Warblade iPhone Review

his particular title was a user requested one from the forums. Be sure to post or send me a line at “nick at gameblurb.net” about any iPhone/iTouch game you’d like reviewed and, if time and funding allows, I’ll see to evaluating it for you.

One of my favorite side scrolling shooters from the PlayStation would have to be Einhander from Squaresoft (AKA: Square-Enix to those who don’t know of the company’s better years). It was a short title that could be beaten in an hour and in most respects offered the same things as R-Type and its other peers. Unlike the rest it had a deep customization system where you could deck out your ship with whatever weapons and upgrades you gained through play before you even started a new game. You could also keep the new enhancements when you started a new game, offering plenty of good incentive to return for both better gear and a higher score. Warblade uses a similar formula to entice people to play it, albeit without the pretty graphics and the ability to keep enhancements gained from previous playthroughs. Read on to see if it works.

Graphics/Presentation:

Played R-Type, enjoyed Space Invaders, or any of its other incarnations? Good, add menus to those and you’ve seen this game before. Ditto for story.

Sound:

Ships go boom, lasers go beep, the BGM doesn’t matter, you’ve heard it all before. The only real addition is a digitally synthesized British voice over that acts as your guide throughout the game. It’s a weird, though functional, addition in its own right.

Gameplay/Controls:

The game uses the accelerometer to control movement where you tilt the device left or right to go in the respective direction. Firing your weapon or missile, checking your score, and all the other standards are all present and, as a side scrolling shooter, the main portion is a fairly basic, if easy, entry into the genre. There are a few mini-games present to boost your score and offer variety but nothing truly novel.

The main draw of this game comes in the upgrade shop, which you can access every few levels or so. Here you can buy stat improvements, weapons, and armor with in-game currency you earn during play. While you can pay for additional money with real dollars, thankfully, this isn’t required to get full enjoyment as the coins earned in-game are more than sufficient. This element lets you customize your ship to fit your play style perfectly and, since money is limited, a strategic level is also present. Do you spend on the cheaper stat upgrades that let you send out a seemingly limitless wave of laser-fire at your opponents while zipping across the screen or do you arm yourself with more expensive, albeit slower, weapons that leave your ship a tank of death capable of shooting lasers that go all over the screen? With achievements, a personal and Open Feint Leaderboard, and tons of relevant unlockables that require skill to attain this title offers plenty of reason to buy it.

Though that isn’t to say this game is without real problems. The major deal breaker here is just how bland everything is. It’s plenty of fun to play but, if not for the upgrades section, this would be just another Galaga clone. Another issue is with the tutorial which takes the form of walls of text your forced to deal with whenever you encounter something new in-game. This can be annoying to deal with, especially at the start of the game when 5 or 6 of these are what you’ll encounter first. As there is no multiplayer expect a solo affair – a fact which really doesn’t need to be.

Conclusion:

There’s nothing really wrong with this title and it does offer a few unique elements you won’t find anywhere else. It’s just so bland that there’s nothing to really draw you here. With a little ambition Warblade could’ve gone far but, as it is, buy it only if you’ve a couple bucks to burn and are in the mood for a basic side scrolling shooter.

A copy of this game was purchased by GameBlurb for the purposes of evaluation and review. It took a week to evaluate then review this game. I like puppies.