Pipemania 3D

Empire Interactive
Playstation: Out Now

The concept of Pipemania is very simple. You are playing on a grid (sometimes with various obstacles) with a Flooze (a green liquid) outlet and a plug hole. The object is to take that Flooze into the plug hole. You have to connect a pipe network together from the outlet to the plug hole. The snag though, is that the sections of pipe come out in random sections and the plug hole is hidden until you have connected so much pipe together. The challenge that this game provides is unbelievable.

You have to clear the Flooze from various zones. Each zone has a particular theme (Jungle, Ice etc.) and consists of a variety of levels. The levels usually ask more of you than just getting the Flooze to the plug hole. Sometimes you have to run the pipe network through coins or stars which really complicates matters. In fact frustration is a really big part of this game. It drives you mad when the Flooze starts to flow and the correct section of pipe will not come out. The single player has 3 difficulty levels and offers many hours of play. The strange thing though is that game has no multiplyer mode. The omission of a multiplayer mode is beyond comprehension as this is a perfect game to play split-screen against a friend.

The game has no verbal content and all info is textually presented. If you like puzzle games and the trademark frustration that they bring then you will like Pipemania 3D. The gameplay is simple but fun and most place only seem to be selling the game for around £10 which makes it great value too.

Click thumbnails to see the big picture.

Overall Game Rating: 6.5/10 If you like puzzle games then this might appeal to you.

Quality of text: 7 OK but not much needed.

Graphics: 6 A bit poor in places but a game of this nature does not need great graphics

Interface: 6 Could be improved. A bit too simple.

Gameplay: 7 While it is frustrating, Pipemania's gameplay is good.