User Reviews (1 - 10 of 10)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Whoa! I almost cried when I reached the end!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: December 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This was the first computer action game I had ever played and it was truly an inspiration to try some others. 'Hype - The Time Quest' is based off the Playmobil Castle, a classic toy I happen to own and I have to say the UbiSoft game developers did a magnificent job of bringing a very detailed Playmobil medieval world to life, just like they had previously done on the also fantastic 'Laura's Happy Adventures.'

Hype, a yound warrior has been sent two hundred years in the past after attempting to defend his land and his king from the evil Black Knight Barnak, now Hype must rely on his strength, his skills and his new friends to return to his time, the Era of Taskan IV and set things right once again, this adventure is certainly going to have surprises, you will certainly create "memories" while playing it that will undoubtedly ask you to play it again.

The game has superb-graphics, the action is nicely detailed and the characters' movements are really believable adding to the charm of the game, 'Hype' is a much longer, serious and dark game than it's precedetors "Laura's Happy Adventures" and the kiddie "Alex Builds His Farm." The game is exciting, challenging and filled with fun puzzles and objectives.

The music adds a lot of pleasant atmosphere, very well crafted and carefully added to different game-play situations, scary music is also well added to the "creepy parts." Wildlife sounds and even a few wandering animals are all around, making the game feel more realistic. Different time periods bring different atmospheres, the Night era of Taskan II is breathtaking, look at that beautiful night sky and that big, round moon over the little town's roofs! Outstanding! Of course, like all good things, especially video games, they must come to an end and as soon as you reach that closing video, you'll be brethless thinking "I... I can't believe it is over... No more? I could go on forever!"

Overall, in the two years I've had this game I've played it through completion twice. It is definitely something you will treasure, for it will bring a lot of hours of fun to you and your family. A winner!

Wonderful game from bottom to top!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: March 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Hype is one of the most startling games that I have ever had the honor to come across - I found myself pleasantly surprised by it. I must admit, I wasn't really too sure about this game at first, I mean it's a game made by Playmobil - a company that makes those lego-resembling toys for young children. What kind of game could you possibly expect coming from this children's company?
I have nothing against Playmobil, just for record, I find the Playmobil toys to be some of the most impressive children toys out there. The attention they pay to detail in the toys is just amazing, and you can see the reflection of this detail in Playmobil's Hype: The Time Quest. The graphics are not perfect, I'm not saying that at all. But I love that they don't lazily throw something together. Take, for example, the time when Hype is to get into a battle in front of a whole arena of people. Typically in games I find that the creators of the game do not give the audience faces, all of the people are the same just duplicated. But in Hype you'll find that the audience all look different, I'm sure that any Playmobil fan would have a fun time trying to recognize the faces of the Playmobil characters you see in the audience.

This leads me to another aspect of the game that is impressive - the characters. The characters are so loveable, so funny, so unique. I can recall even the very minor characters in my memory because they were just so unique. Usually in video games I do not even bother to talk to the town people because they usually say the same thing; which is usually telling you what you have to do next - but this is not the case in Hype. Some characters will scream at your presence, some will welcome you, some are complete lunatics that just make you laugh.
The only flaw character-wise that I see is that the character that you play as, Hype, never talks. You never really get to know his personality because he never says a single word and doesn't really act out anything in the short movie clips that there are in the movie. Some people would view this as a good thing because it shows that YOU are Hype, and Hype's personality is YOUR personality. I find this to be annoying, though, I want to know who Hype is. Hype could never be my favorite character in this game because we don't really know who he is.

Some games have such impressive storylines that the only way to show these storylines is to have a bunch of those movie clips, and very long movie clips. Hype, however, has a pretty unique, interesting storyline yet does not put in all those tedious, long movie clips. Basically, the storyline in Hype is that the evil Black Knight rained in on their parade, Hype tried to protect the king but ended up getting sent back in time where the game starts and you have to find a way to get Hype through all of these obstacles to eventually bring him back to his present time and defeat the Black Knight. (a very basic description of the really quite impressive storyline) To introduce this storyline there is a beginning video, but it is not long and tedious. None of the movie clips in the game are. You will find yourself run into a good amount of these movie clips but you will never find yourself thinking, "Gosh! Is this movie over yet?! I want to play!" The game has a very good balance between movie time and gameplay.
I love the movies, they can be quite humorous at times and are just really full of lively fun.

There is a good balance in the audio levels. The music does not over-power the character's voices or the game's sound effects. Yet, it is not so quiet that you can't hear it. Bringing me to another stunning quality - the music. I absolutely loved this music. It matched the story so well and really brought you into Hype's world, it made you feel the emotions that Hype and the other characters were feeling. I would love just to get this music on a CD, it's so tranquil at times, so joyful at others, it's just really impressive.

The age level for this game, at first glance, looks as though it is more suited for the younger audience. When I first saw this game I had instantly assumed it was for the ages 5-10 or something of that sort. For that reason I wasn't even sure whether or not I would like the game. However, a good friend of mine talked so highly of it that I was persuaded to at least give it a try (and many thanks to my friend for telling me about the game). You'll find that the game is not really for the younger audience, though. Sure, the graphics and lack of anything gory makes it seem like a game best suited for the younger audience; but I quickly found that the game has a more broad age range.
The language used is what really got me thinking about it. It doesn't use innappropriate language, no not at all, but it uses a language that younger children would not understand. I am a highschool student and there were even a few words that I didn't really know exactly what they meant. I'm not saying that the game is hard to understand, if you're playing the game you don't really need to understand it all, I'm just saying that it seems like the creators made the game for a broad age range.
Children will enjoy the game because of it's adventures, the charming characters you encounter, and the challenging - but not OVERLY challenging gameplay.
Teens will enjoy it because of the challenge and the puzzles, the character interaction, the music, and the gameplay itself.
Adults will enjoy the game for the same reasons and approve it for younger children because of the lack of gore in the game.

