Hard to believe games like this are a hit…
I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy them, but there isn’t much to the side-scrolling shooting game genre that seems like it would be appealing. Basically you move across the screen and shoot at anything (and everything) that comes your way. Occasionally you’ll need to turn the other way to shoot, but for the most part it’s just a matter of moving to the right and hitting the fire button.
So what is it that makes these games fun to pick up and hard to put down? Let’s take a look at the newest entry into the field, “Inkvaders” and see if we can figure it out.
In Inkvaders from Chillingo you are “Generic Mariner”, or just “G” for short and your job is to make that run from left to right and kill all the aliens that appear to be taking over the Human Race. Your mission will take you from the moon to Earth as you try to restore order. You’ll have all sorts of weapons at your disposal and a jet pack to help you move away from danger, and pick up the occasional rocks that you can use for money.
Controls are very simple. There is a left and right arrow at the bottom left of the screen and fire and jet pack buttons on the bottom right. They are laid out very nicely and are easy to use. The rest of the UI is also pretty easy to pick up and there will be no problems for first time players.
One of the best features with the game is that you can go into “Rush” mode and watch as the aliens swarm all over you. This really upped the “frantic” feeling in the game. But you can also avoid it if you are… chicken…
The graphics are the real star to the game. Giving us the name “Inkvaders” as a clue, the design looks like a bunch of drawings that have been cut out, placed on the board, and then suddenly came to life. There’s even a hand that comes across the screen from time to time to tear off an old level and add a new one. The colors of the game are fantastic and you’ll find yourself laughing a bit just at the overall look of the game.
The sounds in the game are also top notch. Amazing that this is only a buck to purchase.
I find that this game is very fun for quick play. You can fire it up and have fun blasting away aliens before going off to something else. But the main reason this game is good for quick play is also one of its biggest faults. There is no save feature in the game. Anytime the game is stopped for any reason it’s back to the start for you. Not sure why Chillingo didn’t see this as a problem and address it.
In fact, they are addressing it, just not before they sold it. Chillingo has plenty of things coming in updates that should have been in the release. Items like a flipable view vantage point (Chillingo always has the horizontal screen on the wrong side), an online scoreboard, achievements, etc. are all on the way. And while that is a good thing it reminds me of how much I hate it when people say something is “New &- Improved”. It really means that, “we knew it wasn’t finished, but we sold it to you anyway while we worked to make it better”. I’m tired of companies releasing incomplete games.
But back to the good things. This game is fun… very fun. And its low price will make me forget that I have to wait for everything to be completed on the game.
You will love the aliens, flying around on a jet pack (thought you can’t shoot and fly at the same time – pity), and seeing all the different weapons you can buy. And you’ll also see that the great graphics never seem to get old. There will be much comparison to “Zombieville” and it’s fair sense they are close to the same game, but even with my love for zombies… I have to give the nod to Inkvaders just on the pure “fun factor”. I give this game a high recommendation. It’s A Blast To Play!
It’s just not complete… Yet.
EDIT: We have been informed by the developers that the game does indeed *does* save your progress though there is no actual SAVE button. It also adds a ‘resume’ option to the main menu but it comes up as the last thing so a lot of people miss it. It’s also been changed for version 1.1 which has been submitted to apple so it will be to make it a lot more obvious to users.
Positives: Great Pick Up &- Play Game, Overall Polish, Basically… It’s A Blast To Play
Negatives: Repetitive, No Online Scoreboard, The Game Is Not Finished, Yet.
I certainly like the graphical style, but these games just lose my interest too fast…
haha I love your honesty Bob in the first couple of sentences. I agree with you these kinds of games are fun for about two minutes and then you delete it because its just shooting anything and really no point. Just my opinion. Looks like good graphics but for it to be unfinished…doesnt look great to me. Thanks for the review!
I picked up Inkvaders and I’m glad I did. One of the best dollars I’ve ever spent. Everything about the game is terrific. Graphics are great, sound is cool, gameplay actually make me do an about-face on my stance on side-scrollers. Can’t recommend it enough.
im still debating on whether or not to get this. only a buck so…
It would be awesome if there were zombie aliens.
ive only got one side scroller, zombieville. I like the theme change and it does in fact look better like you said in the review. I like the enemy variety and the vending machine thing. All in all, it seems like one of the best side scrollers.
As much as I like Zombies… this game is much better than Zombieville. And at a buck it’s a steal.
Bob
I downloaded this game for my kids to play. It was new, it looked cool, and it was a buck. What the heck. Anyway….I love it! The graphics are nicely drawn, which is refreshing compared to some of the intensely real looking graphics of some shooter games. There is some challenge to it, not just all shooting, you do have to collect stuff and earn points to buy weapons. It took a bit to get used to how the menu options (save etc.) worked, but I finally got it. It’s definetly worth a buck!
Thats Lee- I will modify the review to include the information you mentioned. We do try to get everything right however things do slip through the cracks.. Thanks for the feedback.
I was gonna say that not having a save feature in today’s apps makes no sense whatsover, and was inexcusable, but phew….that’s all I can say!
While the graphics may be somewhat different, these side scrollers to me at least, are becoming one and the same.
Let’s put it this way. If you like the othes, chances are you’ll like this one too. If you didn’t like the other side scrollers, chances are you won’t like this one….
Hi there,
Thanks for the review. The game *does* save your progress and adds a ‘resume’ button onto the main menu but it comes up as the last thing so a lot of people miss it. I’ve changed this now for 1.1 (submitted) to make it a lot more obvious. We’d never release a game like this without a resume feature
My bad on that one… I played this a lot before the review and never once noticed it. The game looks great and I can’t wait to see what all is added in the updates.
Bob