Faceez (DSiWare) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

As in the early days of the DS, most DSiWare hasn't been of great quality and, apart from Nintendo 'breaking up' their various titles in order to create their 'A Little Bit of' series, the offerings have been less than inspiring. Fortunately that is beginning to change slightly and, now that developers are getting to grips with what the DSi is best at, we are starting to get some more interesting weekly download options. Faceez is one such package and while it's not strictly speaking a game it does offer more entertainment value than the average 200 points title.

Gameplay

Before you do anything in Faceez, you'll need to take a photo of either yourself, a friend, in fact, just about anything you want to snap a picture of really. This image can then be used for your very own creation and you can save up to 100 Faceez that you can bring out at parties or family events. Once you have your basic Faceez, you can modify it in any number of different ways but the main areas are Mix, Disguise and Animate. 'Mix' is the most bizarre as it allows you to overlay parts of other images you have stored onto your own and this can make for some very odd outcomes. With 'Disguise' you can use a variety of props to 'dress up' your Faceez, including everything from hats and glasses to noses and beards. 'Animate' allows you to bring your newfound friend to life whilst also altering their look. It's great fun to scroll though all the various options and you can spend quite some time altering the appearance of your Faceez. Alternatively (if you're like us) you'll simply hit the Random button, at the base of the screen, and all the work will be done for you.

Controls

It's not a game; it's a photo package so it's all camera and stylus but you'd probably already worked that out hadn't you?

Graphics

Given that you create most of the visuals, the quality really is up to you. The animations are nice though and there are more than enough props available to alter the look of your creations.

Sound

While the music isn't that bad, it is only one track and once this has looped for five minutes or so, it's probably going to start irritating you.

Special features

While there's little use for the touch screen, the camera is at the core of this package. It's just a shame the resolution isn't a little higher as some of the photos you'll take (especially in low light) can appear a little grainy. What's most important here though is the size of the image and the viewfinder features a template where you must attempt to line up the eyes and mouth in order for everything to work as it should. You can also use the camera to import new backgrounds for your Faceez too, just in case they want to go on holiday.

Final comments

As a piece of software Faceez is certainly fun and you'll spend the first five minutes or so manipulating your own character before moving on and showing other family and friends just how ridiculous you can make them look. Sadly, once this novelty period is over, there's little more this package can do. Yes, you can upload images to Facebook but this only includes static screens so the humorous animations (which really sell the overall package) won't be seen by anyone unless they crowd around your DSi. It's an intriguing piece of software but it just doesn't offer quite enough.

Pro: It's Entertaining (for five minutes or so anyway)
Con: Poor Resolution Images, Only A Single Soundtrack
Final score: 6.1

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