You know those moments in sitcoms where everyone just stares uncomprehendingly at a character going off on a tangent or some madcap scene playing out before them?
I always used to find such instances annoying, because no one actually responds that way to strange stuff.
Then I played NOM: Billion Year Timequest and found myself frozen with confusion in just such an exaggerated manner.
It’s weird, alright.
NOM idea what’s going onNOM is strange and confusing, and not always in a positive way. I like my eastern kookiness as much as the next man – maybe even more – but Gamevil’s mini-game compendium takes the biscuit.
As far as I can tell, you play a little silhouette of a man (Scaramouche! Scaramouche!) who receives a time machine in the post. You embark on a time-travelling adventure that includes a giant dictator, a post-apocalyptic obstacle course and a crazy computer who speaks via a Roman statue.
The game's introduction is bewilderingly opaque, leaving you to flounder through this confusing - not to mention, stiltingly translated - universe looking for some sign of gameplay or an adequate explanation of what's going on.
History’s a dragFortunately, when the explanation arrives, the gameplay is actually simple. The game consists of a selection of mini-games controlled with a series of timed taps. In that way, it’s much like any number of iPhone and iPod touch platformers.
These tasks are commendably varied: ski-runs in the ice age, boss fights against both ancient and futuristic tyrants, and harrowing battles against tanks.
Unfortunately, each game shares two undesirable things in common: they're too long and possess overly exacting response times. As such, each level has the unfortunate tendency of outstaying its welcome.
NOM: Billion Year Timequest is a fresh and original mini-game collection, but it’s too exacting – both in terms of comprehension and difficulty – for its own good.