‘AbstractWar 2.0’ Review
If you are looking for a fun, challenging, and amazing looking shooter, then look no further because AbstractWars 2.0 has it all! In AbstractWars, there are two different main modes for you to choose to play! There is survival mode and campaign mode. In survival mode, you can select from the four different styles of mono control, dual control, cruces mode and pacifist mode. Each of these styles gives you a different gameplay experience that enriches the games overall fun and playability. Mono mode uses only one input method while Dual uses two input methods. Both of the control methods are critical because they are both needed for completing the campaign. A good thing about the control methods is that they are independently configurable in the options. Meaning you can choose tilt or onscreen controls for either one of the two control methods. The controls do give you a fair amount of control over your ship, but it does take a while to get familiar with the tilt controls and the dual stick option is a little unpleasant since your fingers are on the screen and get in the way of the action. But the game is completely playable and possible to complete and conquer. Although, The difficulty progressively becomes harder and harder to the point where you will be challenged to stay alive for just a couple minutes.
The enemies are all uniquely identifiable and have their own traits from being slow and random to being fast and deliberate. Enemies will spawn all over the play area, so you need to watch your back, front, both sides, and all around you constantly. If you stay in one spot too long, an enemy may spawn next to you and close in for an easy kill or he may spawn right on top of you for an instant kill. That is a slight problem since the game play area is a small predefined size that doesn’t allow for too much movement. Plus, your ship doesn’t move very fast. Several different enemies can out run you and kill you so your best chance is to dodge what you can and blast everything else.
All of the graphics for AbstractWars are visually stunning and could be thought of as a form of abstract art. The game delivers an all out assault on your visual senses. It is like the 4th of July with fireworks going off in every direction. Each color is incredibly vibrant and gives off a distinct colorful glow. They are quite amazing and make the game really enjoyable to watch while you are playing. Every enemy, every particle, every pixel in AbstractWars is visual eye-candy that never stops. The game doesn’t have music, but it does have an option to let you use your own music located in the options menu. There are several different sounds though for various things such as when you are shooting or when you kill an enemy or when you die.
Another great and neat feature of AbstractWars is that there are 4 different view modes including classic, 2D center, 2D edge, and a 3D view. Each view changes your perception of the game field and how you need to interact with it. In the options menu, there is also a mini-map that you can turn on and off, but the mini-map takes up some of the gameplay viewing area. The different views and controls make the game feel like your playing a different game with the same great effects each time you change them. So far, multiplayer for AbstractWars is only through Bluetooth and OpenFeint is used in the game for achievements and leaderboards. AbstractWars is a fantastic shooting game that steps it up a notch in terms of gameplay and visual satisfaction.
AbstractWars on the App Store.