MOBILE PREVIEW
Hands on with the mobile version of Iron Man
As Stark as a shooter can get |
Details on the forthcoming Paramount Iron Man movie (pictured) might be scant, but that didn't stop Hands On Mobile from giving us a look at its mobile adaptation during the recent Game Developers conference.
Iron Man the mobile game takes the form of a top-down shooter, guiding you vertically through stages as you blast all manner of turrets and mechanized foes. For those that remember it, old skool arcade shooter Xevious comes to mind as an apt comparison given the same style of play appearing here. Of course, you have more sophisticated weaponry to work with as your ironclad superhero takes to the skies.
If you're unfamiliar with the character, Iron Man is billionaire Tony Stark. As it goes, Stark built his massive fortune through defence contracting and developing experimental armaments for various governments. His penultimate creation, the iron suit, is the only thing capable of quashing an unexpected malfunction of his weapons systems. With countless numbers of his own devices going haywire, it's up to Stark to destroy them and restore order. Which is commendably responsible of him.
Stark's arsenal begins with a simple gun that shoots from his right arm. Using the directional pad to move him about the screen, you can fire upon enemies to clear the way, while holding down the fire key performs a dual shot from both arms. A special laser can also be unleashed from Iron Man's chest, although it causes him to stay put for a few seconds so it's a trade-off between firepower and agility.
We played through one level that took Stark to a coastal encampment lined with turrets. At the start of the stage, basic turrets fired single shots; however, the further we progressed, the more complex the enemy fire patterns became. More powerful turrets unleashed a deluge of shots in multiple directions, forcing quick manoeuvres.
Evasion appears to be an important tactic when sheer numbers make destroying pesky opponents an impossibility. Interestingly enough, haste isn't much of a concern since the game moves at a rather docile tempo.
Each level delivers a boss battle, too. Unfortunately, we died long before reaching that point in our play.
Hands On Mobile promises plenty of features tying the mobile game to the upcoming film, as well as hidden easter eggs for followers of the comics. Much of those will come in the form of subtle references to extraneous characters made in the nicely-rendered cut-scenes.
Currently, there's not much depth to the game as we see it, which could make it difficult to distinguish it as just a movie-skinned arcade clone.
But we'll see how right we are once Iron Man launches in the US shortly before the film's debut the first week of May. No word yet on a European release.
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