12 Labours of Hercules Review - Annoyingly Entertaining

very good
key review info
  • Game: 12 Labours of Hercules
  • Platform: Linux
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:
12 Labours of Hercules gameplay

12 Labours of Hercules is a strangely addictive casual game that was developed by a studio named Zoom Out Games and released for Linux users a while back. We'll now take a closer look at it and see why it is so annoyingly entertaining.

Some games are just fun, even when you can't really point out why. It doesn't happen very often, but from time to time you can discover a game you like in a genre that you didn't even know existed. Serious gamers don't bother with casual titles like 12 Labours of Hercules, for example, unless they bring something really interesting to the table.

The trouble is that I can't really pinpoint why I find the 12 Labours of Hercules series to be an entertaining one, but I usually have a single metric for good games. If a game manages to keep me interested past 12 PM, then there is something to it. For some strange reason, I couldn't stop playing this one, although I should be able to say stop.

Story and gameplay

The players follow in the adventures of Hercules as he pretty much doesn't do anything and lets his servants do all the work. There is a story somewhere hidden in the game and some short clips, but I didn't really care about them. All I wanted to see was the next level and whether I could get three out of three stars.

The game's makers mention time management in its description, which is weird since it completely took over my time. My time management went out of the window, but let's get back to the game. I picked it up for 50 cents during the Steam Winter Sale, and I have to say that it's probably one of the most underrated games in that promotion. There are, in fact, four games in the 12 Labours of Hercules series on Steam, and all of them cost less than a dollar or euro. It's practically stealing if I count how much time I sank into the game.

Let's move on to the gameplay, which is actually based on one of the most interesting ideas I've seen in a long time. It's easy to say that you can't innovate in gaming, but it turns out that you can still do some things that haven't been done before, even if they now seem to be ordinary.

For most of the time, players control the servants of Hercules as they gather resources and clear the path for the mighty hero. There are three different types of resources: food, wood and stone, and money. Pretty much everything that can be done in a level requires one or more of these resources. Some actions, like clearing the road from debris, will consume food but will also give back some wood, for instance.

It's a simple recipe, to be honest. Use the resource to clear up the level before the time runs out and move on to the other level. The levels are not difficult to complete, yet it's a real challenge if you want to get the gold medal every time or if you try to get some of the achievements.

The gameplay is punctuated by boss fights from time to time, which require users to quickly click on the enemies. These levels are rather easy to complete and they don't actually fit all that well with the rest of the gameplay, but fortunately, they are pretty rare.

Graphics and sound

The backgrounds for 12 Labours of Hercules are hand-drawn, and this is probably part of the appeal the game has. They look really good, and the animations for the characters are spot on. The music is made in such a way that it isn't bothering enough for me to mute it, and it seems to be matching the game style.


The Good

  • Easy to learn
  • Difficult to master
  • Fun and addictive

The Bad

  • Some of the final levels feel impossible to complete with gold

Conclusion

12 Labours of Hercules is the kind of game that's promoted as casual, but I can tell you that's not a fair assessment. It's the perfect game to play when you have only a little time, but it will also keep you awake at night. It doesn't have amazing graphics or some powerful story. It's just addictive, fun, and that's pretty much all that matters.

story 6
gameplay 9
concept 9
graphics 9
audio 7
multiplayer 0
final rating 8.5
Editor's review
very good
 

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