Archetype HD

In Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation of Jurassic Park, wily mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm lashes out at the prehistoric theme park's benefactor for not having fully thought through the ramifications of his genetic tinkering.

"[Y]our scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

The same could be said of developer MunkyFun, whose work in porting Archetype from its rightful place on iPhone and iPod touch to iPad feels hurried. Released into the iPad wilds, it's tough to get a handle on this graphical beast of a game.

5 vs 5 rounds of Team Deathmatch are dished out online, playable via a 3G or wi-fi connection. A Rocket Arena and Training mode complement the main attraction, mirroring the modes offered in the original iPhone release. Killing is the order of the day and each successful round nets you experience and achievements that go toward increasing your rank.

Sadly, no incentives for ranking up have been introduced in this re-release nor have extra maps, weapons, or modes of play been added. In fact, nothing has been added to the game, making the increased price for Archetype HD a curiosity. Were it not for the minor tweaks to the heads-up display, there would be nothing to distinguish this iPad release from the primary iPhone version.

At the very least iPad-specific control options could have been offered. Enabling customisation of the heads-up display and position of the analogue sticks would have been a good start, but considering the development team couldn't be bothered to remove gyroscope options in this lazy port of the iPhone 4 version, it's unsurprising that no thought was given to such a basic feature.

Furthermore, there's no acknowledgement of issues with the game's design as raised in our review of the iPhone and iPod touch version. Improvements have not been made to the mediocre maps of the bunch, the ranking system has not been fleshed out with meaningful rewards, and the paucity of modes continues to limit the game's value.

These were tolerable on iPhone, but iPad is a different animal and expectations are higher when the price ticks upward.

It's not that Archetype HD is a poor game so much as it's cloned from a game designed for a different device. With no consideration for the needs of the iPad gamer, it lacks proper control options, new content, and the sense that the game is at home on the device.