As Good As It Gets On Mobile.
At first blush Infinity Blade might seem like little more than a tech demo on rails with some basic hacking and slashing, but in practice it's so much more. It's exactly the right pace and difficulty ramp for a mobile device and it follows the tried and true philosophy for creating an exceptional mobile game.. It's easy to understand but difficult to master.
The Graphics
It's unreal Engine 3.. on iOS. Having this level of graphic fidelity on a thin, portable device and having it run at a totally decent frame rate is, in itself, an achievement... but when you factor in the silky smooth animations and near console quality effects, it's really something to behold. In terms of visual appeal, you're not going to do any better than Infinity Blade on virtually any mobile platform - and that includes the PSP - which is a purpose-built gaming device.
The Gameplay
So while the graphics are a completely solid lesson in perfection - an A+.. 10 out of 10.., the gameplay, while very good, isn't quite that kind of masterpiece. The difficulty ramp is good and it's actually very intuitive, but after a few routes through the castle it does become repetitive. Epic has found good use of the touch screen though and may have uncovered yet another genre of game that lends itself to touch control over other methods.
Personally, I can't stand virtual D-pads, and I was beyond excited to play with the Epic Citadel tech demo that allowed for FPS control that wasn't dependent on a d-pad. While this specific control scheme isn't in Infinity Blade (movement is basically on rails), the general philosophy is.. and that is simply to use what a touch screen does best, and forget trying to pretend that you're holding a d-pad.
Tossing the virtual d-pad has allowed Epic and Chair to create a combat mechanic for sword fighting that actually works quite well. Parries are appropriately played by swiping at the attacker's arc, and dodging and blocking are done by holding large hot spots. Attacks clearly follow the angle of the player's swipe and combos can be dealt by swiping in varying directions.
In all gameplay is very satisfying and, as you progress through the enemy ranks, a sense of control mastery becomes evident - which to me means they've done a good job.
The RPG Elements
Infinity Blade features a pretty good leveling up system that includes mastery of specific items and assigning points to different aspects of your character. It's a competent system, and one that simultaneously rewards mastery of an item and discourages continued use of that item. DLC promises to bring more variety to the table in terms of weaponry and items, and while it is nice to see a progressive leveling up as time goes on, i would have liked to see a bit more in terms of reward. I think that most players will be able to see the end credits (twice - for those that opt for both endings) before having even a fraction of the resources available to purchase the most premium weaponry and equipment.
Conclusion
I'm assuming that if you're reading this, you have more than a passing interest in gaming... If that's true and you have a reasonably new iOS device like an iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone, then you've got no reason not to pony up $6 for this title. It's not perfect, but it's an exceptionally good mobile game. I can honestly say that i've got more play time out of this than most PSP titles, and it's an amazingly engaging game for how simple it is.
Let's support good games.. won't we?
