Appnoodle

Abduction is a casual platform based game for Android smartphones. Originally a free download only, there’s now a ‘full’ paid for version featuring additional levels, characters and themes, though the basic premise remains the same.

A cow is abducted

Cow rescues goat

Here’s the game back-story courtesy of the developer:

Your herd has been abducted by aliens! Luckily the alien tractor beam pulled up chunks of earth with it, providing you with platforms to reach the UFO and save your friends. Travel the world saving all the animals on your way to destroy the mothership.

Riiiiight…

Design and Game Play

The first thing you notice about Abduction is how slick it is. The characters, backgrounds and even the menu screens all look great. There’s a really nice feel to the scrolling scenery and the physics (for want of a better word) of the bouncing characters too. And the sound effects, though used sparingly, are top notch. All signs of the care and attention which have gone into Abduction’s development.

Control is by way of the built-in accelerometer. Tipping the phone to the left or right directs your character as you bound from platform to platform on your way to complete each mission. Specific targets vary depending on level but the basic idea is to reach the alien mothership and on the way catch falling friends, pick up bonuses and avoid dropping bombs. As you progress and the difficulty ramps up, the mothership gets higher, the platforms no longer remain stationary and bombs become more frequent. Watch out for those bonuses by the way, they’re not all helpful!

Game Modes

On starting the app you’re presented with a menu screen offering two game modes, options and instructions. ‘Quick game’ drops you straight into the action with levels rated from ‘kids’ to ‘evil infinite’ (and they do mean evil). There are no specific objectives other than reaching the mother ship on each level and achieving the highest score. Points are accumulated for the height achieved and by the number of your parachuting animal friends and bonuses intercepted. Quick Game levels are identical for both demo and paid for versions of the app.

Main Menu

Opt for ‘Main Game’ and you’ll find a bunch more menu options. ‘Adventure’ takes you on a world tour with themed backgrounds and characters. Even in this one section there are 22 progressively more difficult levels to complete. Again, there’s essentially no difference between full and demo versions here but completing the level in the paid version unlocks ‘Versus CPU’ mode where the goal is to beat a computer controlled character in a further three levels.

Levels *still* locked

World Tour

Challenge mode opens up a whole new selection of levels including Time Trial, Score Attack, Friend Rescue and Mayhem. This is where those who paid for the app start to get value for their money. There’s an extra 41 levels in this mode for those who shell out their £1.50. The table below compares the free and paid for version. Complete all levels to unlock custom level creation – again, for paying punters only.

Reversed is impossible!

Small platforms level

Cow vs penguin

Additional Features

What haven’t we mentioned? Well, there are local and online high score tables (the online version requires installation of another third party app, ScoreNinja) and support for multiple profiles meaning you can let the kids have a go without worrying about them posting an embarrassingly low/high score under your profile name…

Global hi-scores

Abduction options

Conclusion

Even the free demo version of Abduction is better than many paid apps in the market so it’s worth giving it a test drive at the very least. The full version provides excellent value for money with the additional content it provides. Both versions are well presented and professional. And Don’t think it’s easy either. We wanted to provide details of the custom level creation but we haven’t managed to polish off the last few challenges required to unlock that feature. Pathetic really, but that ‘reversed’ level is, quite frankly, impossible!

Frustrations? Well, the game does occasionally suffer from lag causing your character to fall to an untimely death as the phone momentarily stops reacting to the accelerometer. Inevitably this happens either on the way to a new high score or when you’re about to crack one of the more difficult levels. This is apparently caused by background network activity but even switching to airplane mode doesn’t always provide a complete cure. Best advice is to close all other active apps as well. Reducing the graphic detail – available in the options menu – can also help.
It’s worth mentioning that the paid app is a completely different game to the demo so you’ll have to work your way through the early levels before you can progress to the new stuff if you decide to upgrade.

Abduction’s simple but addictive gameplay and well thought out design make it a must for Android phone owners. Highly recommended.

Tested on: T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream

Developer: b2bgames

Price: £1.35 (approx $2.20)

Availability: Downloadable from the Android Market

Stability Rating: (Occasional force close)

Addictiveness Rating: (Frustratingly addictive!)

Playability Rating: (Silky smooth)

Overall Rating: