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The Slacker's Guide recently posted a new review of Tricky Software's Armado, a third person action adventure title which puts players in the role of Armado the armadillo. The game gives players the task of fighting an army of ants to save the queen of the eagles and bring peace to the land.

Armado functions as a standard run-and-jump action game, much in the vein of Mario Brothers or Sonic the Hedgehog. Like these titles, the player must jump over obstacles, pick up power-ups and use powers such as dropping onto enemies and rolling into a ball to their advantage. Such abilities are available in limited quantities and the player will have to recharge their powers by grabbing up power-ups along the way.

This isn't the most original idea, but it works well. The genre is familiar, the game is easy to learn, and a precise set of controls lends to a realistic feel. Load the game and within moments the player feels as if they're the galosh-wearing armadillo hero jumping over boulders and getting the drop on enemies to the best of their ability in an arcade fashion (never a bad thing).

Even if Armado's gameplay feels recycled, it wins in polish and style. Beautiful OpenGL graphics greet the player and nice touches like splashing rivers compliment the title. This is by no means marquee level, but they stand on par with what can be done on an OpenGL kit and a starter shareware game company. The overall look is solid, detailed and effective, connecting the player with the character. Sound and music, while not sweeping and orchestral, capture the feel of the game and a good theme song, though repeated, doesn't feel repetitive or irritating and blends into the background after a while. The title doesn't break completely new ground, but feels like a good, solid entry from a team of former Electronic Arts programmers that split off to start their own company.

The Slacker's Guide: Armado Review

Armado (add to watch list)

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