I hope Game Mill has put more effort towards the retail version of this title.
Puppy Luv starts with a very long loading screen, after which you get to pick your puppy. Unfortunately, there were only two species (dalmatian and lab) and only three colors of fur to pick from. The puppies ranged from two and a half to four and a half months old, although it's not said anywhere if that will influence its learning and behavior.
With a puppy lab selected, I went off to get acquainted with the interface. My virtual puppy was happily walking around in my virtual backyard, and I wanted to get her some toys and basic care items. I click the "Care" button and I get "Your puppy doesn't feel like listening". This went on for about 15 minutes until I figured out that I needed to use "Call" for my puppy to come closer so I could use the interface.
So, with my puppy closer on the screen, I could finally check out the menu options.
"Care" is where you brush, wash, feed your puppy, provided you have a brush, shampoo, food and water. Brushing and washing are interactive activities my use of the mouse. It's also where you find your doghouse and pillows before you place them in the backyard. "Go out" has a selection of parks to take your puppy to and practice frisbee throws or just play for a little while. You can also take your puppy for a walk, but nothing really happens there, except a side-scrolling screen with your puppy walking in some clunky way. You also use the "Go out" menu to go to the Pet Store and shop for your puppy's needs. Pet Store items will be unlocked as you achieve goals, such as teaching your pet some tricks or winning competitions. Competitions are also listed in the "Go out" menu, and you can enter a frisbee toss or obedience trial to win money for pet supplies.
"Toys" is self-explanatory, you use this menu to play with your pet. You can actually throw a ball or frisbee for your puppy to fetch, but no matter how you click it, it will always move the same way. The chew toy is also used as a ball, so don't expect to see your puppy actually chewing on it. I was expecting the rope to be interactive, pulling it on one side while the puppy pulled on the opposite side, but no, you just drop it and the puppy chews on it for a while.
"Tricks" will teach your puppy how to obey. Each trick has five levels, represented by five stars, and once your puppy learns all five levels of a trick, you can teach him/her a new one. Teaching tricks is done by performing specific mouse movements. Your cursor becomes a sparkling trail which forms into an arrow depending on how you move it. Move it down, your puppy sits. Move it down again while sitting, and your puppy lays down. Unfortunately, this process is extremely sluggish and it's hard to get the movements right at any given time because the sparkly trail doesn't catch up on it. It becomes especially frustrating in the obedience competitions since the timer is going down by the second and it takes a very slow movement to do any of the tricks.
It's not just the obedience controls. Overall, the whole game feels slow. The response time is really bad, you will see delays of "puppy doing nothing" between the time you say "Come here girl" and she actually starts moving towards you. This repeats in pertty much every activity you do, becoming especially frustrating in competitions.
Although the graphics are colorful and cartoony, they are somewhat grainy even while in windowed mode, and it's especially noticeable when you take your puppy for a walk. The animations seem clumsy and repetitive. Repetitive becomes the music as well, after about five minutes.
This virtual pet simulator also lacks the puppy's bodily functions, and although there was a "bladder" indicator, I never once saw my dog pee or poop in the backyard or while taking a walk. If you're making a virtual pet, make it with all the real pet's behaviors.
Puppy Luv may be an interesting game for children, to teach them about pet responsibility, but I think even they would be bored (maybe even frustrated like I was) with it after a short while. There is plenty of room for improvement, and I hope Game Mill has put more effort towards the retail version of this title.
Review text part of Grrlgamer.com. Full review and screenshots at:
http://www.grrlgamer.com/review.php?g=puppyluv