Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gun [rating: 5/5]
This game will sell, sell a lot and that’s even before many people have played the game just because it’s part of the huge brand that is Star Wars. A global phenomenon that has lasted centuries and shows no signs of abating.
In Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gun you step into the gun turret of none other than the Millenium Falcon defending yourself against multiple waves of TIE fighters, Star Destroyers and Asteroids around the Death Star and other areas from the movie including my favorite, the impressive Kessel Run .
Fans of the Star Wars genre will be pleased with the amount of original content thrown into the game, from the intro and between episode movies to the in game menus and in game speech the game oozes authenticity. While some of the in game commentary from your crew can get a little repetitive hearing chewbacca growl every now and again never grows old.
If you take away all of the Star Wars glitter the game is ultimately a relatively simple arcade fighter where after stepping into the gunners seat you get to fly around the various environments shooting down all everything that is thrown at you. It’s all done very intuitively, your gun turret is aimed using the left virtual joystick while you fire using the right joystick. Steering is controlled using the accelerometer while speed is fixed so you have nothing to worry about there.
Upgrades to your Millenium Falcon can be earned by winning credits, however after earning your initial 10 credits which is enough to buy a single upgrade additional credits are hard to come by. There’s one reason for this and that because you can additionally purchase these upgrade via in app purchasing at 99 cents per upgrade. I can see why this has been done, in fact it’s the best of both worlds, you play hard and you earn the rewards, want to take a short cut then spend the money, I just think 99 cents per upgrade when there are 10 of the to unlock could potentially price the app at almost $15!
Back in the game and the action comes thick and fast, turning on auto target certainly makes things easier but then again where’s the fun in that. Each level is made up of a number of waves of enemy and should you complete the level before your shield is reduced to zero you’ll complete it. Your shield can also be replenished while you play by shooting multiple enemies in quick succession.
There isn’t a great deal of variety in the levels other than quantity and quality of the enemies but I still never found myself getting bored which just goes to show how fun the game is, and I haven’t even got to the best part yet.
As well as playing the game with the Star Wars environments as the back drop to you fury you can instead turn on the Augmented Reality option that uses your iPhone’s camera to use your real environment as the backdrop in the game. This adds a whole new dimension to the game play as TIE Fighters appear over your sofa, from behind the dinning or if your playing outside from behind a tree or the person running toward you to steal your iPhone!
This is great fun especially as now to steer your Millenium Falcon you have to rotate a full 360 degree’s just as if you were flying it for real. It’s a real eye catcher and while you may not want to play the full game in this mode it’s great for a change and especially good for showing off to your friends.
Some games are a success based on their name, some based on their content, Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gun have both these, in spades!
Pros
- Augmented reality
- Fully licensed Star Wars content
- Instinctive game play
Cons
- Potentially costly in app purchases
$4.99 (View in iTunes)
Category: Games
Released: Nov 18, 2010
Version: 1.0
1.0
128 MB
Language: English
Seller: THQ, Inc.
© 2010 Lucasfilm LTD & TM & © 2010 THQ Wireless, Inc.
Rated 9+ for the following:
Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch (2nd generation), iPod touch (3rd generation), and iPod touch (4th generation). Requires iOS 4.1 or later.