"N-Gage has no kill apps? Bah!"

Yes, it is true, I own an N-Gage. And it's not a fancy QD either, it's the old school (NOT side-talking) taco. And let me tell you, calling it a taco is a compliment. Now that that is out of the way....

PK (Pocket Kingdom) is one of the most addicting strategy games I've ever played. I got the game Sunday afternoon, and every spare moment I had for the next week consisted of me raising up armies in this game, hoping I would one day 0wn the w0rld.

The beginning of the game is very boring, you have to go through several menus to buy your starting party, learn how to play, blah blah blah. Eventually, when it starts, you have one option, to search. So, you send your party to scout the areas around your Pocket Kingdom, and sure enough, they come back telling you they found an enemy kingdom. So now you have more options. You can attack this kingdom or you can scout it. To scout it, you hit search and scout is a new option. You can find out how strong their defense is, etc. via scouting.

So you attack them with your 4 man team of Soldiers and Nobles and you figure out something: the battles are completely automated. Turns out, you don't have to do anything in the battle, you only have to choose the right units and equipment and strategies for the battle when creating your party. Now, for some people, this sucks. For me, however, this is an excellent style of battle. PK is designed so that you can play it anytime, anywhere when you have a spare minute. The battles literally take a minute (30 seconds of time, however when a special is used it stops the clock momentarily) and the boss battles last a bit longer.

This first two cities (the tutorial ones) are the hardest to get by in normal battles. Your units will get "owned" in normal battles. (Owned: they are gone permanently.) After defeating the boss, your lab will level up. Now the game kind of begins. You have the lab option where you can combine molds and ores and jewels to create weapons and emblems. Emblems are one of the key ingredients in this game. They allow you to upgrade your units to higher classes, and let's face it: by the second town, Soldiers and Nobles can't do anything against the boss.

Basically, the rest of the game is gathering loot (the in-game currency) finding materials to customize emblems and weapons and build the perfect party. After 15+ hours of gameplay, I have yet to beat the game. And that is a great thing.

After you beat the game though, the replay value kicks in. This game is the first MMO (Massively Mobile Online) ever (debatable). So, you have your Pocket Kingdom against other Pocket Kingdoms. And one defeat can bring you offline, trying to recreate that High Priest that was owned in battle, even if you won.

Graphics: 9

Ok, they aren't the best graphics ever, but the 2D style really works. It's not eye candy or anything, but for some reason, it just really works well.

Originality: 10

This is where the game excels. I forgot to mention this above, so I'll say it here. The people in the game talk in 1337-speak. Just like the gamefaqs message boards, when your units win, they taunt their foes. One of my favorite lines is: "Ju R not 1337. I M 1337." And let's not forget about the Primitive Cell, who can only say one word: pwn. It makes the game really humorous, but I have to admit, it does get a tad repetitive after a while.

Controls: good

I can't give it a number, I mean, you use the D-pad and 2 buttons. It's so simple, I guarantee you won't be confused by the game controls.

Replay Value: 10

Seriously, the feeling that you can one day 0wn the w0rld drives you to play forever. Ok, not forever, but at least 10 minutes a day.

Overall Rating:

I give it a 10 because it is honestly a must-buy for any N-Gage owner. You cannot ever say again that the N-Gage has no good games, because this is its saving grace. It is definitely the best N-Gage game out there, and it can compete with some other top-tier titles. Sure, people would prefer Halo 2 or GTA: SA over this, but when your in the car going the store, this is the perfect game to pull out and get into battles during those red lights.

So what are you waiting for? Get this game and your Fabbis will teach you to kick some ass!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/05