By Nidal Bazzi Game Evaluation CIS 587 Assignment I Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Game Summary 2 Quick overview 2 Story line 2 Player s role 2 Installation 2 User Interface 3 Game Play 3 Scoring 3 Artwork 3 Sound and Music 4 Special features 4 Manual 4 Bugs 4 Game Review 4 What is good about the game Why 5 What is bad about the game Why 5 How does it compare with similar games in the same genre 5 Why is it better or worse than similar games 5 What is the appropriate audience for this game 5 Are any design mistakes present 5 Summary 6 Overall strengths and weaknesses 6 Is the game worth purchasing 6 How could it be improved 6 List of Figures 7 Professor Dr Maxim Page 1 of 9 March 27 2001 By Nidal Bazzi Game Evaluation CIS 587 Assignment I Introduction The purpose of this document is to evaluate a computer game This evaluation will be on the Spy Fox game the Operation Ozone sequel Here is the basic information for this game Game title Spy Fox Operation Ozone Company Author Humongous Entertainment Type of game Kids adventure Price 29 Minimum stated hardware requirements Windows Pentium 133 Windows 95 98 2000 ME 32MB RAM 4X CD ROM Macintosh 132 MHz PowerPC System 7 5 5 32MB RAM 4X CD ROM Actual hardware required Unable to test for actual minimum hardware required The computer used was AMD Athlon 900 Mhz Windows 98 256 MB RAM 40X DVD CD ROM Game Summary Quick overview This game is an adventure game for children ages 7 The game is a typical James Bond story without the violence It enables a child to assume the role of a spy trying to save the world from danger Story line A mysterious object has appeared in orbit above the Earth Poodles Galore the Queen of cosmetics has blasted an enormous aerosol hairspray space station into orbit and set it off The constant blast of aerosol will deplete the entire ozone layer within a matter of hours leaving the planet at the mercy of the ravaging sun The World will have no choice but to buy Poodles super sun block There is only one hero with the courage and wits to save the planet It s up to SPY Corps and their top agent SPY Fox Player s role The player assumes the role of a spy which is top agent Spy Fox Installation No installation is required The user clicks on Play button to start the game The autoplay feature of Window 98 starts up the game automatically The child can click on PLAY immediately The opening interface is shown under Opening Screen in List of Figures at the end of this document Professor Dr Maxim Page 2 of 9 March 27 2001 By Nidal Bazzi Game Evaluation CIS 587 Assignment I User Interface User interface screens are all understandably designed for children The Main Screen in List of figures below is an image of the main cartoon characters with simple animated menu options There are only three command buttons related to the user Play Quit and Help The other command buttons are Demos Humongous Website Game Preview Credits and another Spy Fox episode demo The game starts when the user clicks on the Play button The user is asked to register optionally The Continue button takes the user to the next screen All the screens after this point have no visible command buttons The user must navigate with the mouse all around the screen to click on context sensitive objects All those screens have two hidden menus at the bottom of the screen see Hidden Popup Menus in List of figures Those menus pop up when the mouse is moved to the lower right and left corners The lower right corner has a watch when clicked on a menu pops up This menu offers Quit Save Load a game level Play or Fun The Fun command offers the child a break by going into other easier simple games See Watch Menu and Gadgets Menu in the List of Figure Game Play Gadgets are the key to solving the spy game puzzle Here is a description of them by the game publisher Professor Quack s gadgets are essential to any SPY Corps operation His ingenious creations all have special functions You can find the gadgets in the vending machine in Mobile Command Center Listen to Professor Quack s explanations and when a situation arises you ll know when to use the gadget Soon you too will be thinking like a quack The game inventory bar is where you will find all the necessary SPY items SPY watch and SPY gadgets Move your cursor to the very bottom of your screen and you will see the inventory bar and SPY watch pop up The inventory items and gadgets are kept in the inside pocket of SPY Fox s white dinner jacket Another nifty creation from Professor Quack and it tells real time Click the Mobile Command Center button to communicate with Monkey Penny at any time The player may also use all Talk Balloons on Monkey Penny by clicking them on the SPY Watch screen Click the Save button and your cursor will become a picture of whatever room you are in Place the picture in the Save Game screen Click the Load button and you can play one of your saved games Click the Fun button to play the arcade game Radioactive Trash Collector Scoring There is no score in this game The user is rewarded at the end of the successful completion of all levels of the game by awarding him or her a diploma that can be printed and framed Artwork The game is rich with images and animations with low video resolution The artwork is intended for children and not for the more demanding seasoned game users The drawing quality is that seen in TV cartoons Professor Dr Maxim Page 3 of 9 March 27 2001 By Nidal Bazzi Game Evaluation CIS 587 Assignment I Sound and Music A lot of time and effort was spent on sound There are plenty of sounds and music played throughout the game Hints that are needed by the user are provided using mostly audio feedback For an example if the user clicks on the wrong object Spy Fox will give the user a clue by talking aloud There is lots of aural communication between the different characters Special features This game has the following Gadgets that are essential to solving the puzzle Gadgets and their use are explained by Professor Quack aurally during Spy Fox debriefing The child user has to choose limited number of gadgets The choice depends on the child judgment Interactive animation Multiple game paths and mini games in every corner 11 original SPY songs that can be played on the computer or audio CD player No installation required Manual The Manual is provided but as far as a child is concerned it is tossed in the garbage with the wrapper Bugs No bugs were discovered Game Review The Operation
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