Infinity Blade iPhone/iPad App Review – Infinity, and Beyond!

Epic Citadel, the precursor to Infinity Blade (iTunes link), was a gorgeous technical showcase  that not only showed what the iPhone was capable of in terms of graphics, but also how seriously Epic Games were taking their move into the world of iPhone apps. But this was the calm before the storm, as Infinity Blade is the true test of what the geniuses behind the Unreal Engine could do when t7000 let loose on a humble mobile phone. In Infinity Blade, you play a warrior who has been charged with fighting the God King, a sort of evil ruler over the game’s mythical land, and appear to be a reincarnation of every warrior in your bloodline who has been defeated by him. The God King wields the titular sword, which absorbs the power of everyone it kills. In led watch all honesty, the plot is irrelevant, as all you really need to know is this is a game where you hit things. A lot. You start the game with a sword, a wooden shield and some simple armor, before trudging towards a castle and the home of the God King. On the way there are various baddies who stand in your way and must be defeated, plus money and goodies to collect. You don’t have control over where you character goes as such, as there are pre-determined routes you must follow, although there is the odd deviation where a choice can be made. This being a type of RPG game, your stats are boosted by experience  ipad dock points, plus you can purchase new weapons, armor, magic rings and so on with money found during the game. As you gain experience points and master your weapons, so your character’s level increases and the tougher he gets. Here’s how a game of Infinity Blade goes: rousing music, purposeful walking, honking great big baddie appears, posturing, roaring, sword, sword, shield, dodge, clash, win/lose. This is then repeated until you meet the God King, when you’ll definitely lose until you have built-up your character and skills a little. Then you start a new ‘bloodline’ and go through the game again. Despite its RPG elements, Infinity Blade plays like a beat-em-up, as the game revolves around smacking an opponent about before moving on to a bigger, nastier one; and they don’t come much bigger or nastier, as they all appear to be end-of-level bosses, except you don’t get to play the level in-between fighting them! The fights are essentially turn-based affairs, ipad keyboards so you dodge or block when being attacked, then go on the offensive when the opportunity arises. When it’s your turn to strike, you can use your sword or a spell. Sword attacks and parrying are all done with a swipe, and dodges/blocks with buttons across the bottom of the screen. Seeing as fighting is what the game is about, the controls aren’t quite as good as you would hope, with the dodge buttons either not responding or being too small to hit accurately in the heat of battle, and parrying either needing to be timed to perfection or simply too difficult to perform regularly. This is a shame, because the fights are more satisfying when you’re not just dodging from side to side all the time like a coward. So, to recap: you’ve not got any freedom of movement, the gameplay is repetitive and the controls are slightly  ipod touch peel suspect. If you’re thinking this doesn’t bode well for one of the most anticipated iPhone games of 2010, then you’re very much mistaken, as Infinity Blade is absolutely astounding. Stuff the annoying controls, as the battles are so exciting you won’t care. cell phone jammer I mean genuinely, heart-poundingly exciting too. The cinematic camera angles, the sheer size of the beasts you fight and the pleasure gained from nailing a great combo cannot be over-stated. This is noble, epic and glorious sword-play fighting at its best. Then there is Infinity Blade’s graphics and sound. It looks every bit as eye-popping as Epic Citadel, with bright colors, realistic lighting and reflections, plus flawless animation on all the characters. The audio experience is equally impressive on ipad keyboards all fronts with special ipad stylus mention going to the music, which is at times reminiscent of Atticus Ross’s The Book of Eli score. Infinity Blade is priced at $5.99/£3.99 and is a universal app for the iPhone and the iPad, but it’s on the iPhone the game plays the best, mainly due to the controls falling easier to hand. Giving Infinity Blade an overall score is surprisingly difficult. In many ways it deserves a 4/5, as the repetitive gameplay and the control issues should see it drop a point; however neither of these things stop me returning to it. On the other hand, led watches a 5/5 rating indicates that whatever game it’s awarded to is an essential download, no questions asked – and that’s exactly what Infinity Blade is. It’s not quite perfect, but it’s still one of the most exciting gaming experiences on the iPhone so far, and we simply have to reward it for that.