11-Aug-2003 I truly doubt anybody has had as many neighbours from hell as me. First there was the stampeding, raging alcoholic upstairs; then the cocaine-dealing pimp downstairs and now I have the pill-dealing, boy racer, techno junkies to contend with. It's not as if I live in the bloody Bronx either. I live in tranquil blue-rinse Bournemouth - and frankly, one expects better.
So, does Neighbours From Hell offer me the kind of displacement therapy I so desperately need? Well, no - it's all a bit too cute for that really. If I could spray 'penissubstitute' on the bonnet of a white Nova or dump a tonne of manure on a driveway then my twisted revenge fantasies would just about be satisfied. Alas, NFH is not that sadistic.
Exploding birthday cakes, swapping fish food for soap flakes and smearing shoe polish on bath towels is much more the style here. And if that's the kind of mischief you like to get up to then you'll get on well with this. In truth though, NFH is not a PC game; with classic influences like Little Computer People, Spy Vs Spy and The Sims, this cartoon comedy world of trick-setting and trapping would actually be much more at home on a GBA in the hands of a ten year-old.
That said, NFH is an amusing and playful diversion from guns and aliens - for a while. Unfortunately, with only 14 'episodes', it's too shallow to offer lasting entertainment. If you want neighbour terrorising tactics that go beyond a single day, try living in my flat.
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