Before I start the review, I would like to give a BIG THANKS to Brighthand forum member, ackmondual (I believe he also visits other forums like 1src and others as well) for his generous donation to Palm Discovery!

Thanks, ackmondual for helping keep the site running! And thanks to everyone for your support of Palm Discovery!

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Here’s yet another winner from Astraware. This time, the game is called Hammerheads. Again, with most Astraware games, this is another addictive one. The secret to most Astraware games is that they make it quite simple to play. You don’t need to figure out a lot of things or do a bunch of stuff to play. This appeals on a lot of levels so that it can appeal to a broad range of gamers. And the best thing about them is that they are always addictive. Astraware games always have a way of hooking you in to keep playing with a simple idea or method of playing while adding more challenges and difficulty as you continue along.

Hammerheads is quite simply a slight take on the Whac-a-Mole game where instead of a mole appearing through the hole, you have gnomes, yes, gnomes. So, the object of the game is quite simply, use a hammer to whack the gnome’s head as fast as you can but with each new level, you are presented with different variations to the game. That may include gnomes that you shouldn’t hit, or other gnomes that require a few more whacks before they are struck down, or gnomes that require to be inflated enough times before they explode. But be careful, at the beginning of the game, you start with 5 hearts filled in red to indicate your level of health. If you miss a gnome, or hit it more than what’s required, your hearts level will go down and part of the hearts will be in blue. If all your hearts ever goes completely blue, meaning you have no more hearts, it’s game over. So, you have to be careful in monitoring the level of hearts.

There are two different modes available. You can choose to play the Classic mode which offers 25 levels of play with each level introducing new gnomes and features or play the Marathon mode (requires you to complete at least level 10 before it’s unlocked) which is simply unlimited gnome bashing.

In the Classic mode, each level is broken down into two waves. At the end of each wave, you are provided your accuracy level. If you get 95% or better, you’ll hear the gnome-like voice saying “perfect”. You’ll also hear the same voice when you knock down all the coins in the Bonus round.

During the game, and depending on the gnome you whacked, you may find that there are gold coins left over after you’ve whacked a gnome. Hit those coins to collect them and you can use them later to purchase a variety of useful tools, including more “hearts” (health), extra heart capacity (ie. up to 7 hearts instead of 5), a bigger hammer, a fiery (faster) hammer, and many other interesting things. During certain stages, you will encounter a “house”, called Shiny Shop where you can purchase a variety of things and tools to enhance your game.

Along the way, there are little objects that you can whack to get points or get special features. Some will get you points, while others offer more. For example, if you hit an ice cream cone, you will “freeze” the gnomes in ice so that you only need one “whack” to bring them down compared to two or more, depending on the gnome. This feature lasts for a short duration until you whack another ice cream cone.

There are other special features of the game that add to its appeal. As discussed, each gnome requires a certain number of “whacks” before it’s knocked down. Some, like Stumpy in level 1 require only one whack while others like Snappy will require seven and will steal your gold coins if you don’t knock him down. If you whack more than the required number of times for a specific gnome, it will affect your “life” or health. We first start with five hearts all filled in red. With each miss or extra whack you mistakenly make, the hearts level will go down, showing the blue color. If we go down to zero hearts, it will be game over. So, if we whack a regular gnome more than once, our life will decrease. Also, if you whack a gnome that we aren’t supposed to whack, we also lose some hearts.

Through the various levels, we will also encounter other characters that are not necessarily gnomes. From time to time, we will get a Bouncy the jester bouncing around on a pogo stick. If we whack him, we can get extra gold coins. We will also encounter Zippy on a biplane flying across the screen. If we miss whacking him, he will take our gold coins. And there’s also Stingy, who may hold up a sack of money or a bomb. If we whack her when she’s holding a bomb, we lose some hearts. So, it’s not just about whacking a gnome at the fastest time but being careful about what we whack. In addition, we also get gold coins when we whack certain gnomes and we are required to whack the coins directly to add to our wealth.

At certain stages, we are able to use these coins to purchase special equipment like more powerful hammers or increase or replenish your heart, or increasing our heart capacity, or an irish clover which brings us more coins and hearts for a short duration.

As well, we also get bonus rounds of whacking coins to get extra gold coins if we check out the Tower of Gold that shows up in certain levels. If we whack them all, we get a bonus of 100 gold coins. If you tend to pick up every heart over 15 levels, you may be awarded with the “Heart Hog” award. I’m not sure if I got more points but it was something interesting that I didn’t expect. As you play the game more, you may find more “awards” that you can pick up. There’s even a “Trophy” room where you can view all the awards you’ve received over time. Pretty cool!

Here’s an incomplete list of gnomes and special items that I’ve encountered in my 19 levels of play (I have not been able to get past that level. Stingy keeps killing me) (Edit. I have now progressed somewhat to level 21 but I’m getting killed within seconds)

Stumpy gnome needs 1 hit
Wacky gnome needs 2 hits
Flippy gnome has a helmet and requires 2 hits
Snapshot shows up at the end of every 5 levels and allows you to save a snapshot or keep your place
Tricky is not a real gnome and will explode if hit
Bouncy is a bouncing jester that will give you some coins if hit
Floppy has an inflatable head that requires 5 taps to inflate and explode
Irony is a statue that requires 5 taps to knock it down
Snappy steals 5 gold coins at a time if you don’t knock him down. Requires 7 taps
Flappy the bunny restores some health if tapped
Zippy on a biplane will fly across the screen and steal your coins. One tap to knock him down
Cupid will turn gnomes into hearts

Video of Hammerheads

Video of Hammerheads Part 1 at YouTube

Alternative links: Vimeo

Part 2 at YouTube

Alternative links: Vimeo

Hammerheads is another winner for Astraware! It’s simple but challenging and the appeal is that you can always start at the last snapshot level or even from any previous snapshot level if you wish. Again, with Astraware games, you can be assured that the graphics are amazing and they always have great sound effects and background music. Hammerheads will still support somewhat older Palm devices like the Tungsten T, T2, E, E2 and Zire 71 but it will run in low resolution (160×160). Obviously the graphics won’t be as nice, but the game is just as fun. You certainly won’t lose any of the action and features that the hi res version offers. I’m just glad that Astraware will still find the time to support the older Palm devices. Kudos to them! The combination of various special features that appear plus the variety of gnomes really make it fun to play. You can just play it and enjoy the smashing good fun without worrying about strategy. Needless to say, this is a great game to play to pass the time or just simply as a great distraction at any time. I highly recommend Hammerheads!

Here’s more information and specs on Hammerheads from Astraware’s website:

Description

This product is not compatible with the Zire 21, Qool QDA 700, PiTech W300

And the official press release from Astraware:

THE MIDLANDS, UK - February 7th 2007 - Astraware® and PopCap Games® are excited to announce that it’s open-season on gnomes with the release of Hammer Heads for Palm OS® and Windows Mobile® for Pocket PC Smartphones and PDAs.

Hammer Heads is available for devices running Palm OS® 5.0 and higher, and Windows Mobile® for Pocket PC 2003, 2003SE and 5.0, here.

You can also get Hammerheads at Handango (Palm OS version) or (Windows Mobile version), and Clickgamer

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