Game Reviews

Rope 'n' Fly - From Dusk Till Dawn

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Rope 'n' Fly - From Dusk Till Dawn

In the Android vs iOS stakes, this arcade title represents something of a win for the Google crowd. Unlike the iPhone version, which is riddled with little in-app purchases, the 'droid incarnation unlocks everything from the start.

Any cause to celebrate - perhaps with a green robot balloon parade - is short-lived, however, as whatever platform you play it on Rope 'n' Fly - From Dusk Till Dawn is merely a passable endless-swinger with precious little longevity.

Does some of what a Spider-Man can

The aim of Djinnworks's title (the third in a series) is to fling a quiffed character called Rodriguez as far as possible across an American-looking cityscape in 30 seconds.

Like everyone's favourite friendly neighbourhood arachnid superhero, Rodriguez can fire a rope at a building to hurl himself between skyscrapers - and occasionally a hot air balloon or jet plane.

A brief tutorial does an adequate job of schooling you in the basics of the controls, but remembering to quickly tap on the next building you see will be enough to get you started -though you'll also occasionally need to tilt your device to add momentum to your swinging.

It's mildly enjoyable trying to best your high score, either locally or online (via OpenFeint), but a few niggles soon bring you back down to earth.

Down to earth

The camera, for example, does a good job of tracking Rodriguez and his flailing limbs, but doesn't give you much of a view of what's coming next.

Even on a widescreen phone or tablet, you’re often flying blind through the air with no idea where - or how high - the next building will be. By the time they pop into view below, you only have a millisecond to tap on them before it’s too late - meaning there’s little opportunity to pick a great spot to boost your swing.

This makes the game more of a reaction test than a graceful swing-fest, which seems a shame given how much fun simply rope-flinging your way across the skyline is.

Offering some compensation is the ability to customise your avatar (a zombie with a glowing lightsaber rope raised a smile) and the time of day you fly (dusk or, you guessed it, dawn).

Don’t get too excited if you’re an iPhone gamer, as - unlike Android players - you’ll have to fork out for almost every customisation through IAPs.

This grates a touch, but none of them is essential. In any case, it's likely that the lack of variety will induce you to let go of the rope before you've had time to get annoyed about the in-app purchases.

Android version reviewed.

Rope 'n' Fly - From Dusk Till Dawn

A passable arcade platformer that’s fun for five minutes of flinging now and again, yet lacks the variety needed to really rope you in
Score
Paul Devlin
Paul Devlin
A newspaper reporter turned games journo, Paul's first ever console was an original white Game Boy (still in working order, albeit with a yellowing tinge and 30 second battery life). Now he writes about Android with a style positively dripping in Honeycomb, stuffed with Gingerbread and coated with Froyo