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Home Sweet Home - WiiWare Review

THE FACTS: Home Sweet Home
WiiWare | Big Blue Bubble | 1 Player | Out Now | 1000 Wii Points (£7.00 / $10.00 Online)
Controller compatibility: Wii remote (Pointer)
Reviewer: Billy White

When it comes to simulation games, you may recall classics such as Sim City, Theme Park and Theme Hospital. This game is particularly similar to the latter, thanks to the objectives, designing, maintenance and of course, the classic isometric design. This game isn't quite as tricky or in depth as Theme Hospital, but the gameplay is fairly similar - even if it isn't based on saving lives.

    In this game, you must design, decorate and build a room for a house. You start off by listening to what your client has to say, and then you get to work puzzling your way through what pieces of furniture you want, and where. Once you have the specified number of items required, you must also check to see whether your client is happy with the design, by checking the satisfaction meter in the bottom corner of the screen. If it passes the yellow bar, about 3/4 across, you can get building. To get the satisfaction rating up, you must follow your clients instructions that they give you at the start of the level. The instructions are often given in riddles, which means there's a bit of working out to do first. For example, one customer wants a room that's loud. For this, you need a stereo and a couple of speakers to keep them happy. There are usually several clues given, and so this makes the job easier, but soon enough, the riddles get more vague, often leaving a bit of confusion about what you're supposed to create.

    To make the designing even harder though, you must also stay within the allotted budget, with each item for the room coming in at a different price. You can rotate and move items around the house, and if you wish, you can even remove certain items and get the item's original price back in your pocket (although on harder stages, you don't get the full amount back).

    Once you've completed the first stage of each level, you then move on to building the room. Each new aspect must be catered for within a set amount of days (specified at the start, with a little countdown based at the top of the menu). To build your creation, you take control of three workers. Drag them to an item by holding A (in the same way that you'll do for moving items in the design stage), and they'll get busy building it. If you wish, you can speed up the process by pressing the B button and then performing the requested motion, such as twisting a screwdriver, swishing your remote up and down for using a paint roller, or hammering it down to, well, hammer things. The different motions are usually random, and at times, you'll find yourself hammering a brand new TV, but the fun's still there.

    Another addition to this section is the fact that you have to keep your workers happy, giving them a cup of coffee now and then to refill their health bar. If this bar drops too low though, they can injure themselves (god knows how), and so you need to give them medical attention as they take a short break from work. As well as all this though, you also have to clean up after your workers. Every time they've finished an item, a rubbish symbol will appear over their heads, letting you know that you have to drag that worker's waste to the dustbin.

    If you finish building a room in time, your client will be happy with your creation, and you unlock the next of the fifty levels on offer. Each one doesn't take long to complete (providing you get it right first time) but on the more difficult stages, you could be there for quarter of an hour just designing the room and finding out what combinations work best.

    There are a few bonus features as well, with the opportunity to create and design your own home, offering quite a lot of entertainment for the girls and young 'uns, and for more hardcore gamers, the hard difficulty level (available from the start) should keep them occupied, although it can sometimes get a bit too chaotic due to the several different objectives in the building stage (keeping builders happy, clearing up litter, helping out and finishing within the time limit).

    Another bad point about this game is that it doesn't fully display in 16:9 wide-screen, which will be a pain for many. Also, when choosing from the furniture on offer, the thumbnails can't be enlarged, meaning that you have to squint or guess what what the item will look like (although there is a description box to help you out). Plus, the controls can sometimes be a bit awkward, especially when you always have to hold A when moving items. It would have been much better if you could just tap it once to pick something up and tap it again to place it down. Clearly though, the developers don't agree. These, however, are only minor niggles.

    When it comes to simulation games, you may recall classics such as Sim City, Theme Park and Theme Hospital. This game manages to equal the fun of these, whilst not quite getting as complex (though still being fairly difficult later on). This game is a treat for all the family, and whilst it may not appeal to some, I'd easily recommend it to those looking for something new and creative.



Final Score
22/30
Good

Gameplay 8
Great fun, especially in short bursts, with functional controls and a nice variety in difficulties
Presentation 7
The isometric design looks great, and the items are all fairly detailed - shame about the lack of wide-screen
Enjoyment 4
A pretty fun game for just about everyone, though the build stage can get a little hectic
Other 3
The kids will love creating their own house although WiiConnect24 design-sharing could've worked nicely


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