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"The Jet Gamer" Game Review: Wordmaster
10 years ago
A quick review hopefully today
Wordmaster
Have you ever seen cheap games before and wondered if they are any good? That is the case right here with this game that I picked up for my collection. I paid less than one dollar for this complete DS game. Sure, low prices can sometimes make it seem like something is wrong with a game, but other times it is because either a game was just super simple or common or not bought in large amounts. Was this the case here with this game? Let's see how it looks shall we?
Gameplay
Wordmaster is a simple little game, where the entire point of the game is to figure out what the word is that is being asked for you to figure it out. There are three modes in this game, but most of your time is going to be spent on the main mode of this game, the Wordmaster mode. In this mode you have to go from varying levels of difficulty, which results in fewer guesses, as you try and figure out the mystery word. You do this, by guessing letters, six at a time, until you start to figure out the word to clear the round. Whenever you get a letter in the word in the right spot, the letter is green. When you find a letter in the word, but it is in the wrong spot, it is highlighted red. This lets you know what letters you need to use and helps you figure out what the word could possibly be. You want to at first just guess a lot of letters on your first two or three tries to try and eliminate a lot of letters and to see what all letters you may need for your word. The more you find, the easier the word will be. You do have a clue to help you in the form of a category, but this isn't usually that helpful. When you have all the letters it can be sometimes helpful, but still, you likely aren't going to be using this clue that often. A lot of the game is just guessing letters until you can hopefully deduce the word you are given before you run out of moves and get game over. A casual concept, but it can be fun in short bursts. There are other modes though. The other main mode is literally the word scramble from the news paper. You get six scrambled up letters and you have to unscramble the word in three guesses or less. Though in this mode you don't get the highlighted letters to help you out, so it is actually much harder, and honestly not as fun. I spent way more time in Wordmaster mode. There is a timed mode, in the game as well, but you need to be pretty good at this game to unlock it as you have to get very highly ranked in Wordmaster mode for it to unlock. Good luck with that. Really, the main problem you run into while playing this game are the words the game gives you. There are many words you will come across that you will have never heard of before and these can easily result in your getting game over and having to start your progress all over again. Be ready for this often. If you are a great words person though, you shouldn't have too much trouble with this game though.
Story
There is no story. It is just a word puzzle game.
Graphics
The graphics of this game are really average at best. I guess they felt that because it is just a word game that you didn't have to throw a bunch of things in there to make the game look any better than it needed to do. For the most part all you are going to be looking at is lots of letter blocks and the little Chinese man in the bottom corner. Though the little Chinese man may be offensive to some, since it is quite a large stereotype in the game, along with the music which I will get to in a moment. Other than that, there is really nothing else to look at, besides a few little pops every now and then when you score points or clear a round. I can't say this is bad though, as there is nothing that is just ugly to look at at all. It is just what you expect. Nothing more or less really. That's about all I can say. It's just so average.
Sound
I have to hit the game a little in this department as there is really only one soundtrack you hear throughout the entire game, other than when you get game over. It is generic Chinese style music that plays the entire time you are playing the game. That is it. There are a few sound effects when you are picking letters, when you win a round, and score points and such like that, but that's about all the sound effects here in the game. These sounds aren't entirely bad, but having different music in the game would have really helped this game. You easily get bored with that stereotypical Chinese music after awhile.
Control
The control of the game does exactly what you want it to do. You poke the stylus on the letters you want to select, or you can draw the letters if you so choose, though you really don't need to do this. I wouldn't recommend it either, as it is quicker to just type the letters with the stylus. Though the main reason I will say that this game isn't perfect is that you do have to hold the DS sideways for this game. Yes, this is one of those few games where you are actually required to hold the screens sideways for the entire time you are playing. This means it does sit a little funny in your hand after awhile, so do be prepared for this when you play the game. Other than that, selecting letters isn't hard to do at all.
Replay Value
The game has alright replay value as it is a game you can pick up again and again if you so wish to play some word games. The fact there are different modes in there as well does help change it up as well if you feel like playing it a different way on top of that. I just wouldn't expect the game to be different or wondrous when you pick it up the next time though. It is always going to be the same exact thing each and every time you play the game, just with different words. This is sort of what you expect though, so if you are just wanting to play some casual word games, this won't disappoint in wanting to play it some more.
Overall, Wordmaster is a simple little DS game that will be fun for those that like casual word games, like the ones you find in the news papers. My mom actually likes this game, which is a surprise for me, so there is something to consider as well, that non gamers are likely going to enjoy this game. That may be the point of the game as well. This is just a casual game. It does what you expect from it, without being crappy at the same time. So I'd say the game is just average. You won't be impressed by it, but I doubt you will be thinking this game is a load of crap either.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Wordmaster a six point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 7
Story: N/A
Graphics: 6
Sound: 5
Control: 8
Replay Value: 7
Overall: 6.5
Wordmaster
Have you ever seen cheap games before and wondered if they are any good? That is the case right here with this game that I picked up for my collection. I paid less than one dollar for this complete DS game. Sure, low prices can sometimes make it seem like something is wrong with a game, but other times it is because either a game was just super simple or common or not bought in large amounts. Was this the case here with this game? Let's see how it looks shall we?
