Review-Arvale II by PDAMILL

Pocket PC Software Review

Adventure Game - Arvale II - Ocean of Time

June 22, 2005

http://www.arvale2.com/?

PDAMill has just released their latest game called Arvale II. This is a follow up to the original Arvale released last year.

http://www.arvale.com/

If you have played the original Arvale, you will not be disappointed with Arvale II. A great addition to any gamers collection.

The graphics are excellent.

"Arvale2 - Ocean of Time" is a new adventure where you portray a
character named Sir John DeMenchev.

These are some of the graphical screens throughout the game

Great animated sequences

Easy to follow menu and controls

If you have never played Arvale or another similar adventure game, you must
give Arvale II a try. In this game, you must unlock the secrets of the past, fight enemies and solve puzzles along the way. The manufacturer estimates that you have over 40 hours
of game play. If you are anything like me and read or discover every little detail within the game,
the completion time will be much longer.

This is not your typical Pocket PC game with a few colourful images and sound effects. Here are some of the stats behind the game:

- Over 500 unique characters to interact with
- Over 440 different monsters and enemies to battle
- Over 3000 graphical elements
- Over 120 sound effects
- Over 25 soundtracks for a total of over 60 minutes of music

All this, has been created in just over 7 megs of storage space.

Very impressive.

Works from an external memory card just fine and is recommended over internal memory.

Another amazing addition to this Pocket PC game is the animated introduction.
The game starts with a great sequence which is called the "Cut Scene". This will
give you a feel for the game which begins with the introduction of Sir John DeMenchev.

Since you will encounter numerous characters along the way, you must pay close attention to all the comments made by each any every character you meet. Do not treat any character lightly cause they may provide you with details you will need later in the game.

There are 3 selectable game modes.
Beginner, normal and expert modes. This is located in the settings and must be set before you start a NEW game.

Other controls like setting the sound effects and music volume levels are included

The actual game controls for the fight scenes are shown in the image to the left. Easy to follow menus and controls .

The game should be saved often to allow you the ability to continue
from where you left off. Since you have the ability to select the starting game mode, you can play the game over again once completed at a different skill mode.

Overall Rating 9 Stars out of 10

Though the game is simple to understand, a detailed overview of the game and the various items used throughout would have been helpful for those new to adventure games.

Cons

No built in HELP.

Intro animation sequence cannot be disabled or skipped during a NEW game

Pros

Over 40 hours of game play

Great graphics

Great sound tracks

Interesting story line

"Ocean of Time" is a "must have" for any Pocket PC gamer.
With the variety of characters, numerous sound tracks and great graphics, you will not
be disappointed with "Arvale2 - Ocean of Time".

You can check out the developers of Arvale II at

http://www.arvale2.com/?

Reviewed by Bob Katayama

Arvale II

Released by PDAMILL

Reviewed by Bob Katayama

Product and corporate names mentioned

herein are trademarks and/or registered

trademarks of their respective owners.

bkatayama@technobrains.com