GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Games

Playstation Reviews
PS3 | PS2 | PS One | PSP

Xbox Reviews
Xbox 360 | Xbox

Nintendo Reviews
Wii | DS | GBA | Cube | N64


PC | N-Gage | Dreamcast

How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Games In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums
Smart Bomb psp Game Reviews
Smart Bomb
Critic Score
Metascore: 45 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
5.0 out of 10
based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

Smart Bomb delivers a tense gameplay experience as players are faced with a series of fast paced, challenging 3D puzzles based around diffusing sophisticated AI bombs. Gamers are faced with a series of bomb modules split into tiers and each tier must be disabled to unlock the next. As a tier is disabled the player moves closer to the detonator at the core of the bomb which must be deactivated before moving onto a new challenge. Single player action includes story, arcade and challenge modes while multiplayer mode challenges four players in a series of head to head gaming action. [Eidos Enteractive]

PUBLISHER: Eidos Interactive
DEVELOPER: Core Design
GENRE(S): Puzzle
PLAYERS: 4
ESRB RATING: E (Everyone)
RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2005

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

87
eToychest
Smart Bomb will make you alternately hate and love it. You’ll swear, curse, kick and scream, and come back for more. If you’re up to the challenge, Smart Bomb will give you one of the best puzzle experiences in years.
Read Full Review
60
PSM Magazine
Had potential, but it's ultimately too unpolished and player unfriendly for any but the most puzzle hardcore. [July 2005, p.88]
60
Game Informer
Many of the minigames simply aren't much fun the first time, but they become horrendously painful by the fifth try. In short, thie Bomb is a dud. [June 2005, p.137]
55
Worth Playing
The game exists as a way to take a bunch of little games which could have easily been momentary distractions at work or the like (think Flash game level of complexity, only not nearly good as some of the better Flash games you've played), tied together by a lame premise and sold as a retail package.
Read Full Review
54
Next Level Gaming
There are better puzzle games out there, and games that do not pretend to be something they are not.
Read Full Review
53
Game Chronicles
If you’re looking for a puzzle game with staying power you thankfully have a few other choices on the PSP. Smart Bomb is only for those with steely nerves, low blood pressure, and a lot of extra time on their hands.
Read Full Review
50
IGN
But the mix isn't all that fun because of the uneven pace and lack of build-up, and because the puzzles are so limiting, it doesn't get better with time like many brain-twisters do.
Read Full Review
50
games(TM)
Even though each puzzle is explained before it gets tough a few stages down the line, there are still a few that are a little too complex for their own good (as if the game wasn’t frustrating enough already.) [Aug 2005, p.96]
48
GameSpot
The visual performance is poor, the puzzles are drab, and the story mode is laughably lame.
Read Full Review
42
GameZone
The biggest thing that make this game get such a low score is non-responsive controls and framerate issues will make you want to slam your precious PlayStation Portable against a brick wall.
Read Full Review
40
Cheat Code Central
Everything about it is low quality, from the music to the terrible cutscenes.
40
GameSpy
The slow load times, the tedious puzzles, and the overall lack of fun in this title are almost awe inspiring. It's really very hard figure out why someone gave the go-ahead on its production.
Read Full Review
40
DarkStation
Unless you enjoy poorly developed games that make you frustrated right off, then you can probably just let this bomb go off and move on to other games.
Read Full Review
30
Edge Magazine
Unforgivably unresponsive controls and a series of poor structural choices quickly reveal themselves and deeply undercut every positive point the game provides. [July 2005, p.95]
Read Full Review
30
PSX Extreme
A terrible game. It’s not fun, it’s infuriating, and it feels like a budget title that was rushed out the door. Unless you have an incredibly high tolerance for dying and repeating tasks, there’s no reason to spend another second thinking about this game.
Read Full Review
30
Official U.S. Playstation Magazine
My advice to the developers is next time, skip the shaking, the timers, and the laughable cinemas and spend more time polishing and testing. [June 2005, p.101]
28
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Beyond merely bad - it's kind of depressing. [July 2005, p.119]
23
netjak
There's only one group of people that I can think would be stupid enough to praise this game, and that's people who like to pretend that they're smarter than other people.
Read Full Review
20
G4 TV
By far the worst part of Smart Bomb is the loading screen.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 5.0 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Billyjoe D. gave it a9:
Awesome game frustrating though at times, cause u gotta start the whole bomb over every time u screw up.

Jose gave it a7:
Short load times.Pretty good game, although it does get frustrating. Most of the even early level puzzles are challenging. An innovative game for the PSP.

Robert gave it a3:
This may be the most frustrating game i've ever played. It is by far the worst game i've played for the psp. The controls fight while you try to figure out in 45 seconds how to acomplish complex goals. the screen shakes and can make it hard to see just whats going on and if you don't get one puzzle right you start from the begining of the level. I was looking forward to this one and hoped it would be a unique puzzle game but instead i get a steaming turd of a game.

Discuss this game in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: iPhone 3G | Fantasy Football | Moneywatch | Antivirus Software | Recipes | E3 2009

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use