Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Perfect Getaway on Facebook: Where your final destination is boredom

Playing this game begs the question: Is this how the crew of the Love Boat felt all the time? Welcome to Perfect Getaway, the cruise ship party game that never ends--literally. You'll never leave the boat, because you can't. Perfect World Entertainment's first entry into the social games arena throws you onto a cruise ship as its captain. It's your job to make sure everyone on the ship is as happy as possible. The game has a distinct anime art style that's undeniably cute, and its gameplay moves extremely fast, giving off the feeling of progression. However, it's not you that's going on the Perfect Getaway, it's your customers.

And despite this game's solid balance and incredibly fast flow, the fact that I personally will never get to go on any of these perfect getaways is tough to get over, given the game's title. Perfect Getaway plays a lot like business management sims that have come before it like Nightclub City and Diner Dash, though the fact that it may or may not have used those games as inspiration isn't the issue.

Perfect Getaway Set Sail
In order to keep patrons aboard your tiny vessel peachy keen, you have to placate them with activities to do, shops to spend money at and objects to interact with like pools. Most of these actions cost Energy, which you get very little of to start. So, using abilities like Whale Watching and Shopping Sprees to boost happiness should be used sparingly. However, the number one thing you can do to increase your customers' happiness is Set Sail.

Gallery: Perfect Getaway
This is essentially the crux of the game, sailing to new locations to constantly restore your patrons' happiness and earn coins from what they spend money on. Then, you must use those coins to buy new attractions. The process is largely cyclical, with the only thing changing being the scale of it all. Thankfully, your journey to creating the ultimate cruise ship is governed by quests, which fly by so quickly they create the illusion of you progressing.

Perfect Getaway Pool Party
But while are you are, in fact, leveling up and gaining new attractions and abilities to maintain your peoples' happiness, you're not really getting anywhere. You're still on the same old boat. Yes, it can be upgraded and customized to your hearts content, into something completely new from the last time you logged in, but it's still the same old boat.

While all the people paying up are seeing the best of what Cuba, the Bahamas Jamaica and more have to offer, you're stuck picking up their towels and boosting your Leisure points to pay your crew to keep the hot dogs coming. Perfect Getaway is one fine Facebook game, logistically speaking, but your actions in the game don't quite live up to its name.

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