The Games - Review of Waterworks 1 & 2

WATERWORKS is a bit of an old chestnut at the time of writing, but, if you've got a couple fivers burning a hole in your pocket then you'd be an absolute berk not to snap up Waterworks, for it is one of the most original and corkingly playable games I've ever had the pleasure of slotting into my drive (oo-er!).

Now, the problem with original games is that they are a bum and a half to explain. If you've seen the demos on FRED you'll know how it plays, but if you ain't. Well... Take a splash of FLOOD, a hefty dose of PIPEMANIA, a honking great splodge of a jigsaw and big ol' final dollop of originality.

And you get WATERWORKS.

Basically you have to connect up pipes so that water can flow from one place to another, maybe spilling out of a special outlet attachment or maybe activating a switch that does something, open/close a door, open/close a tap, send sharp spikes hurtling out to kill an enemy or any number of things.

You have to decide what switch activates what device, when the device should be activated and how the hell you're going to get water over there thankyou-very- much!

Fortunately it's not all click and guess, the problems are laid out so that lateral thinking will see you alright in the end, and the learning curve is fairly steep, but not to the point of being unfair (except on the last levels). So, if you stick at it, you will reap the rewards of seeing your tightly timed, precision built machine executing perfectly. And when that happens all seems right with the world, it's really, genuinely, satisfying. Especially if the device culminates in the destruction of one or more of the bad guys.

Oh, I haven't really mentioned how to complete a level have I? Well, you have to find a key, then put it in the door to escape. Be warned though, the door could be hidden behind a sliding door, and the key could be being held by and enemy.

Overall these are the marks I'd give it in these categories...

• Graphics : 56% - Not really that fantastic, but that's the only let-down.
• Addictivity : 89% - Amazing, keeps you coming back till the final level.
• Instant Appeal : 95% - Grabs you by the neck and shoves itself in your face.
• Sound : 76% - Some nice Andy Monk pieces (Neverending Story?). Crud FX.
• Overall : 88% - Very good, buy it now (from FRED publishing).

And now onto the somewhat connected subject of WATERWORK 2, this one is really and truly as above, but it has several new features...

• BLOCKS - These are solid blocks which can be picked up and put down in any empty space. Adds a whole new, and almost unwelcome complexity to the game.
• JEEP - A new vehicle to keep you occupied, can be half submerged in water but it feels gravity. Cannot fall too far.
• BARRELS - Very nice idea these, float on water, and can be used as a sort of lift by the jeep.
• LIFTS - These are switch activated platforms that either rise or fall when the switch is activated.

Theres even more but, by golly, my sieve-like memory has forgotten them. And finally, after that rather brief bit.

• Graphics : 64% By Neil Holmes, not his best work... hmmm...
• Addictivity : 78% Where it not for the stupidly hard level 3, it'd be 85%
• Instant Appeal: 93% It still has that old magic...
• Sound : 83% Lovely Craig Turberfield music, same terrible FX, though.
• Overall : 82% This only suffers, as it can be unreasonably hard at times.

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