Helam: A Stripling Warrior Quest: A Review

Excel Entertainment and React Games teamed up to bring us "the first major Book of Mormon video game." Helam is an exciting adventure game set in the Promised Land in which you will ENLIST allies, SEARCH and COLLECT clues, and FIGHT (probably my son's favorite part).

The game begins with Helam (you the player) trying to help his sister escape from the cave and make her way back home. You must do your best to protect your sister as you encounter enemies and help her cross dangerous terrain. You do this by moving the mouse pointer where you would like to go and clicking. Once you encounter enemies you only need to approach them and then combat will ensue.

In close combat you select your moves first, (as do your enemies), after which the battle takes place. You have the option of attacking (red), powering up (yellow), or defending (blue). Enemies start out easy and progressively get more difficult and more powerful! That tiger is quite powerful with 519 hit points. But this same idea applies to the player. As you defeat enemies and complete quests you collect experience points which help you level up and become more powerful as well. It's very important to collect as many herbs as you can carry, as these help restore hit points that you lose during battles.

Additionally, you can collect tools that help in your quests. For example, in your village you collect a shovel from the guards, which allows you to dig and find several other helps in your quests. One exciting event in the village is the burning synagog, you have to help put the fire out. It was very cool to see how they had portrayed places of worship for the Nephites. It's also cool to see how they wove aspects from the Book of Mormon history into the game. For instance, you encounter a man in the village, Amilon, who is telling the people that Pahoran needs to be removed from the Judgment Seat. He believes that a king should be set in Pahoran's place, someone like King Mosiah, who will do a better job of protecting the people. I guess I had just never thought about the fact that there were probably some who wanted a king for "righteous" reasons, or what they thought were righteous reasons.

I only had one problem with the game. Many times on the levels throughout the game there are places where it is fairly easy to get "stuck" or it is hard to move Helam around because of un-walkable areas jutting out or narrow passages that make it difficult to stay in the walkable area. This is fairly annoying, but it can be somewhat alleviated by just holding down the mouse button while moving the cursor around the screen. In this way, Helam just follows the cursor and it is easier to guide him around.

Overall, I think the game is a lot of fun and that many people will enjoy it. The artwork of the game is beautiful, and like I said, they did a great job in portraying the Promised Land. It is also fun fighting enemies and working to figure things out (be sure to find all 3 relics on each level).

My 7 year old son also enjoys the game so I'll leave you with his thoughts (embedded below).

LDS Voices from Lift Games

LDS Voices (from Lift Games here) is an iPhone app that challenges you to listen to several topics, including hymns, prophets voices, and scripture mastery, and to recognize them. You first select your topic of choice and then the level of difficulty (easy, medium, hard). Once you have done this you are presented with a few seconds of audio. Once you think you know what you are hearing you tap the Answer button. You are then presented with a list of possible answers to choose from. How many can you get right in a row!?

This is a great way of familiarizing yourself more with the hymns and the voices of the prophets. It also gives a good opportunity to practice the scripture mastery verses. The app sells for $2.99 in the app store (there is also a Lite version if you'd like to try it out a bit before purchasing). Grab your copy and enjoy!

Helam: A Stripling Warrior Quest

Looks like Deseret Book will soon be releasing a game from Excel Entertainment entitled Helam: A Stripling Warrior Quest (here). At least that's what I can find out on their site. Looking through the Excel Entertainment site (along with their Facebook page and their Twitter feed) I could find nothing mentioning this game. The cover looks fantastic. Even the flavor text (pasted below from Deseret Book's website) makes me want to try it out.



Game Description from Deseret Book:
Perfect for thrill-seekers of all ages, Helam: A Stripling Warrior Quest is an action- packed video game based on the Book of Mormon. Experience the excitement first-hand as you take control of Helam, who aspires to be a stripling warrior. Battle mysterious creatures, defeat wicked Lamanites, and collect clues while you journey to find the villain who burned down your village. Do you have what it takes to complete your quest, conquer evil, and become a true stripling warrior? 

I just wish there was more information available, such as a few screenshots or perhaps a short game trailer showing scenes from the game along with some gameplay examples. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Anyone know anything more about the game?