Aractroid [rating: 3/5]
You would think that with as many games as there are in the App Store there would be more unique titles out there but so many of them just seem to be new versions of the same game. The same cannot be said of Aractroid which is a new action/strategy game where you take control of powerful warrior species of spider defending your web against a plethora of invading electronic spiders that want to wipe out your race.
The game starts with a quick tutorial level that will take you through the basics of the game. The playing area is a 2D top down view of a spiderweb. The tutorial level is a very simple web with limited options for movement but as you move through the 9 levels the webs get bigger and more complex but never to the extent that they become un-playable.
As described in the tutorial there are three movement options. Firstly you can simply touch the location on the web that you wish to travel too and you will witness your Aractroid scurry along the web to its destination, next you can swipe your finger along the web to see your spider run shoot across the web and finally swipe between to parts of the web to see your Aractroid leap from one section to another.
You can only run and jump when you have enough energy from killing the spiders and so at times you may find your self attempting to run or jump away from a tricky situation only to find your self as a sitting duck ready to be killed.
The point of moving your Aractroid around the web is to kill all of the invading electronic spiders who are in turn attempting to kill you. All of the enemy spiders are color coded and you can only kill the ones that are the same color as you. That’s not a problem though as around the web in various locations there are color reservoirs that you can run over to change your color.
Killing the enemies is a simply task of running over them, or for added points landing on them when you jump from web to web. There are power-ups to be obtained throughout the the game as well with bombs to help you kill and multipliers to help you rack up your high score.
The key to progressing through the 9 levels is to get the multipliers to build up a high score as each score has a set score to beat to move on to the next levels.
The graphics are simple yet effective and the sound has a futuristic edge to it that keeps the tempo of the game flowing well.
With only 9 levels the game will be over pretty quickly for most and even with the addition of global leader boards to compare your scores with the best around the world the challenge soon runs dry. You can post your scores to Facebook but even for 99c I would hope that future levels will be available in a potential future update.
The Good
- Fresh action puzzler style
- Fast tempo
- Simply controls
The Not So Good
- Only 9 levels
- Limited replay value
Reviewed by: Craig Willis
Price: $.99 as of 12 Jan (iTunes Store)
Version reviewed: 1.1
Seller: Mammoth Game Studios LLC
Advertisement