Neighbors from Hell

The Good
In 2003, I had the chance to play a little, almost indie, game called Neighbors From Hell. From JoWood, a small company that lately has been making a name for itself. It is a strategy game, but one unlike any I and most people have ever played.

In Neighbors From Hell, you are Woody. He has a problem, he lives next door to a jerk or a neighbor. He gets his chance for revenge when, a T.V. game show recruits him to take out his frustrations of his crude neighbor. And get on T. V. at the same time. So naturally he can not refuse.

So every episode, you must sneak into the neighbors house, and play tricks on him. Tricks range from putting glue of his binoculars, to replacing his whipped cream topping, with shaving cream. And many other hilarious gags. There are too many list here. But they are all fun and funny. You can rating points for pranks pulled off. And can gain a bonus if you can pull of several in succession. And keep the neighbor enraged. The goal is to finish each episode, with ratings as high as possible.

Do not be caught! Or the neighbor will rearrange Woody’s face. How refreshing is a strategy with out war, collecting resources, and all that…very!

The Graphics are very good. Nice looking 2D all around. The reactions of the Neighbor are always well animated and hilarious.

The sound department excels here as well. The yells of the neighbor are great.

The Bad
This game gets very tough later. Making finishing the game quite a challenge.

The Bottom Line
This game hearkens back to the day of simple games. Yet challenging enough for newer tastes. It is very refreshing to see such as fun and original game.

The Good
As an avid old gamer there are few main points on up-coming new games that immediately comes to my attention and one of them is originality.

Once I heard about Neighbours From Hell, I mean the main idea and the execution of this idea I told to myself: "There you go, is a must-try"; and you know what, the originality was great and it provided two hours of fun gaming.

The Bad
This game aim to the wrong audience and this is a huge mistake. It is intented for teen and mature audience and this idea will just work great aiming for kids. The point is that to beat a level you just need to "learn" the path that your neighbor will take and what he does and then act on accordance. This is plain stupid, a sane person don't take a shower every minute or don't go to sleep every minute.

The lack of levels is annoying, when you buy a game you expect to be playing at least for two or three weeks without "repeating" the stuff, well, on this game you will find yourself that the traps and tricks you need to set for your neighbor are the same as you did in previous levels at the same place and with the absolute same art-work. Mainly the game have just 3 seasons (let’s say scenarios) and the levels are played on this seasons each one containing slight differences if we compare with the others.

The Bottom Line
Let’s say it this way:

If you like to waste money take it, play it and then you will be happy to purge it from your computer. If u take care of your money you already know my recommendation

The Good
The Graphics are just like a claymation cartoon. The sound is crisp and well done. The gameplay pulls you in and doesn't let you go. I havn't had this much fun in years.

The Bad
In the last couple levels the gameplay starts to get a little repetitive.

The Bottom Line
Well designed and fun to play. One of the few games i have played all the way though this year.