Wire Defuser

When I watched The Hurt Locker, I didn't think the bomb disposal stuff looked all that complicated, and certainly not very stressful.

The thing that made me feel really uncomfortable in that flick is how hot it must be under the blazing sun in all that protective gear.

By contrast, Wire Defuser - the latest release from Sneaky Box and BulkyPix - has me perplexed, stressed, and furious with myself when I get something wrong. And I get something wrong quite often.

The game has you trying to defuse a series of bombs, primed to detonate should you fail to satisfy the demands of its constituent parts.

Wire Defuser starts out simple by asking you to tap and hold on a button for two seconds, then releasing within another second or so.

But rather quickly you'll find yourself turning dials for set periods of time, and adjusting knobs a certain number of degrees, and tapping quickly to fill a meter, and so on.

Knowing which order to complete the objectives in is a puzzle in itself, and past the opening stages you'll find yourself engaging in a lot of try-and-repeat style play as you work out what the game wants.

When you've worked it all out you're then awarded a number of light bulbs based on how well you did, and these light bulbs open up new levels.

There's not a lot of content in Wire Defuser's normal mode right now, but more is coming. This issue is also alleviated somewhat by the inclusion of the Hardcore mode, which narrows the margin for error and is an extremely robust challenge that starts tough and becomes brutal very quickly.

A finger twisting, mind-breaking puzzler of quick reactions and dedication, Wire Defuser is a smartly presented little package. Its level of difficulty will put some noses out of joint, and the number of ads do break up the flow of play, but otherwise this is *ahem* a blast.