Geisha samurai, exorcist and cyborg ninja blade up for iOS flying shooter/slasher Dark Break
Manga ladies take on Sin and Punishment
We hadn't previously come across Chinese studio Winking Entertainment, but its Dark Break is an interesting-looking game.
Released on iPad before Christmas, and now available for iPhone, it's a flying third person shooter, vaguely in the style of Treasure's shooter family Sin and Punishment.
It has a more fantasy environment, while the artwork is reminiscent of early Final Fantasy, but the plot is the usual crazy.
We're all going to die"The seal placed by the Goddess of Gaia has been damaged, due to the polluted environment caused by the human beings in this world, which has awakened the Goddess of Darkness.
4.6 billion years later, dark mists clouded the sky once again. To prevent a tragedy from happening, three heroes have been granted with supernatural powers by the Goddess of Gaia and sent to protect the lives in this world."
Of course, you get to play as one of said buxom young heroes - a geisha samurai, an exorcist or a cyborg ninja. Each have specific attributes and special attacks with which to engage the OTT bosses.
Hit pointsUsing your standard shot, which is held down for charged shot, or the special attack button, consecutive hits and bonus hits are what you require to boost your high score
Control is via accelerometer or a virtual joypad, and there are Story and Challenge modes, with replayability delivered as you can play through the Story mode as each girl.
The only thing we'd note is that playing on the iPhone version, the buttons are very close together, meaning you can end up slipping onto the wrong one.
It's not a massive problem, but the proximity of the option button to the joypad is certainly less than ideal, verging on the frustrating. So if you're interested in this sort of frantic gaming, we'd recommend using accelerometer controls, or the iPad version.
Dark Break is out now, priced 99c, €0.79 or 59p for iPhone, or $3.99, €2.99 or £2.39 for iPad.
Check out the gameplay in the following video.
