Hands on with Rebel Onslaught

Space shooters aren't exactly an endangered species, but playing any of the score of accelerometer-controlled space shooters on the App Store has been as risky as charting a course through an asteroid belt. You'll hit something, but it's not likely to be good.

Eager to live up to its name, Rebel Onslaught intends to buck the trend with fine-tuned controls and a balanced level of difficulty. Slick visuals bring it altogether into one promising package that we've gone hands on with in advance of its release.

Set high in the clouds making up Earth's outer atmosphere, the game's first mission tasks you with taking out waves of alien fighters. Eliminating the small fighters protecting a larger invading landing craft is a must if defence forces plan on initiating a bombing run.

The level weaves through huge alien battleships nestled in the clouds, their purple hulls dotted with turrets as fighters buzz about. Fortunately, your little ship comes equipped with a laser specifically designed for xenocide.

Primary weapons fire automatically, which leaves you free to concentrate on positioning your ship to hit enemy targets. Tilts of the handset allow you to navigate, although an on-screen analogue stick can be used as an alternative.

Calibration of the accelerometer is limited to three settings available in the options menu. Three neutral positions are provided, each at different angles.

Surprisingly, the analogue stick ended up being our preferred choice because of its responsiveness. That said, the accelerometer controls work admirably and it appears that choosing between the two upon final release will be a matter of preference.

Using the accelerometer could make it a tad easier to boost - done by tapping the center of the screen - although you can just as easily do this using your other hand that's primed for tapping the secondary attack buttons.

Whichever way you control your ship, the objective lies in zeroing in on enemies that fly about the screen. Your reticle lights up in red whenever you've got a lock on a target, which is automatically fired upon with your laser.

Additionally, defeated foes occasionally drop stocks of missiles that can be fired with a tap of a button in the lower right corner. There are even rarer smart bombs capable of clearing the screen of enemies.

Other dropped goodies include health packs (which only appear if your shields have taken a hit) and extra point pick-ups.

While enemies filled the cloudy skies, they never proved overwhelming enough to tap into our missile and smart bomb reserves. That isn't to imply the game is easy, as later levels turn up the heat and boss battles at the end of each stage offer a challenge.

Rebel Onslaught strikes a nice balance between keeping the action tight without skewing the difficulty. Unlike with the tough-as-nails Venger, you shouldn't have trouble actually finishing the game when it hits the App Store sometime in the next week.