BattleWarrior

Not many games use the accelerometer in a casual way. It's either a major part of gameplay or a bodged alternative to physical buttons that feels like a necessity rather than a benefit.

In BattleWarrior, we have a game that uses the accelerometer simply and casually. It does so in a way that compliments gameplay only so far as the D-pad does for PSP games. It works and that’s all it’s meant to do.

Of course, it can afford to be casual with the accelerometer’s duties, since the gameplay is as two-dimensional as the graphics.

Just to be clear, saying the gameplay is two-dimensional isn’t nearly as critical as saying it’s one dimensional - it simply replaces depth of interaction with lots of explosions, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

You’re in control of a walking mech against an onslaught of military vehicles. It’s a side scrolling affair, with shooting and aiming handled via touch.

The guns, which fire in a linear trajectory, are unloaded directly toward wherever you place a finger, so taking out the tanks and gunships is as easy as putting them in the path between a fingertip and the mech’s arm-mounted guns.

The accelerometer moves your mech left and right, and given that it’s a single-speed vehicle, it’s easy to drive. There’s no intricacy required, so you instantly forget that you’re tilting to move - the mech just follows your intentions.

The simplicity and effectiveness of the controls boils down to the fact that the gameplay is pretty undemanding. Running headlong into an endless stream of enemies isn’t the problem, so much as you’re inability to do much other than take all the return fire on the nose.

BattleWarrior offers little in terms of dodging, cover or any other kind of strategic combat element.

Therefore, much of the fighting comes down to standing your ground and trading fire with the enemy vehicles. This is fine when the numbers are fair, but during the later stages when the screen is jam-packed, no amount of backtracking or jumping can get you out of the way of anything more than a couple of incoming rounds.

You have one advantage in these situations: you're not just in control of a mech - it’s a transformer.

For a limited amount of time you can hit the 'transform' button and your mech doubles in size and firepower. This mega-mech cuts through the enemies like a hot knife through butter and the ensuing ramped-up destruction saves the game from lulls.

Better still, you're allowed to make the transformation regularly. Not so much that you only use the powerful version, but enough that when saved for just the right moments you can generally pull out the big guns and rescue your worthless metal hide.

The game's depth begins and ends with the transforming mech, but for a bit of mindless destruction and old skool arcade gaming, you can’t go far wrong.

Don’t expect too much, or a game that’s going to last for months, but if you pine for the coin-op days BattleWarrior will deliver gratifying, if limited, relief.