Developers World Championship: Match Report - Romania v Australia (Quarter Finals)

ROMANIA Skies of Glory (Revo Solutions)

VS AUSTRALIA Flight Control (Firemint)

This afternoon’s first quarter final between Japan and Spain proved to be a bruising, brutal bout. A pair of gladiators jostled for supremacy in the unforgiving and unforgettable iStadium bullpit.

The legendary bare-knuckle warrior from the far east, Street Fighter IV, landed a devastating blow in each half to secure a semi-final spot against the winner of this aerial skirmish.

Stakes were high, therefore, and so for that matter were the two combatants in the evening match (although unlike USA '94 there was no need for a random drugs test this time - this altitude was purely aeronautical).

Romania’s Skies of Glory, a WWII follow-up to international and domestic team mate, F.A.S.T., had swept Argentina away in its final Group B tie, swooping on three separate occasions for the victory.

Compared to no less a figure than Lord David Beckham, Australia’s App Store icon, Flight Control, had encountered some turbulence on the terraces in its group match against surprise package, Serbia.

Drawing 3-3 with the unfancied Golman came as a shock to the antipodeans, who rallied for the Last 16 phase and a mouth-watering showdown with the hosts.

Of course, England vs Australia (and especially cricket's The Ashes) is one of the biggest sporting rivalries on Earth, so motivation wasn’t an issue on either side. Nor was quality for that matter, with penalties needed to decide this most gripping of contests, and, of course, England’s unenviable run in tournament shootouts continued.

Would the two flyers on display have to go the distance this evening or could a gunner ground the opponent in normal time?

Kick Off: 7.30pm, 2nd July

The critical view: Romania’s decision to select three apps from the same developer, Revo Solutions, had reaped rewards throughout the tournament. The camaraderie and spirit within the squad was in evidence before, during, and after their group games and Last 16 tussle.

On a close, humid night in Bath, the Romanians' attitude remained top-drawer. And it needed to be, for Flight Control’s talismanic winger was in bullish mood from the get-go.

Tracing clever and intuitive runs that had clearly been rehearsed on the training ground, the Australian #7 glided across the Pocket Gamer’s pristine (air)field with ease.

Skies of Glory’s central Bluetooth p2p pairing struggled to track Australia’s elusive attacker on its radar, compelling the manager to load the left cargo bay up with a defensive midfielder.

The extra leg(room) down that side afforded Romania greater protection from the dangerous flanker, allowing the Europeans’ tidy accelerometer to establish some semblance of control over proceedings.

No quarter was being asked, none given, as the half descended into a war of aerial attrition. Indeed, Flight Control’s sweeper was fast resembling an old-fashioned chopper, scything through opposition strikers like the formidable Ron Harris (no relation to Rolf).

Imagination was at a premium on the pitch and some intervention from the sideline was clearly required to break the deadlock. On 42 minutes it duly arrived, the jumbo screen’s output was hijacked by the respective managers, who flaunted first Skies of Glory’s Gold Award, then Flight Control’s Silver Award, 5/5 from Macworld and last, but by no means least, the Australian outfit’s Pocket Gamer 2010 iPhone Game of the Year Award.

Suitably enlivened, Australia and Romania exchanged quick fire goals, both from well-worked set-pieces, as the teams’ respective target men demonstrated their immense prowess in the air.

Half time: Romania 1 – 1 Australia The Fans’ 45: The Australian backroom staff was convinced of victory, since two million paying fans and counting would surely translate into a second half demolition.

However, quite a few of that tally must have been still struggling with the time difference when the voting opened, for Romania's backers were demonstrably louder after the break.

In perfect formation, Skies of Glory swept play from one wing to the other, soaring past all ten of Flight Control's outfield aircraft en route to goal.

Caught in a tailspin, the Aussies' much-heralded multiplayer movements over local wi-fi and Bluetooth were rendered ineffectual, as the Romanian death match combat proved too strong. With 12 minutes remaining, Skies of Glory pounced on a loose ball 40 yards out and unleashed a sidewinder past the 'keeper. The fair dinkum flying sensation was down, but was it really out?

Well, not just yet. As numerous sporting foes have discovered to their cost, the Aussies simply don't know when they're beaten and so it proved here.

Once again, inspiration came from the bench, as the veteran coach summoned up the much-praised global and local high score feature, instantly filling the stands and simultaneously flooding the midfield with literally thousands of armchair captains.

Attack after relentless attack rained down upon the Romanian defence as the mighty Australian force circled, but Skies of Glory hadn't got their name for no reason.

Steeled by their own Battle of Britain update they stood firm against the odds. Or at least they stood firm in normal time, until an assistant referee held aloft his board signaling two added-on minutes, at which point a true defensive calamity undermined all their hard work.

The battle-scarred centre-back was momentarily confused by the board, believing that his coach was instigating a substitution to waste a few more seconds and duly swooped towards the halfway line.

By the time he realised his error in the face of the frantically gesticulating bench, an Aussie stealth-fighter had spotted the gap, applied afterburners, and the fastforward mode to speed into space and past the Romanian keeper before tracing a low shot into the unguarded net.

Disaster for Revo Solutions and delight for their opponents, who had once more demonstrated minty cool under fire.

