Alba: A Wildlife Adventure – -apkrig

From the first moments, just about three minutes from the launch, it is quite evident that Alba: A Wildlife Adventure goes beyond the concepts associated with the classic mobile game. That she had left them somewhere in the valley as she ascended to something more exalted. It is a call for something human to appreciate where we came from and to fight for the right thing – nature conservation. Abroad, it is one of the most discussed titles in the pocket of recent months. Would he succeed in the Czech Republic as well?

The album needs to be addressed only because it comes from the creators of the ustwo studio, which pleased us many times ago with a duo of charming logic games by Monument Valley. His latest game is similarly distinctive to the eye and hearing, also lit by warm pastel colors, sounded by a nice, exotic soundtrack, only this time it’s all in low poly style.

Girl Power

We start with the audiovisual, because the person will be delighted right from the start when the title heroine Alba visits her grandparents on the adorable Mediterranean island of Pinar del Mar over the summer. Shortly after his arrival, he and his holiday friend rescue a dolphin trapped on land, which pushes our heroines to set up their own rescue station for endangered animals.

But brave business immediately gets in trouble when the local mayor dreams of a luxury hotel on the site of an island nature reserve. So, girls, grab your smartphone and capture everything that doesn’t fly right away! Islanders must remember the beauty and diversity of the surrounding fauna.

Photography is not quite the only way to communicate with the game. Alba can collect rubbish, add medicine for sick animals or tools to repair, for example, a broken footbridge or a broken birdhouse. If it seems complicated, there is no need to worry, the game pays attention to the central idea, not dull mechanics, you can perform all actions by simply touching the screen or pressing a button.

Wildlife Adventure is available on iOS via Apple Arcade and on PC, it will appear on other platforms during the spring. Currently, we would recommend the mobile version, as it does not try to come up with controls that break your fingers. On the contrary, the interface is elegantly simple, tap this, drag this, and the gyroscope of the device is a handy helper when photographing animals.

Birds and other animals can be found in every region of the island. The girl Alba wanders around according to her own will, it is not about moving on the tracks, as in the photographic Pokémon Snap. However, taking pictures still requires a certain dexterity, so you can also orient yourself by the sounds, birdsong or other rustling. With the help of a girl’s notebook, one can then learn a little more about each species, its names and characteristic manifestations.

When it comes to all this, Alba resembles a Firewatch, which is meant with a compliment. But it’s just an easy game, the animals aren’t exactly subtly hiding, and we also don’t understand why the little heroine can’t move while watching the viewfinder, so that she can, for example, stand at a more suitable angle.

Seeing the unseen

In ustwo, they tend to highlight the semi-sunken aspects of our lives, those that are too easy to take for granted. While at Assemble With Care it was about repairing items dear to someone, Alba wants you to care about the variety and beauty of nature. Pinar del Mar is such a compilation with beaches, lush forest, swamp and a nice castle that overlooks a cute town. This is a place from which happiness and nostalgia flow like from your favorite children’s book.

It’s busy too. Many of the island’s many inhabitants do something quite new and fun every day, the island has its romantic nooks and crannies, its weirdos and administrators. There is a lot to impress here.

Perhaps that is why the main message does not have the weight we would like. It is always good for someone to pick up a backward topic that is rather missing in pop culture. It’s no longer a good idea to prefer a presentation and hang it with basically quite ordinary game elements.

We pick up the thrown bottles and packaging by touch, we make a bridge, but what do we get out of it? Maybe it’s quite a subjective title, maybe someone would be more intensely affected by the clouds from the current state of the world. However, dull activities contrasted with the beauty all around us and seemed very uninteresting. Which might still be fine if Alba was an exceptional photo game, but she’s not, and running with the camera is pretty routine and, as we’ve indicated, not as easy to handle as it would be useful.

General well-being only half

We believe that wherever you play Album: A Wildlife Adventure, you really dream or think about what our planet actually looks like. We dreamed only thanks to nice panoramas, graphics and pleasant melodies. For beauty itself, not a higher good.

The idea of ​​nature protection is not used to the full and is bound by ordinary gameplay. Despite its excessive simplicity, however, Alba is still a great relaxing summer party for children or dreamers, for all who are looking for extraordinary experiences. You can also try it for free during the first free month of Apple Arcade.