Game Reviews

Temple Run: Brave

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Temple Run: Brave
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| Temple Run: Brave

Smartphones and tablets are increasingly proving that movie tie-in games don't have to be horrible. Clever combinations of established game franchises and new Hollywood IPs can often make for remarkably comfortable bedfellows.

The latest title to get spruced up with a bit of tinseltown's glitz and glamour is Temple Run, with Temple Run: Brave - a tie-in with Disney Pixar's latest computer animated blockbuster. The result is an enjoyable, tweaked version of the endless runner we all know and love.

Courage under obstacles

Rather than playing an Indiana-Jones-alike, you're now the flam- haired star of the movie. In place of the pack of angry gorillas at your heels there's now a giant bear with spears stuck in its back who shadows your every step.

Aside from the pretty hefty cosmetic makeover, the most important new addition is the bow and arrow. Throughout your sprint, a symbol will flash up on-screen letting you know that there's a bow shooting section coming up.

Targets pop into view at the side of the path you're running along, and you'll need to tap all of them to secure yourself a tasty little business. It's a neat distraction, and the streams of coins that accompany the targets mean you'll be tilting and tapping frantically to make sure you don't miss anything.

Going for gold

The rest of the game follows a familiar pattern. You slide up on the screen to jump, down to skid underneath obstacles, and left and right to turn when the path changes direction. Coins you collect on your runs can be spent on special power-ups and new equipment.

There are one-off boosts that lead you a certain distance into a chase before letting you take control, and purchasable power-ups that give you extra arrows and huge bundles of coins that you can grab if you're quick enough.

None of the new features gets in the way of the compulsive gameplay that made Temple Run so much fun in the first place, and the urge to keep pushing on a few more metres is as strong as it ever was. Even if you've no interest in Brave, this is an update that's well worth checking out.

iOS version reviewed.


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Temple Run: Brave

A brilliant film tie-in that improves on the game it's based on, Temple Run: Brave is a compulsive, cleverly built highscore-chaser
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.