Downloadable Game Review: Diner Dash

Playvue.com Editor's Rating: 8.0

Storyline

Diner Dash brings us the story of Flo, an office lackey fed up with the monotonous, unchanging pressures of everyday life and work in the big city. Thus she hucks everything out the window and runs off to find something better to do with her life. As it turns out, that is starting a restaurant chain in suburban America.

We are taken right into her quest as a restaurateur as Flo herself; an energetic, enthusiastic owner who fulfills every role from hostess to server, bartender and busboy (thankfully, cooking is provided by a overworked dark figure behind the counter).

Beginning with her very first diner, and ending with an upscale surf and turf joint, we take on Flo's every activity; seating her guests, handing out menu's, delivering breadsticks, taking and delivering orders (not to mention cocktails), clearing tables, and seating the next guests. All this in the pursuit of money with which to improve her existing restaurants or even open up a new one!

Navigation

The navigation is easy enough to pick up on the first try; it's point and click (click on a dirty table, she runs over and clears it, click on table awaiting their food, she delivers it from the counter). This does get quite challenging in the later levels where it becomes necessary to click on other activities while Flo is executing the current one (the game creates a queue of activities which Flo will execute one by one until they are complete).

Ease of Use

In terms of ease of use, this game is fantastic. I wasn't surprised when I was able to pick it up rather quickly, however I was surprised when my grandmother was flying through at a faster pace then I managed to muster. While easy to get going, it does require a master's touch to reach the highest scores at the end of the levels where constant motion is a must. But this just adds to the playability, and is a welcome change to contemporary games which prove easy to complete with no added challenges.

Playability

I found myself wanting to complete this game all the way through the first time I played it; which would worry me as to whether the game would hold my interest a week or even a month later. However, these worries are relieved with the Endless Shift feature: a score building endless level which "keeps 'em comin'" and provides extras like super ovens, bobcat-fast tennis shoes, and a super podium 3000 to help you along the way.

Full Version Features

The free trial includes unrestricted access and allows you 60 minutes of play; which just got me started. The full version includes 40+ levels of gameplay, 4 different chains, 5 different types of customers, two modes of play (Career and Endless Shift) and high score tracking. At only 10MB, it's not a hard drive buster, nor will it clog up your dialup line for too long. And at $19.99 its not a wallet buster either: cheap enough to warrant casual play throughout the year.

Pros/Cons

Pros:

• Appeals to the rest of us (non-hardcore teen gamers)
• High repeat playability
• Easy to use, navigate

Cons:

• No multiple player support
• Little high score competition (score posting available on publisher's website)

Bottom Line

A busy restaurateur provides a nice change of pace to card and puzzle games for those of us who aren't interested in shooting up aliens, goblins, or terrorists for 12 hours on end. Definitely high repeat playability, even after beating the Career portion of the game. Low price and download size are a real plus. Lacks in competition and multiple player support, however this only matters if you're interested in such things. One of my top 10 games of the year.

Editor's Rating:

Storyline: 8 Ease of Use: 9 Playability: 7
Overall: 8

Game Specs:

• Publisher: PlayFirst
• Full Version Price: $19.99
• Download: 10 MB
• Windows 98/2000/Me/XP
• Processor: PIII 600 MHz
• 128 MB RAM
• Free hard drive space: 12MB
• Video Card
• Sound Card

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Download/More Info: http://www.playvue.com/pv/downl oadablegames/casual/dinerdash/

Keith Blake is a Featured Editor at Playvue.com, an up-and-coming online games website specialing in providing online games, game downloads, and multiplayer games in a rich, immersive, one-of-a-kind environment.

Source: http://www.playvue.com

---

Zuma Deluxe Style Games Evolution

As I think most of gamers who play in shareware... Read More

The Future of Submarine Games

In the last six months, the demise of sims has... Read More

Theories Behind Magic Trinkets in Video Game and Virtual Reality

In Gaming we deal between Simulation, Augmented Reality, Fantasy and... Read More

Directional Afterburners for Tighter Turns, Vertical Flight and Agility

Directional Thrusters can increase the maneuverability of just about any... Read More

Free Games For Your Pocket PC

Admit It-You're Often BoredA pocket pc has about a million... Read More

Why We Play Games, Part 1

There exists some ephemeral quality that separates gamers from the... Read More

Guns Dont Kill People - Videogames Do!

"Ban these evil games", "Videogame violence corrupting our nation's youth",... Read More

Codename Revolution - Nintendos Next Generation Gaming System

Over the past year or so plenty of hype, mystery... Read More

Popular Electronic Games - They Are Not Just For Kids Anymore

Superheroes battle monsters and space invaders in fast action games.... Read More

10 Innovative Game Features

Watch yourself struggle, sweat, collapse as you turn your video... Read More

Increasing Rates of Climb in Fighter Aircraft Like the New Joint force Strike Fighter

We know from studying aircraft like the F-8 Crusader, in... Read More

Create Computer Games - Get Started on Creating Your Own Virtual Worlds

I've always loved video games, ever since I first played... Read More

Counter Strike, The Beginner of Broad Band PC Gaming

This is the world of 21st century, the century of... Read More

Flying an MAV Through Fan Blades to Attain Target

Flying an MAV Through Rotating Fan Blades ? It maybe... Read More

Rent Games Online

Renting video games online has exploded in recent months! I... Read More

Sapphire Tipped UAVs for Midair Collisions to Defeat Enemy UAV Swarm Threats

Defeating enemy UAV Swarms will be a challenge for our... Read More

Downloadable Game Review: Diner Dash

Playvue.com Editor's Rating: 8.0StorylineDiner Dash brings us the story of... Read More

Reviving Old Computer Games

Remember the good old days of gaming, when there were... Read More

Great Games Youve Never Played

Do you know what you're missing?Some of the best computer... Read More

Playing Games Like Its 80s

Do you miss the good old 80's Amiga and Commodore... Read More

SMS Gaming - Text Paging Games that can be Played by Anyone

Using the Physical World as a Game Board: This is... Read More

Blast From The Past - Retro Games Are Hot Again

Miss the brainlessly simple and extremely addictive games from the... Read More

Review - Sony PSP

I'm fairly certain there are folks at Nintendo feeling some... Read More

Mind Boggling Information About The Popular Bingo Game!

Have you ever considered mind boggling statistics of a BINGO... Read More

You Dont Have To Be Rich To Be A PC Gamer

There is a common misconception that you have to take... Read More

Malicious Advertising

Advertising is a necessary irritant in the world today. You... Read More

Games To Encourage Thinking Skills

There is no doubt about it, using computer games is... Read More

Rome Total War: Battle Strategy Guide

A. FormationsIt's pretty much common sense to come up with... Read More

Xbox vs. PS2 Game Consoles

There has been a great deal of discussion regarding the... Read More

UAV GeoBat Balloon Radar Decoy Strategies

A GeoBat small UAV might be the perfect platform for... Read More

Are You A PC Gamer And Want The Best Out Of Your Graphics Card?

IntroductionIn this article you will learn how to get the... Read More

Computer Traumas

It has happened! Computer games have started to control my... Read More

Cloud Laser Art

A new art form in the future will be CLA.... Read More