Gameplay
Wordmaster is a simple little game, where the entire point of the game is to figure out what the word is that is being asked for you to figure it out. There are three modes in this game, but most of your time is going to be spent on the main mode of this game, the Wordmaster mode. In this mode you have to go from varying levels of difficulty, which results in fewer guesses, as you try and figure out the mystery word. You do this, by guessing letters, six at a time, until you start to figure out the word to clear the round. Whenever you get a letter in the word in the right spot, the letter is green. When you find a letter in the word, but it is in the wrong spot, it is highlighted red. This lets you know what letters you need to use and helps you figure out what the word could possibly be. You want to at first just guess a lot of letters on your first two or three tries to try and eliminate a lot of letters and to see what all letters you may need for your word. The more you find, the easier the word will be. You do have a clue to help you in the form of a category, but this isn't usually that helpful. When you have all the letters it can be sometimes helpful, but still, you likely aren't going to be using this clue that often. A lot of the game is just guessing letters until you can hopefully deduce the word you are given before you run out of moves and get game over. A casual concept, but it can be fun in short bursts. There are other modes though. The other main mode is literally the word scramble from the news paper. You get six scrambled up letters and you have to unscramble the word in three guesses or less. Though in this mode you don't get the highlighted letters to help you out, so it is actually much harder, and honestly not as fun. I spent way more time in Wordmaster mode. There is a timed mode, in the game as well, but you need to be pretty good at this game to unlock it as you have to get very highly ranked in Wordmaster mode for it to unlock. Good luck with that. Really, the main problem you run into while playing this game are the words the game gives you. There are many words you will come across that you will have never heard of before and these can easily result in your getting game over and having to start your progress all over again. Be ready for this often. If you are a great words person though, you shouldn't have too much trouble with this game though.
Story
There is no story. It is just a word puzzle game.
Graphics
The graphics of this game are really average at best. I guess they felt that because it is just a word game that you didn't have to throw a bunch of things in there to make the game look any better than it needed to do. For the most part all you are going to be looking at is lots of letter blocks and the little Chinese man in the bottom corner. Though the little Chinese man may be offensive to some, since it is quite a large stereotype in the game, along with the music which I will get to in a moment. Other than that, there is really nothing else to look at, besides a few little pops every now and then when you score points or clear a round. I can't say this is bad though, as there is nothing that is just ugly to look at at all. It is just what you expect. Nothing more or less really. That's about all I can say. It's just so average.
Sound
I have to hit the game a little in this department as there is really only one soundtrack you hear throughout the entire game, other than when you get game over. It is generic Chinese style music that plays the entire time you are playing the game. That is it. There are a few sound effects when you are picking letters, when you win a round, and score points and such like that, but that's about all the sound effects here in the game. These sounds aren't entirely bad, but having different music in the game would have really helped this game. You easily get bored with that stereotypical Chinese music after awhile.
Control
The control of the game does exactly what you want it to do. You poke the stylus on the letters you want to select, or you can draw the letters if you so choose, though you really don't need to do this. I wouldn't recommend it either, as it is quicker to just type the letters with the stylus. Though the main reason I will say that this game isn't perfect is that you do have to hold the DS sideways for this game. Yes, this is one of those few games where you are actually required to hold the screens sideways for the entire time you are playing. This means it does sit a little funny in your hand after awhile, so do be prepared for this when you play the game. Other than that, selecting letters isn't hard to do at all.
Replay Value
The game has alright replay value as it is a game you can pick up again and again if you so wish to play some word games. The fact there are different modes in there as well does help change it up as well if you feel like playing it a different way on top of that. I just wouldn't expect the game to be different or wondrous when you pick it up the next time though. It is always going to be the same exact thing each and every time you play the game, just with different words. This is sort of what you expect though, so if you are just wanting to play some casual word games, this won't disappoint in wanting to play it some more.
Overall, Wordmaster is a simple little DS game that will be fun for those that like casual word games, like the ones you find in the news papers. My mom actually likes this game, which is a surprise for me, so there is something to consider as well, that non gamers are likely going to enjoy this game. That may be the point of the game as well. This is just a casual game. It does what you expect from it, without being crappy at the same time. So I'd say the game is just average. You won't be impressed by it, but I doubt you will be thinking this game is a load of crap either.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Wordmaster a six point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 7
Story: N/A
Graphics: 6
Sound: 5
Control: 8
Replay Value: 7
Overall: 6.5