Overall, it's a very nice game. I thoroughly enjoyed myself while playing and plan on playing it through many more times to come. If you are a fan of action-adventure games then I highly recommend this game to you. It's a real refreshing breath of air compared to the more common, gory video games that you see today.

An excellent game - well worth the buy!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: April 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is an excellent game. It can put you off immediately seeing that it is a Playmobil production - I mean, how many games based on a type of model are any good whatsoever. However, this game will pleasantly surprise you.
Storyline - 5/5 stars: This is one of Hype's strongest points. The basic idea of the story is as follows; a knight by the name of Hype is banished into the past by an evil black knight where he must gradually make his way back through 4 eras, with varying maps and new characters, often descendants of characters in previous eras to get back to his own era and defeat the black knight. Perhaps the best part of the storyline are the characters - they vary greatly in personality but are all believable. You really get attached to some characters, even quite minor ones, and I feel a little melancholy when I see certain characters for a last time...
Gameplay - 4.5/5 stars: The gameplay is excellent. It has very nice features such as shooting barrels which then explode, killing enemy soldiers. My only complaint is the fact that the actual combat is relatively simple - only two weapons, and with your sword, your main weapon you have only one attack move. I would like to be able to block with my shield - enemy soldiers can. However, this simplicity is largely made up for when you fight a "boss baddy"; you have to find often ingenious ways to defeat them. Also, the balance is very nice - a mixture of puzzle solving (some quite challenging), searching, fighting and some short but very fun movies. An average campaign takes about 10 hours but this can vary enormously.
Graphics - 4/5 stars: The graphics in this game are very good. I believe it is one of the first 3D games (it was only made in 1998) - this helps the game enormously. The graphics themselves don't stand up to newer games like Zelda, there are some pixilated images and some images appear 2D - I once noticed a small hole in Hype's torso - but broadly these graphics stand up very well and can look quite beautiful sometimes.
Music - 5/5 stars: I wouldn't normally include a section on music, however, for Hype I make a special allowance. The music works fantastically, at exactly the right volume. It also changes with different situations, such as fighting a "boss baddy" or moving into a different area or time.
AI - 4.5/5 stars: This actually makes a bigger difference to the game than most people realize. The AI in Hype is very good. Soldiers are about the right strength - some are real challenge. They act relatively intelligently, archers run away from you if you run towards them, and soldiers raise their shields to protect themselves. Some "boss badies" act very intelligently - particularly your evil twin.
Age level: This game is meant for a varied age - it is not gruesome at all and has fun characters so is suitable for small children, but is not specifically meant for them, the fun adventure aspect is supported by interesting characters and puzzles and searching. It is a moderate difficulty. Overall, I would advise this for 6+; I have played this game several times; once when I was 7, once when I was about 9 and now, when I am 13.
Overall, a great buy - it will run easily on most computers, it is very fun, and now relatively cheap. An excellent game.

The best PC game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game was the best that I have ever played. It was challenging, but not to hard so I wouldn't understand it. The scenerey is beautiful, and the sound is lovely. It does have some fighting, but it is not too hard. The only bad thing about this game is that once you beat it, it is not that fun to play anymore. I hope ubisoft comes out with another hype game cuz I loved this one.

Hype, a healthy game for kids (and more)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I first played Hype on the PC of a relative and now, even at 28, I bought the game! The one thing about this game I like the most, it is "healthy". There is an amazing storyline on one hand and on the other, there is a fair balance between problem solving (great puzzles by the way) and fights. The level of violence is fine, Hype never kills anyone, enemies faint when they die and never the player can uses unnecessary brutality. Nevertheless, combats are fun. Graphics and music are also way below average. Let's face it, it is not exactly Zelda as they mentioned one hundred time on the box but at the third of the price, it is well worth it.

You won't be disappointed!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is great, my family and I are having a lot of fun playing it. It's graphically stunning and the voices are pretty good too. The gameplay is really easy to handle but it will challenge you enough even if you're a gamer. And last but not least, action but no violence. I think this game will stand as a reference for a long time.

Awesome Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I am a vetran RPG player, and I must say this is one heck of a game.There is violance but is at a healthy level.My only complaint is the saving system.You can save only when you see a lectern. This can get very annoying.Hype has stunning graphics (bosses are cool)and nice sound.Some puzzels may be hard for young ones but it will still be tons of fun.The magic spells are my favorite.they look cool.There isn't too many or too little.The new armor you can get is cool and the final sword you get is awesome .A must have for any PC owner!

Very poor support

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: May 11, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I purchased Hype for my son but it would not run properly on our PC, so he never got to play it. I tried phoning the toll-free number provided in the manual, but it played a message giving a long distance number to call for support. I also tried the Ubisoft web page. There was very little information available, and nothing that helped me with the issue I was having. I tried sending email to tech support but never received a reply. I finally decided to give up and returned the game. I will certainly avoid purchasing software from Ubisoft in the future.

Hype: A Fun-Filled Adventure For The Whole Family!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: February 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Though a little scary for my 7-year old daughter (who only likes to play while I'm in the room with her)...this is a wonderful game. No blood or gore, but bats...ghosts...skeletons...and of course, the Black Knight! The music and scenery are engaging. Amazingly, these little plastic Playmobil characters really seem to come alive in this game. Hours of fun...a very well-conceived theme. My daughters also LOVE Playmobil's Laura's Happy Adventures. I hope more of these great family games are around the corner!!

The best game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is challenging and funny adventure. It makes you want to play it everyday. The spells have great graphics and it has a good story. It's like a Baldur's Gate and Diablo game for kids.

Review Page: 1 

Actions