Game of Phones Review: Burn the City
posted:
11/11/2011 6:00:00 AM
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Burn the City
Gaming Nexus will be partnering up with a brand new site called Game of Phones to bring you news and reviews of mobile games and hardware. While they aren't fully operational yet, they've already begun reviewing some of the latest games out there. When they are up and running, we'll be switching out Cell link at the top to point to their site and we'll be reporting on some of the new things they have and vice versa. Look for Game of Phones coming soon.
Title: Burn the City
Reviewer: Peter Vu
Developer:JoshOClock
Price: $0.99
Platform: Android
At first glance, Burn the City seems like just another Angry Birds clone #423. And in a way, it is. The game starts us with an introduction cut scene that gives us a simple “plot” to the game. Fire-breathing monster sees city. Fire-breathing monster wants to destroy said city. Done. You don’t really need much more than that, right?
The levels are divided into different chapters such as “Night”, “Dawn” and “Battle” and the controls are your typical Angry Birds scheme. With the exception of drawing back a slingshot; here you actually aim with a targeting reticule. However, the reticule only has a certain distance it goes from the monster so you still need to take your time and nail down the correct height and speed the fireball from the monster should go. The closer the reticule is to the monster, the slower the fireball will go and ultimately go a shorter distance. The farther you go with the reticule the fireball moves with more force and goes farther. Essentially the fireball lobs in the air similarly to a well known red angry bird. As you destroy buildings, the become more frail and weak spots appear depending on where you hit the building the first time. If you hit the exposed weak spot, then the building goes down right there; otherwise the building takes longer to take down.
Pretty soon down the line the cities that need to be destroyed become more challenging being at different heights and distances. Soon, giant wrecking balls, destructible wood and stone walls, and force fields come into play and therefore more strategy has to be thought out in how to overcome each new obstacle. But of course the fire-breathing monster gets its share of power-ups as well to help with the new challenges. These power ups include a more powerful fireball, a timed fireball where the actual fireball doesn’t explode until you tap the screen again, and a more direct fireball that doesn’t lob like the regular fireball but shoots in a straight line to your target.
The levels are fairly easy as you don’t really run out of fire breath but you are scored more on your efficiency and timing in completing the level. I only found myself “failing” on certain levels where if you don’t hit something with the fireball correctly, there is no other way for you to achieve victory. However the last chapter, “Battle” is more of a “challenge” level and only consists of two levels . The premise is the same, attack and burn the city though now there is an onslaught of tanks, helicopters, and airplanes that move toward you while you are still trying to take down a city. If at any point those vehicles make it past you, you lose. One minor annoyance I found in the game was when targeting, I found my own finger to be in the way at times, due to the targeting reticule tracks your finger up to a certain point. A minor annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless.
All in all, Burn the City is an Angry Birds clone, though an enjoyable one. While there were lots of similarities I found there were enough differences to keep me interested. If you enjoy hurling things, be it very aggressive birds or fireballs, this game is pretty fun. The game is fairly short but of course there is always room to update for more levels!
Grade: B
Title: Burn the City
Reviewer: Peter Vu
Developer:JoshOClock
Price: $0.99
Platform: Android
At first glance, Burn the City seems like just another Angry Birds clone #423. And in a way, it is. The game starts us with an introduction cut scene that gives us a simple “plot” to the game. Fire-breathing monster sees city. Fire-breathing monster wants to destroy said city. Done. You don’t really need much more than that, right?
The levels are divided into different chapters such as “Night”, “Dawn” and “Battle” and the controls are your typical Angry Birds scheme. With the exception of drawing back a slingshot; here you actually aim with a targeting reticule. However, the reticule only has a certain distance it goes from the monster so you still need to take your time and nail down the correct height and speed the fireball from the monster should go. The closer the reticule is to the monster, the slower the fireball will go and ultimately go a shorter distance. The farther you go with the reticule the fireball moves with more force and goes farther. Essentially the fireball lobs in the air similarly to a well known red angry bird. As you destroy buildings, the become more frail and weak spots appear depending on where you hit the building the first time. If you hit the exposed weak spot, then the building goes down right there; otherwise the building takes longer to take down.
Pretty soon down the line the cities that need to be destroyed become more challenging being at different heights and distances. Soon, giant wrecking balls, destructible wood and stone walls, and force fields come into play and therefore more strategy has to be thought out in how to overcome each new obstacle. But of course the fire-breathing monster gets its share of power-ups as well to help with the new challenges. These power ups include a more powerful fireball, a timed fireball where the actual fireball doesn’t explode until you tap the screen again, and a more direct fireball that doesn’t lob like the regular fireball but shoots in a straight line to your target.
The levels are fairly easy as you don’t really run out of fire breath but you are scored more on your efficiency and timing in completing the level. I only found myself “failing” on certain levels where if you don’t hit something with the fireball correctly, there is no other way for you to achieve victory. However the last chapter, “Battle” is more of a “challenge” level and only consists of two levels . The premise is the same, attack and burn the city though now there is an onslaught of tanks, helicopters, and airplanes that move toward you while you are still trying to take down a city. If at any point those vehicles make it past you, you lose. One minor annoyance I found in the game was when targeting, I found my own finger to be in the way at times, due to the targeting reticule tracks your finger up to a certain point. A minor annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless.
All in all, Burn the City is an Angry Birds clone, though an enjoyable one. While there were lots of similarities I found there were enough differences to keep me interested. If you enjoy hurling things, be it very aggressive birds or fireballs, this game is pretty fun. The game is fairly short but of course there is always room to update for more levels!
Grade: B
