Bob is a curious little alien that works for a call center. His friends consider his job boring, but he finds it quite rewarding. One day on his way to work, Bob decides to travel the recommended intergalaxy route, considered safe by many. As Bob finds out, this wasn’t a good idea. A meteor crashes into his Hyperdrive 2000, forcing him to crash land on the nearest planet. His ship is still semi-operational, but incapable of leaving the planet’s atmosphere. Spaceship parts are scattered all about and Bob must retrieve them with your help.
Bob Came in Pieces is a unique puzzle game that uses physics to your (dis)advantage. As a small pod with thrusters, you must navigate through tight tunnels, push heavy crates (some almost as large as the environment), and solve complex navigation puzzles.
By chapter two, your little pod (guided by little exclamation marks explaining gameplay) will be shoving boxes out of the way to enter tunnels, pushing balls down wooden tunnels to release log doors, and pushing and then lifting objects out of the way to reach the portal (i.e. exit) at the end of the level.
Surprisingly, the gameplay goes far deeper than mentioned above. Using something called the Ship Builder, this menu screen is where you can outfit your ship with the parts you recover during each level. Your parts act as extensions to your ship, and they can be rotated and stacked based on the puzzle you’re trying to solve. During Chapter 3, there is a log sitting behind two pieces of metal, but the hole to reach the log is too thin for the craft to reach. By using the Ship Builder (indicated by two wrenches rotating on the playfield) you can stack enough extensions from the parts you found to reach the log.
It is quite easy to attach the pieces. There is a module window that contains all currently recovered parts. By left-clicking and holding the mouse button over the piece of your choice, a green indicator will appear over your ship showing where the piece can fit. Drag the piece with the mouse over to this indicator and release the button where desired. Easy, simple, and no fuss.
Problem is, your ship will be more difficult to steer depending on where the parts are installed (remember my comment about physics earlier). It won’t be uncommon to find yourself caught in a tree or sliding down a hill.
BCIP is very colorful and pleasant on the eyes. Since the polygon count is fairly low for each enviornment, high-end hardware is not needed to run it. The music is a collection of upbeat tunes that really fit the experience. The first few chapters come to mind when Bob begins to explore the planet for the first time. It really draws you in to the experience as you try to navigate a world far more alien than Bob himself.
Bob Came in Pieces is a game the entire family can enjoy. Not only is it fun, but its full of challenges that will keep you busy for hours. Kudos to Ludosity Interactive for a job well done.
BCIP can be purchased for $9.95 at Gamersgate.com.
Direct– link
Score: 7 out of 10
Mike ‘STGuy1040’ Pittaro
Platform: Mac (Also available for PC)
System specs:
OS: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later
Processor: Intel Mac
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: 128mb video RAM and Shader Model 2.0
Hard Drive: 500 MB free space
Publisher / Developer: Ludosity Interactive
