Reviewed: June 1, 2003
Reviewed by: Kevin Jenkins
Publisher
Garage Games
Developer
21-6 Productions
Released: March 21 2003
Genre: Action/Arcade
Players: 10
ESRB: Everyone
7
7
5
3
6.0
System Requirements
Orbz is an action/arcade game set in Mario-like 3D environments. The object of the game is to shoot your orb at targets located throughout 13 distinct courses in a race to score the most points. Game play contains both intense action and also strategy in planning the best scoring shots. Power-ups, like the "Money Shot" and "Curse of the Goober", are also available to either give you a scoring advantage or to slow down your opponents.
In Solo Mode, the player completes a series of progressively difficult challenges that focus on scoring the most points in different scenarios. Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals are awarded for scoring performance and high scores for each challenge are tracked world-wide against all other Orbz players. For every 5 gold medals achieved, the player will also unlock a fancy new Orb to use in Solo or Online mode. Finally, there is a tutorial mode that will teach the player basics controls and scoring strategies.
The Online Mode allows Orbz players to compete against each other over the Internet or Local Area Network. Up to 10 players, including computer opponents called Botz, can join a Lobby where the matches will be coordinated by selecting the course to play, number of rounds in the match, and a per-round time limit. A world-wide ranking system is also available for those who wish to compete for the ultimate title of Orbz Champion.
New in Orbz 2.0
- Solo Mode with Online High Scores
- Computer Opponents (Botz) to compete against.
- Mac and Linux platform support.
- 3 new courses with a new theme.
- 13 new orbs (including some with new trails).
- Improved system performance on lower-end machines.
- And much, much more ....
Orbz is fairly straightforward and the "overview" covers 90% of the game. The game runs entirely in 3D, which is very well implemented. This is doubtless due in part to use of the Torque game engine, dated and relatively feature light but a bargain at $100. In single player, you progress through a series of missions where you attempt to get a high score and win the gold medal. All you need is a bronze to complete the mission and that's relatively easy. A significant plus is other player's scores are automatically downloaded if you play online so you can compare your performance to that of other people. You either play against the clock, play until all the stars have been hit, or play against AI opponents for the highest score.
Multiplayer is essentially the same thing except instead of AI opponents you have human opponents. Kudos to the nice implementation of multiplayer. I like the 'quick play' button where you can immediately connect to another game. There's also a simple server browser. There's also a ranking system that rates you relative to other players. As I previously stated, the implementation of Orbz is quite elegant.
My biggest beef with Orbz is personal to me but I'll state it nonetheless. I found it to be very boring. I lost interest in single player in 15 minutes so went online to see if that would be more interesting. After a few games that got boring too. There isn't much interaction in multiplayer mode and single player seems to lack challenge other than getting a high score, which in itself isn't interesting to me. Fortunately, you can download the demo for free and even play online so you can form your own opinion as to how fun Orbz is or may not be.
Compared to other new games of a similar price, Orbz is graphically pretty good. It looks (not surprisingly) a lot like Tribes 2 since they both use the same graphics engine. Texturing and level design is decent and functional.
Sound and music are minimal. It does the job and for the price isn't bad.
Orbz is $20 - overpriced in my opinion. For $5 more I can get Geneforge or Starscape, both of which are unarguably better games. For that matter I can get a lot of grade A, slightly older games for $20 from the bargain bin. Multiplayer adds some value, but still not enough to justify the price. Of course, your opinion may be different if you find the game more fun than I did. In terms of sheer production quality Orbz is about on the same level as other budget games released new for $20.
Orbz is a simple game with a basic design elegantly implemented. Give the player control of a ball, select an initial velocity for that ball, and use that ball to fly around on a 3D map. While I usually play more mainstream games, Orbz was fun for a quick session and its non-violent gameplay may appease parents worried about violence in games.
I recommend that you try Orbs out and see for yourself if you like it. While I didn't care for it, the production quality is high and it's at least worth a download.