Previews

Hands on with Gaijin's all-swinging all-grinding iOS RPG Braveheart

Swelling muscles

Hands on with Gaijin's all-swinging all-grinding iOS RPG Braveheart
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iOS
| Braveheart iOS

There's nothing Scottish, or indeed Mel Gibson-like about Russian developer Gaijin's RPG Braveheart.

Instead, having spent sometime with a preview build of the game, we can say it's shaping up into a solid action experience that will have you spending plenty of time killing enemies and levelling up your character - a mighty bearded warrior out to defeat the dragon, collect the Holy Grail and win the king's daughter in marriage.

Yet, for the straightforward nature of the story, the isometric sprite-based graphics, and the game's adherence to role-playing traditions, Gaijin appears to have kept things interesting in terms of the gameplay's multi-layered stats, weapons and power ups.

Surfing the goblin wave

The missions of the main Story mode are fairly simple in structure, with you fighting your way through various wave-based levels, set across five themed locations.

Each mission is set on the same generic background for each location theme, with the variation created as the difficulty ramps up as you have to endure more enemies and longer waves, with each theme culminating in a boss character to defeat.

Ensuring you're well protected are your weapons, which come in two types - crossbow or flail. The flails are by far the most useful as they enable you to hit multiple enemies as you spin your finger around on the touchscreen to keep the weapon spinning around.

In contrast, the crossbow requires that you're pointing roughly towards your enemies, which doesn't really work well in terms of the game's movement control methods - either point-and-click, gesture or virtual D-pad. Additionally, as you're usually surrounded by tons of enemies, you're much better off with a weapon that enables you to attack in all directions.

Also aiding you are perks, which are effectively magic spells, both defensive and offensive.

You first have to buy them using your in-game gold, and then they are charged up in battle. You can only choose a couple from your collection at any time though. Still, they last for the duration of each mission, and are a necessity for success as the waves get longer and the enemy types more tricky. These range from melee units, to monster-spawning objects, and mages who rain down fire from above or sharpened spikes from below if you remain in the same location for too long.

Crunching numbers and skulls

Thankfully, as well as the relentless Story mode, you can perform standalone Hunts, which enable you to earn the gold and experience points to help you overcome any Story missions you find you're not tough enough yet to complete.

Throw into the mix the ability to upgrade your weapons, and your character stats, as well as buying in-game gold with real cash, and despite its otherwise traditional roots, Braveheart would seem to provide enough variation and flexibility to keep players fully engrossed for hours.

Gaijin expects to release Braveheart in iPhone and iPad versions in early December. The price hasn't been announced.

You can get some idea how it plays in the following video.

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Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.