The Howler

Very good game. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. I strongly recommend this.

Life as air-balloon pilot is tough. You aren't afforded any of those nifty steering doo-dads. All you have to guide you is the wind. Playing The Howler is all about learning to become one with the wind as you soar around this pastel world. Its a simple concept for a game but it comes together quite well. Its a short but sweet ride that should keep you entertained for just over an hour. The controls are super simple. All you can do is increase the heat to ascend or subsequently release the hot air to descend. By controlling the elevation you will pass through different zones of air blowing the wind this way and that way. Certain currents will be stronger than other and you must be careful of the potential momentum of the stronger winds. By straddling these currents you can proceed to your destination or pick up goods required for the different objectives. Many levels will simply have to going for one spot to another. Other levels may have you pick up and deliver a package. Later in the game you'll be given bombs you can drop. Use these to destroy obstacles in your path or take out the enemy's bridge. Just be careful not to be too close to your bombs as you can easily be sent floating off screen and into the abyss. One of the coolest parts of the game is the hand drawn art. The backgrounds are gorgeous and rich with detail. They distinguish themselves nicely from the sharp,clean, lines of the objects in the foreground. There isn't much to the sound design. There isn't any music while playing which could be justified to help you concentrate. Usually all you hear is balloon's propane kicking in as you turn on the heat to ascend. That being said the automatons and cars really stick out in the levels they're present. There really isn't much else to say. This is a really simple game, one that doesn't take long to finish. That isn't necessary a bad thing considering the low price point. Not to mention there really isn't many other games like it. The unique art style might make it worth considering if you're on edge. As long as you're not expecting anything too fancy there is fun to be had playing The Howler.

Maybe good for its genre but kinda boring as a PC game. I have to admit that the "control by sound function" is really kinda cool and the "da vinci drawing" art style also looks good.

It's not bad looking, although not very creative. Beside that and gimmicky microphone controls, there's not much to say about this game. It almost seems like they just have focused on drawing random buildings and then after placing them next to each other, they tacked some gameplay elements, so they could sell it as a game. It's boring, clunky at places, overly simplistic, easy (the only challenge is that in some parts of the game, they give you very little space to maneuver, often resulting in restarting the level over and over again,) and very short (you could finish it in around 30 minutes.)