Meridian4 is publishing a new indie puzzle based game for PC owners who want to lose dozens of hours of their life to and it is one of those rare puzzle games which are not a clone of the latest popular puzzle game like so many other games out there. This new game is Obulis from developer IonFX who has translated their mobile (Pocket PC) version of this game to the PC and they have done a great job.


The idea of the game is to drop colored balls into pots of the same color and while this might sound basic it takes a steady hand and some thinking before you can even start the entire process. Balls can hit other balls, objects and roll on ledges and ramps before landing in their specific pots and with the wildly designed levels using creative backgrounds and level objects each of the 150 levels is almost an accomplishment in its self to get through. You drop balls by clicking on a chain which is holding the ball in place and then as it swings you click on another chain allowing gravity and momentum to take the ball to its destination. Usually there are several balls and objects you must move and navigate in the end to beat the level but if you have problems there is always a quick “show solution” button to aid you.

The graphics are very good and the overall theme of the levels change depending on the area you are in and this adds to the games appeal and fun factor. From a level with a Buddha to a level with a flower where you roll off of the flowers pedal each theme brings its own challenges. Sometimes each level is only defeated after several attempts of trial and error and if you miss a mouse click at the wrong time you can end up screwing up, but at least the game allows you to reset quickly.


Audio and music are good, but I did find the music to become a bit repetitive and annoying after a short while. But it could have easily been just a bad day and one of those days when Jem or Flyleaf are more suited to my gaming mood. Luckily you can mute the music and sound effects very fast, thanks to the well designed user interface, and this helps when you are playing late into the night and do not want to wake anyone up or when headphones are not readily available.

The system requirements for Obulis are so low it is a game you could play on a 5-6 year old PC without any issues. The low system requirements also helps make this one of the must-own titles for casual gamers because we have been seeing some puzzle games requiring better and better computers lately and here is one that does not so kudos to the developers for keeping it simple and fun.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
 OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista
 Processor: 1.0 GHz Processor
 Memory: 128 MB RAM
 Graphics: DirectX compatible 64 MB graphics card
 DirectX®: 9.0c
 Hard Drive: 50 MB of available hard disk space
 Sound: DirectX compatible audio card


This is certainly the type of game casual gamers should buy and pick up because there is literally dozens of hours of play time here for under .00 and that is a deal anyone cannot and should not pass up.

Pros
- Easy to learn and difficult to master gameplay
- A lot of levels
- Not a clone of other puzzle games
- Nice graphics

Cons
- Does get repetitive
- Only worth playing in short bursts
- Annoying audio

Final Score - 7/10

Posted by Brian Edey (Falelorn)

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