The One


P. P. Hammer And His Pneumatic Weapon

Publisher: Demonware
Machine: Amiga 500

 
Published in The One #53

P. P. Hammer And His Pneumatic Weapon

It's all a load of blocks, is P. P. Hammer. Little stone blocks, to be precise, which add puzzle-type complications to what it essentially a simple but nicely-done platform game. The hero P.P. is an Indiana Jones-type on a treasure hunt in a series of Egyptian tombs. He must find all the treasure before the limited air supply runs out, whereupon the door to the next chamber opens.

Fairly standard stuff, to be sure. But, in addition to the usual platform perils such as pits, spikes, conveyor belts (in an Egyptian tomb?), snakes, rats and acid pools, P.P. often finds his way forward barred by crumbly blocks. By whipping out his 'weapon' (a pneumatic road drill, to be precise, so stop sniggering at the back) he can smash them into dust and progress. He has to be quick, though, as the blocks reappear and my trap or crush him. There's a small arcade adventure element too, where P.P. has to find keys to open certain doors.

It's a nice concept and quite absorbing. However, it's a little too easy to get caught in a dead end for my liking, through no real fault of your own. At least there's a password system so that once you've cleared a particularly annoying level you can skip past it in the future.

The game's biggest fault is that it's perhaps a little too simple to give you must lasting fun. Still, at the £7.99 asking price, you can't really complain.