Yippeee! Lemmings (probe the) Revolution.

Lemmings are this mystified, addictive game from quite a while ago ... or at least they were to me. I didn't know there was any follow-up. Heard of the 3D intentions, but then lost sight of it. Until now. The original one is still cult, and I was happy to see "Revolution" pick up on it. The 3D setting is not on a free-roaming level of 3D one is used to from several other games. So first that was a disappointment to me. Then again, I am not sure if this would actually improve the game play. It's a puzzle after all, not an action game.

Anyway, installation posed no problem and I also downloaded the available patch, which fixed problems I didn't know I had. Actually, in one recent level that I lately got to, there seems to be one bug that still persists and is even visible to me -- since it prevented me from finishing the level. I keep my eyes open for another bug fix. If I only could remember the website.

Options and things like an "updater" (download fixes from the net) are not really the strong side of this game. So I failed to find an option to 'bump up' the details (resolution) from what looks like 640x480 (which might be 800x600) to the full supported 1047x768. No such option available. So the Lemmings are a little jagged and the magnifier just scales it up but doesn't reveal more detail. (The similarily addictive Sheep does better in that regard.)

The way the game saves the progress is very innovative, but does not support multiple players (i.e. in a family) that would like to keep their own scores. Scores are another thing that comes sort of short. This game is all about solving a puzzle yes/no, without extra credit for speed etc.. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, just different. But the layout in which order puzzles have to be solved is quite motivating, though sometimes I would like to sneak into the highest level to figure out how tough it really might be, especially when you're playing the first levels that are very easy.

There is an abundance of puzzles to be solved and not being a full time player, it still keeps me entertained (for 4 months now). Most of them can be solved many different ways, but do require some trying and unconventional thinking. That is certainly the biggest strength of this game. Back to the roots, and Lemmings is the master at doing just that.

Annoying is the CD based installation though, most of the time it gives you a feeling of being a disc jockey, when switching between most games these days -- as they all seem to have the same issue (data overflow!!!! ;-) Good thing it's only one CD.

I am not that dedicated to games that any one could keep me interested over a long time period, but Lemmings (along with a few others) excel to do so. Given the not so demanding graphics, this game has no problems with my hardware and keeps me happy that way too.

Addition: the update can be found on http://www.talonsoft.com/patches/index.html (with many others)