's gameplay grabs you there's little reason to reach for your wallet. Coins are dished out fairly generously, and with enough perseverance you can build up quite a haul without having to spend any real-world cash.

It all depends on whether or not you can overcome Bucketz Ride's intense gameplay and occasionally grating humour - as well as bombarding you with visual debris, the game contains a wide range of voice clips which become quite annoying after the first hour. Thank goodness for volume controls.

Even when it works, Bucketz Ride never really seems to ride above the chaos. It's fun in short bursts, but all but the most dedicated players will come away dazed and confused.

Bucketz Ride

Bucketz Ride offers frantic, out-of-control entertainment which could prove to be too confusing for some players
Score
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.