Review: Polar Panic

Developer: Eiconic Games
Publisher: Valcon Games

Posted by Brad T on January 9th, 2010 | 0 Comments | Tags: Polar Panic

Remember Windows 95? I hope you do, or I’m just getting old. Well take Chip’s Challenge, the classic game that came packaged in Windows Entertainment Pack, mix in a little Bomberman, add an icy polar bear kind of feel to it. That is pretty much the recipe for this platform puzzler.

Polar Panic houses a surprising amount of content, with a story mode, a 50 level puzzle mode, and survival mode that you can tackle with friends. The survival mode reminds me of a Bomberman kind of feel, except without as many explosions. Going at it with 3 of your best polar bros makes it a pretty good time.

Controls are tight, but how can’t they be, you’re on a space by space movement scheme. The gameplay mechanics are also fairly simple. All you will do is move around the screen avoiding trappers, who happen to be dressed like Santa. You press X to break up snow or to push ice blocks around. In story mode there are a few boss fights, they were probably my favorite part. But I felt that the build up to them left some things to be desired. The soundtrack, while well done, gets repetitious rather fast. You’ll want to stick to a custom soundtrack.

I’m not one to demand eye candy, but I have to remark that the graphics just don’t seem up to snuff. Often it felt as though the game was just too zoomed out. While levels are complex from a puzzle standpoint, they mainly consist of just a few types of blocks, which isn’t very appealing. If it was closer oriented, I feel as though the game would have had a lot more charm, even with its simplistic design.

If you’re big on puzzlers, by all means give this one a download. If you’re not, then at least try out the demo. Sometimes this type of game is hard to judge, you will pretty much either love it or hate it.

For more info on our review policy click here. This review is for the PlayStation 3 version of the game.