H.U.R.L.

Infobox VG
title = H.U.R.L.


caption = An enemy being hit with an exploding bar of soap.
publisher = Deep River Publishing
designer =
version =
released = 1994
genre = First-person shooter
modes = Single player
ratings = Everyone (ESRB)
platforms = DOS,Windows
media = CD
requirements = DOS
input =

H.U.R.L. is a children's game that was released in 1995 by a publishing house called Deep River Publishing. It is a first-person shooter (FPS), and is part of the wave of nonviolent FPS's that followed closely on the release of "Doom" and other games such as Wolfenstein in the early 90s. It was later re-released as Slob Zone 3D, and then translated to German and released as Blob Schlammschlacht 3D ("Blob Mudfight 3D") [ [http://www.mobygames.com/game/hurl H.U.R.L. for DOS - MobyGames ] ] .

Gameplay

The game takes place in an area called "The Slob Zone" which is under the control of Bob the Slob, who controls H.U.R.L, a legion of big messy animals such as cats and alligators who give the game its name. The game's scenery implies that the Slob Zone was once an ordinary neighborhood occupied by humans but they were chased out by H.U.R.L. Now, all of the buildings are abandoned and full of trash, and are guarded by Bob's team of animals who are on the lookout for any humans attempting to break in and clean up. It's the players goal as the hero of the game to brave the hostile environment and gather all the trash littered across the ten levels of the Slob Zone while fending off the attacks of the animals who will try and block the player's way and throw more trash. To defend themselves, the player must pick up trash and then visit vending machines where they can dump it off and trade it for weapons: soap, water balloons, and deodorant. If the player is hit too many times, the screen displays the message "YOU'VE BEEN SLOBBED!" and the level starts over again with no weapons or money. However, a player can save the game at any point, and restoring a saved game will also restore the weapons and money they had with them when you saved it.

Lacking violence, the game uses surrealism and potty humor to keep its young audience interested. The player finds himself searching each level for bathrooms in the hopes of finding a clean toilet to use to clean himself up after being hit in the face with dirty things such as kitty litter. In the final level the player is located in a nightclub and breaks into a house notably lacking in bathroom facilities, whereupon they meet the game's only boss, who immediately starts throwing diapers. Each time the player splashes the boss he emits a brief fart-like sound. In order that the game be able to earn an ESRB rating suitable for children, no graphic depictions of anything obscene are included.

The artificial intelligence of the enemies has been criticized for being of sub-standard quality Fact|date=May 2008. One complaint that players have made is that the enemies often block their path by standing right in front of a door they need to get through in order to complete the level.

Technical information

The game was created with ACK3DFact|date=May 2008 and was included with an old book which used the ACK3D engine to teach 3D game development in order to show what the engine could do.

The images in the game are mostly digital pictures of figurines created from modeling clay, encoded in an early type of GIF known as GIF87a.

References

See also

* Chex Quest
* Super 3D Noah's Ark
* Chibi Robo, a series of games with a similar goal
* PO'ed, a game with a similar premise but which earned a "Mature" ESRB rating

External links

* [http://www.mobygames.com/game/hurl HURL at MobyGames]
* [http://www.3centsoap.com/hurl/ Website written by a fan of the game]