Infinity Blade - iPad Review

Infinity Blade was a title that caught my eye quite some time ago. As soon as trailers for it started to come out, I was smitten with the graphics and the reviews did not do much to discourage me from wanting to try it. They were generally ranging from pretty good to amazing depending on the reviewer. I picked this title up some time ago on sale, and with the recent release of Infinity Blade II, I figured this would be a good time to take a look at the original.

Graphics - 10:

This is a gorgeous game. Easily the prettiest I had seen on the iPad when I first got it. A couple of rivaled it since, but the fluid animations, lens flare effects and detailed environments really stand out and changed how a lot of people viewed iPad games.

Sound & Music - 6:

The sound effects are decent, and the music is pretty good - though it lacks much variety. I did run into a few quirks though, where once in awhile the sound would not play in my session until I closed the game out and restarted it.

Gameplay - 7:

More good than bad to be here. The swiping gestures work well most of the time, and I liked drawing out the magic sigils during combat. I felt like the menu was a bit clunky to get around in at times, and there were definitely times in combat where defensive gestures seemed to go wrong - especially dodging. Also, while the concept was interesting, more variety in the environment would have been greatly appreciated.

Intangibles - 7:

Fights don't take long, giving the game a nice quick-fix pick up and play feel. The progression system is pretty cool - I liked how maxing out gear increases value and gives you levels as it, like you, gains experience. I found myself using every single piece of gear along the way, even if it wasn't the best available, simply to take full advantage of the leveling system. Unfortunately, it does not take long to beat the God King, there is not a lot of variety in the enemies you fight, none of them are particularly difficult and the limited number of environments mean you will see and do it all pretty quickly. Another complaint? The game seems to crash somewhat frequently on my wife's iPad, requiring complete system reboots. Not every time, not even close - maybe 10% of the time, but that still seems too much.

Overall - 7.5:

In some ways, I would like to rank this game higher. I really enjoyed it quite a bit - it's one of my most heavily played iPad titles to date. But, it is not without some flaws - such as the crashing or the limited number of creatures and environs. Considering how cheaply the game can be acquired now, it's hard for me to suggest not acquiring it - though I have not yet played the sequel, which I have read is superior in almost every way and might prove a better investment.

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Space Invaders Infinity Gene - PSN review

So I figured I'd go ahead and toss in a fairly short review for a Playstation Network game I picked up somewhat recently. Space Invaders Infinity Gene was one of several games on sale awhile back when I had a bit of extra room on my credit card, so I picked it up as I recalled it having pretty solid reviews. Now, it's kind of funny, but I've only ever played Space Invaders a handful of times. I did not have an Atari as a kid, but a TI 99/4a - it was a cartridge-based game console by Texas Instruments that had a keyboard and access to the BASIC programing language. As a result, I got to play a lot of knock-off versions of popular games like TI Invaders (yup - Space Invaders close), Munchman (Pacman anyone?) and so on. It was never really one of my favorite games though, as I found the premise of back and forth and shoot somewhat limiting (I was never a huge Centipede fan either).

Still, when I picked it up, the game was like half off, so I was out like $4 if I didn't like it. Here's my thoughts on it:

Graphics - 7:

I like the backdrops more than the foreground characters. Sometimes there is so much happening on the screen that it can be a bit tough to know where you should or should not be going. That said, the game has a nice retro look about it with updated effects and interesting geometric backgrounds that are constantly moving around.

Sound & Music - 7:

The sound effects are pretty solid, with different types of sounds for different events taking place on screen. Considering how little actual variety there is in the gameplay mechanics themselves, I thought the sound arrangement did a pretty good job. Music wasn't bad, but wasn't great. It fit the theme and 'mood' of the game, which has touched-up-retro all over the place, including the very basic menu designs.

Gameplay - 7:

The game seldom feels cheap, at least due to gameplay. There's a variety of weapons that you can use and there's usually several tactics that will work on any given map thrown at you. That said, sometimes the frantic graphics do you in simply due to how much is going on at once. Menus are easy to navigate, and you're always building toward new unlockables (new weapons, extra lives, making the points you earn feel like they're actually good for something other than high score comparisons). Your ship moves pretty well, and they break the horizontal plane, giving you vertical movement as well that really livens up the experience compared to the classic inspiration. That said, the mechanic is pretty simple - dodge, shoot, dodge, shoot, dodge badly, die, come back, shoot more.

Intangibles - 7:

There's a lot of stages, and the swarms of enemies are brought to you in a variety of patterns and waves. It's a big improvement over the arcade classic. The ability to unlock things and make your earned points feel like they are giving you some tangible reward is pretty cool too. I've spent probably 10 hours playing the game, and at the price I paid, I feel like that's a pretty decent deal. I've played full on $60 games that took me far less time to beat - though I believe the regular price is $10. Also, it sure felt like some of the loading screens took a very, very long time to load.

Overall - 7:

Yeah, this was a hard average to come up with in my head. Solid, even good at times, but far from consistently delivering a great time for me personally. The frantic gameplay style has benefited from its modern makeover, though following up bouts of hectic shooting and dodging makes the somewhat long load screens a bit more irksome in my opinion. The game is not that advanced graphically or with sound, so the reason for the load screens does baffle me a bit. Basically, if you are a fan of the original game you know what you're getting overall and that may be enough to sell you on it. I don't suffer buyer's remorse, but it's not a game I see myself playing a lot more of in the future either.

 

Note: The loading screen image is from Mobygames here.

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