Intro

BattleDuel is an artillery game based in a windy mountainous landscape. This is very similar to the online hit, Tanks.

Gameplay 4/10

The concept remains the same as Tanks, you play as one or more canons situated on one side of the map and the idea is to fire and destroy enemy canons on the opposite side of the screen.

As like the online game, BattleDuel involves using trial and error to determine the correct power and angle to hit your enemy. The annoying thing is that the enemy seems to work this out on the first go, leaving you at a massive disadvantage.

There are a few game modes included in the game: Tournament and Conquer, both of which don’t change the gameplay. For example, Tournament puts you against a selected group of opponents and the winner is the base that one the most games.

You also have the option to play against your friends through a pass-to-play system. You can have up to 4 players on one map and you have the option to choose which of those bases you want to be a computer or real player.

There are a few different weapons to equip yourself with. These include a normal shot, rocket, parachute bomb air raid and energy flash. Admittedly this isn’t a lot by anyones standard and the different weapon types don’t vary the gameplay as much as they should. Furthermore, only one weapon (apart from the normal weapon) builds on the original firing system (of setting the power and angle) whereas the others involve sending a plane that flies over, and then you tap when you want it to release a bomb or parachute. I found this disappointing as the addictive challenge of the game is removed when using any other weapon.

Overall, the gameplay is incredibly repetitive and pretty boring after the first play through. There is almost nothing addicting about this title and I found it a laborious task just to open and play.

The background blends to much with the foreground.

Graphics 4/10

The background in the gameplay is designed to look 3D, but distracts too much from the foreground. I had trouble distinguishing the 2D foreground scenery from the backdrop which was frustrating. The colour scheme is too bland and the colours are dull.

The game also crashed on me on a number of occasions (not to mention freezing my iPhone) and it became a constant annoyance. Thankfully the game saves every turn this is no compromise.

Controls 6/10

The controls are simple but quite unresponsive. To increase the power of your base you must slide your finger across the screen and angle down the screen. When setting the angle, the turret on your base corresponds you your movements, but not very well. The turret seems to jump all over the place before settling on one position. This is the same for controlling the power.

Sound 3/10

The music plays only in the menus and doesn’t fit well at all with the theme of the game. The sound effects in the gameplay are very simple. There is the fire of a missile or bomb, quickly followed by the whistling sound as the bomb returns to the surface which reminds me of the horrible sound nails make against a blackboard. There are also a few atmospheric sounds such as the sound of wind and birds.

Overall the sound is weak and doesn’t absorb the gamer into the experience at all.

Menus 5/10

The menus are horribly designed and I just hate the colour scheme of green and black. They aren’t interesting at all and very bland with no variance in colour. The options are very simple, but quite responsive and easy to select. The menus are reasonably easy to navigate but the confusing array of options, settings and modes makes this a bit frustrating at times.

You can have up to 4 players on the map at a time.

Longevity 2/10

There are no leaderboards or achievements and despite the different game modes the gameplay is very repetitive and not something I want to come back to. There isn’t anything to unlock or achieve which makes this game pretty pointless.

You might be occupied for an hour at most but thats about it.

Cost 6/10

$0.99/£0.59 is the only price you can charge for such a 2-dimensional, simple game, but in my opinion, there are much better $0.99 games out there more than worth the price point.

Conclusion 30/70 – 2/5

BattleDuel is a failed attempt at replicating one of the most popular online games, but still has potential. But at it’s current state I can’t recommend it.

BattleDuel on the App Store.