The Week in Games: Through Enemy Eyes

Through Enemy Eyes has a strange setup for a game. On the one hand, it's a treasure-hunting arcade based on exploring ancient ruins. You know the routine: wandering through ancient crypts, finding treasure, taking out bad guys (mummies and such), and the usual mischief. But don't expect a fast-paced arcade shooter (Lode Runner) or a tricky puzzle game (Pitfall). Through Enemy Eyes (TEE) is entirely turn-based.  

 
What does that mean, you ask? It means that the player and enemies each take turns. In each round, you're given a certain amount of "points" you can use to move, fire, pick up items, and so forth. And when your turn is up, your enemies get to make their move. The title refers to the fact that you can see the game map from the enemy's perspective simply by tapping an icon on the screen. 
 
Despite the unusual game play model, TEE has very good audiovisual characteristics. In between levels, you can upgrade your character by purchasing weapon refills or working out to make your character faster and stronger. Upgradeable characters are a relatively recent addition to the action game genre, but the idea works very well and is great for keeping the action from being too monotonous.
 
My feelings on this one are a bit mixed. On the one hand, I like the turn-based model. It worked really great in the old Gold Box games from SSI, where you could get into interesting tactical situations since you usually had a balanced group of characters fighting sizable numbers of enemies. But when it's mostly one-on-one like it is in TEE, it gets a bit tedious, especially since the entire game is turn-based. And the "see things the way the enemy does" feature is pretty neat, it's just not that useful in this context. I can see where this would be really useful in a FPS or perhaps an RTS game, but in this game it's really more of a novelty than anything else.
 
Those who like strategy games that are more action than tactics will probably like Through Enemy Eyes. However, seat-of-your-pants arcade gamers will probably be frustrated about the game's speed of game play. This game is a good first effort from Arabella Games, and I hope to see more Pocket PC releases from them soon. They seem to be very creative, and I think they have good potential.