Afterlife

The Good
Well, it was original...

The Bad
The game mechanics were just too complex. The learning curve was really high, and the amount of work requred to get a little humorus payoff did not work for me.

The Bottom Line
A great idea, but probably not enough design/prototyping to insure it was fun from the start.

The Good
I like pretty much everything about the game. Your demonic and angelic assistants are rife with personality and contribute to the overall humorous tone of the game. The descriptions of the punishments and rewards are a scream, and the game is filled with humorous touches all over the place (such as the "Loading" screen, where you see the bar change from "35% done" to "Microwaving burritos" to "48 bottles of beer on the wall" etc).

The music is great, too.

The Bad
Afterlife has its own versions Sim City 2000's arcologies. They're called "Omnibolges" (for Hell) and Love Domes (for Heaven). Once you hit the stage of the game where you can put down the biggest of the three Omnibolges or Love Domes, the game's pretty much over.

The Bottom Line
A humor-filled, light-hearted look at the afterlife, complete with Disco Demons, the Four Surfers of the Apocalypso, Bats Out of Hell, and more! If you liked Sim City 2000, you're almost certain to like Afterlife.

The Good
The game is very funny, it is amusing to read all the detailed descriptions of the various punishments / rewards. But what makes it an excellent game is that it is more complex than it's obvious model, Sim City 2000. The vibes that the buildings in Hell and Heaven emit need to be taken into consideration - as it is possible to manipulate the living, it is better to let them focus on sins and virtues that don't create problems in either realm. Also, it is important to plan according to the different belief models on the planet - some people reincarnate, some wander through all punishments and rewards, some stay in Heaven forever and so on. It is important to direct the living to ease the work of the Demiurge. The player has two aides, the Demon Jasper and Ariel, who do tutorials and report problems in both realms, at least when they are not tied up into insulting each other.

The Bad
When both realms are at their full strength, the game becomes a little bit unclear and nothing really new happens. All is about maximizing balance, thus efficiency of the buildings, which soon becomes a tedious task. What can be seen as a goal of the game - as far as I remember to reach 1.000.000.000 souls in order to gain the most sophisticated special buildings available - can take a very, very, very long time.

The Bottom Line
A Sim City like game with an esoteric theme where the player has to build up and administrate Hell and Heaven.