With the scoreboard reading 2-2, neither side was willing to take further risks in the remaining 90 seconds and so once more we were headed for extra time.

Full time: Romania 2 – 2 Australia

Extra time: After a truly gruelling 90 minutes, both sides were clearly feeling the worse-for-wear. As an uneventful extra time wore on you could see that some of the players were literally running on vapours out there. Move after move crashed down on the iStadium runways.

Chances were at a premium now and it seemed like one goal would be more than enough to seal it. Hence, when the Australians broke through with just ten minutes remaining, it looked to be essentially all over.

Digging deep into their reserve tanks, the Flight Control team managed to string together a gorgeous move thanks to a host of new larger maps and some super new single screen multiplayer modes before ultimately launching a swerving shot in glorious 3D past an unsighted keeper.

The crowd went wild, the vegemite was opened, and the tinnies were grabbed from the fridge...albeit temporarily.

The referee had spotted a flag and after a brief consultation with his official had discovered that the goal had been scored by the iPad HD version of the game which had strayed into play - a clear offside. We were back to 2-2.

With the Aussie wings duly clipped and the Romanians stalling badly in the final third, it was clear that neither side had anything left to give and the final minutes descended into little more than a holding pattern. Both combatants sought to conserve fuel and had accepted the inevitable...we were headed to spot-kicks!

A.e.t: Romania 2 – 2 Australia

Penalties: And so we moved to the second penalty shoot-out of the IGDWC 2010 knock-out stages and in armchairs up and down the country the familiar debate would rage: was this really the best way to decide a virtual match-up between two iPhone apps in a largely contrived football-style tournament?

Suffice to say, that debate would run and run, but neither of these teams had much running left in them, so a shoot-out seemed the fairest solution.

Now it all came down to who could hold their nerve from 12 yards. The Aussies clearly had the experience, having come through the only previous penalty match-up, but could lightning really strike twice or would Romania's deadly sidewinder ordnance prove decisive today?

1. Graphics

Australia won the toss this time and elected to shoot first, with their first penalty coming courtesy of graphical style.
Appropriately enough for their simple, cute style, the first Flight Control taker opted for a cheeky chip over the 'keepers sprawling dive - a risky strategy but a successful one nonetheless.

The Romanians, by contrast, took their time to prepare before smashing home a piledriver every bit as powerful as their own stunning 3D visuals. Contrasting styles then from the off, but both got the job done and it was 1-1.

2. Gameplay
3. Controls
4. Innovation

The following two penalties followed similar suit, as exemplary gameplay and controls for both sides provided similarly slick spot-kicks.

Meanwhile, in the innovation stakes, Firemint's men traced possibly the perfect penalty by virtue of having invented (or at very least championed) a brand new genre. The Romanian strike was rather less emphatic, allowing the opposing keeper to get a wing-tip to it, but, thanks to some neat missions, in-app add ons, and a host of other neat features, the ball had enough momentum to find the net, leaving things all square still at 4-4.

5. Multiplayer and social features

The Australian kicker could literally pick his spot on this one, the presence of wi-fi multiplayer plus the cracking connected features ensuring he had the entire goal to aim for. In the end he picked one straight between the keeper's legs - how's that for composure?

The pressure was all on the Skies captain now: miss this and they were out. However, they didn't call this dogfighter Top Gun for nothing and it duly unleashed a missile to the 'keeper's left courtesy of dedicated multiplayer pack. 5-5 and this dogfight was headed to sudden death.

6. Updates

Now it was the turn of Firemint's team to look nervous. Would their comparatively steady single-map updates stand up to the opposition's barrage of add-on planes, in-app purchases, and map packs?

The answer was 'yes', but only just, courtesy of the fact that these updates were entirely free. Romania's keeper got a hand to the shot, but not enough to divert the ball off-course.

Suffice to say, the response was rather more clinical. Despite the fact that many updates were paid, a free-option and some smart bundles left Skies' sixth kick nestling in the left-hand corner.

Honours even once again for six apiece.

7. Longevity
8. Pick-up-and-playability

The apps were inseparable over the next two kicks, with both providing strong long-play appeal as well as offering the ability to pick up and play in short bursts. Eight all, amazing stuff!

9. Price

As we approached double-figures it looked like the 'goalies might have to face each other, as two central defenders stepped up on a price-based pen.

Flight Control was first, as ever, and despatched an almost faultless kick, glancing the left hand upright as it flew into the wind-sock. At 59p / 99c since launch, this remained astonishing value for money.

The Romanian stopped looked somewhat more rattled as he took his run-up. Despite a free trial version, at £3.99 for the default version and a further cost for adding planes and maps, this was arguably a slightly tougher sell.

The kick was hard-enough to be sure, but the frugal (purse)'keeper guessed right this time and got enough of a glove to deflect it onto the post.

Agonising scenes for Romanian fans! The valiant Skies had finally fallen in on them and it was Australia and Firemint who were popping a shrimp on the semi-final barbie against Japan.

To be fair, both teams looked absolutely grounded at this point and duly embraced one another in sympathy and congratulations. Wonderful sporting scenes here then as we bade farewell to another epic iStadium night.

Final Score: Romania 2-2 Australia*
(Australia win 9-8 on penalties)

Final Group Tables - Fixtures & Voting - Squads

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