Kudos

Kudos

General Introduction

No, folks, it is not the breakfast bar called Kudos but a computer game! In this particular game, you are given the choice from a variety of characters of who you wish to be. Then you are given a small synopsis about your character. You control your character's life one day at a time. There are hidden messages throughout the game explaining how it works. As with anything in day to day life, your character must apply for a job. However, you must be careful that he or she possesses the necessary qualifications and attributes for it. You must pay bills and get the main necessities of life from the wages that you make just as in real life. You earn Kudos points based on the relationships you have. The more friends you have, the more Kudos you earn. However, the relationship has to have a strength of 20% before any Kudos points are earned. You can decide whether you wish to spend time alone or interact with your friends or perhaps improve your education. You can earn more Kudos points by organizing activities that your friends can perform.

Sound and Music

As far as music goes, it seems like good elevator music, that is, easy listening, but after a time it got to be monotonous for me. Therefore, I would only give it a rating of 4. The sound effects, some of which are snoring, a telephone ringing, a cat's meow, a dog's bark and the pitter patter of rain drops were all quite realistic. As a matter of fact, I thought it was our cat that was meowing and not the one on Kudos! The nightclub graphics were kind of cool, but then again, the color was much too drab. To rate these sound effects, I would give Kudos a high rating of 9.

Comment of Game play

When I began to play Kudos, I felt that the instructions were somewhat vague in the beginning. Also, at times I felt the English was a little difficult to understand. If you want to play the game correctly, there is quite a bit of reading to be done. I also got very frustrated as I could not see where to click on the activities that my character could perform. Since I am a newbie to computer games, it has to be spelled out or shown to me in black and white or else I will just not get it! Later on in the day, I went back to play Kudos, and this time I could click my mouse to play a certain activity. Perhaps there was a glitch in the game the first time I played it.

Graphics

I was not particularly impressed with the graphics of this game. I found that they were rather drab...too many grays and blacks were used. It would certainly help to spruce up the game by adding a splash of more color. I would give the graphics a rating of 5.

Fun Factor

This is a mild-mannered game that has very little action in it. It is perfect for someone who does not have the experience of playing computer games. I found that the game was a bit on the boring and dull side. I let my fourteen year old daughter play it, and she had the same opinion as I did. It was certainly not much fun playing the game, and I found that it did not motivate me to continue playing it. I would give the fun factor an overall rating of 3.

Final Conclusion
For those newbies to computer games, this game is perfect for you to ease yourself into other more challenging games. However, for the seasoned computer player, I would definitely not recommend this game. It is not challenging enough and does not have enough action to keep you captivated. I would recommend playing the free version online To download a free version go here: http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=kudos