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

---

Blast From The Past - Retro Games Are Hot Again

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

The Future of Submarine Games

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

Codename Revolution - Nintendos Next Generation Gaming System

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

Playing Games Like Its 80s

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

Top 10 Dumbest Game Titles

You may not agree with the order in which they... Read More

Another Title by Atari Released on StarForce Protected DVDs

"Atari has selected StarForce to protect their brand-new game called... Read More

New Helicopter Design for Your Video War Games

Using Underbelly Cone with Slots Facing Up On a Helicopter... 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

Mind Boggling Information About The Popular Bingo Game!

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

Malicious Advertising

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

Computer Game on Mars; Design for Communication Device

Powering up hand held wireless devices in the field for... Read More

7 Simple Steps to Avoid Being a Newbie in Online Games

It doesn't matter if you are new to online roleplaying... Read More

Popular Electronic Games - They Are Not Just For Kids Anymore

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

Rent Games Online for the Kids

It's risky business allowing your children to play games online.... 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

Improving Spelling with Games

You got it! You can do just about any type... Read More

Indie Games that Made It to the Tops of the Charts this Year

Platypus is one of the most unique looking games ever... Read More

Halo 2 Multiplayer Tips for Beginners and Advanced players

Here are some general tips from an advanced player for... Read More

Play a Cool Jeep Game Online

If there were anything that could excite a Jeep enthusiast... Read More

Ingredients For A Great Game

There are millions of computer games out there on the... Read More

Counter Strike, The Beginner of Broad Band PC Gaming

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

Best Space Themed Games - Part I

Space? How much we can place where? Incredible words, unknown... Read More

How To Save Time, Energy, and Money by Renting Your DVDs and Games Online

As a bit of a movie buff I recently discovered... Read More

Reviving Old Computer Games

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

Free Games For Your Pocket PC

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

Sega Dreamcasts Cause of Death?

What ever happened to that game console we used to... Read More

Guns Dont Kill People - Videogames Do!

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

Why We Play Games, Part 2

Last week we started to get into the motivation of... 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

Theories Behind Magic Trinkets in Video Game and Virtual Reality

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

Securing Your Accounts With Well-Crafted Passwords

In the past I've never really paid much attention to... Read More

A Look at the Sony PlayStation 3

At the recent E3 gaming Convention, Sony gave the world... Read More

XBOX 360 vs. PS3: an in Depth Look

All gamers are awaiting the release of the Xbox 360... Read More