"Bomberman + Doom = Clan Bomber"

NOTE: This reveiw is for Clan Bomber Version 1.01 for Linux. There are newer versions in development. To download the latest verion and the source code, go to: http://clanbomber.sourceforge.net/

Clan Bomber is GPL (General Public Lisence) software, meaning its free. It was origanally created as a means of using the ClanLib SDK. However, it turned into a quite a little game.

Gameplay Overveiw: Clan Bomber allows for up to 8 players, you can chose to have human opponents or play against the AI. The gameplay is very bomberman-sque, except more mature (meaning bloody). You may drop a bomb, kick bombs, throw them, etc. You will find powerup items to increase bomb strength and the number of bombs you can lay and various advantages. There are also negitive items like viagra (not kidding!) that makes you drop bombs uncontrolably.

Level Creation/Options: This is where the real fun comes in. First off, you can set various options, like the starting power of your bombs, the number of bombs you can lay at start, toggle negitive status effects, etc. It's rather fun to turn bombs up to max power and blow everything to hell in a few seconds. However, the absolute ''coolest'' part of this game is the level creation.

The tiles are very basic: Walls, boxes, ice, pits, traps, etc. The combinations are limitless though. After a minute or two you'll be able to create a full level and test it out. The editor is very easy to use (Hit F1 to display the commands, they're very easy to use). My gripe is that there should be more tiles. There is enough to create some entertaining levels, but I would like to see more in later versions.

Sound/Music: The Sound effects are fairly nice for a game that wasn't created by proffesionals. I can't evaluate the music as my computer refused to play it. I don't belive this is a problem with the game, but rather with my hardware (which is prone to disaster).

Graphics: The graphics are clean. The only gripe I have is I'd like to have more characters. The pengiun, the snake, the spider, the devil and head that was palette swaped four times isn't enough. Also, Tux should have been fatter... but that's a little trival.

Multiplayer: Get your buddies together and go wild! This makes a great party game if you ask me. Up to 8 players at a time.

Replay: The addiction factor of this game is very high, just like the origanal bomberman.

Sum it all up: If you like Bomberman, get this. The setting is a tad more mature, and there are lots of options. Get some friends together and kill some time. For a free game, this is pretty damn good!

Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/19/01, Updated 11/19/01