Bass Avenger

Overview

Well here it is -- my first review and I managed to pick up Bass Avenger. Test by fire perchance or am I just a glutton for punishment? I've always loved fishing games and thought I would try my hand at what appeared to be a simplistic version of the very tired "deer hunter/avenger" genre. As in Deer Avenger, the roles are reversed -- you play a bass who goes "fishing" for fisherman, using such things as toilet paper, girlie magazines, and a suitcase full of money to lure them in.

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

The game installed easily and began with a cartoonish 2-D animation. Although not particularly impressive, I found that it suited the game well. I chose to start a new game and was surprised to find that I could only fish from two lakes. Once I started the first lake, I was even more shocked to find that I only had a choice of eight lures. This was turning out to be a disappointment from the start.

I spent the next two hours trying to catch my first fisherman. I would continually cast the lure well beyond the fisherman's boat and then reel the bait past the boat. I did nothing but scare off the fisherman. After the next two hours, I was so annoyed that I actually went online to find out what I was doing wrong. Maybe a sharp six- year-old had figured out how to catch these jokers. I felt like a complete dolt, but after a bit of searching I found that other people were having the same problem. I re-read the manual and also the readme.txt file on the CD-ROM and finally figured out that you have to cast "near" the fisherman, make a couple of verbal calls with your bullhorn, reel once, then repeat it until the fisherman finally takes the bait. This method of fishing was never spelled out clearly in the manual and I gave the game a black mark for poor directions. After I discovered how to catch one, it was easy enough to do every time.

As I just stated, once you figure out how to catch the fisherman, the game was simple to conquer. I was particularly put off, however, with the movement of the screen. This is tough to explain. The movement of your mouse on the screen moves the fishing area as well. If I cast due north to a fisherman's boat, I have to move my mouse due south to be able to make a call on my bullhorn. By dragging the mouse down the screen to the bullhorn, the entire screen moves and I lose my view of the boat I had cast to. I was endlessly trying to reposition my screen after changing a lure or making a bullhorn call. Considering the lack of depth in this game, the least they could have done is make the gameplay a bit more stellar.

Graphics

The graphics were decent for the 2-D cartoon setting and the animation wasn't bad either. I know that we tend to get spoiled on the mind-blowing 3-D graphics of the newer games, but there's still a place for well-done 2-D graphics if you're a person who's easily amused like myself.

Audio

The sounds that actually comprised the game were clear and entertaining for a while. When calling your fisherman with the bullhorn, you are endlessly bombarded with stereotypical redneck quotes such as: "My doctor prescribed meaningless sex for my aerobics therapy. Any takers?" Like I said, this was amusing for a short while but became tiresome and annoying quickly.

System Requirements

Windows 95/98, Pentium 133, 4x or faster CD-ROM drive, 16 MB RAM (32 recommended), keyboard, 170 MB free hard drive space, mouse, and a DirectSound compatible sound card.

Bottom Line

As I'm sure you've gathered, I was not impressed with this game. The graphics and sound were fairly decent but the gameplay was lacking. After a total of three hours I'd seen the entire game and will now have to put it on the shelf. My recommendation is to save your money and spend it on a new game or save it toward your purchase of an X-Box.