Venger

Should alien aggressors decide to assault Earth, we're in trouble. The International Space Station doesn't exactly qualify as an orbital fortress and the space shuttle would have a difficult time keeping up with the manoeuvres of an intergalactic saucer.

Humanity would have the short end of the stick in a tough battle, something Venger chronicles in detail. This finely tuned shooter simulates the horrors of space war all too well, its steep difficulty curve stalling an otherwise stellar experience.

No story here - Venger plops you in the pilot seat of an unnamed spaceship against legions of alien craft. Across 20 missions, you blast foreign foes from the first-person. Tilting your handset allows you to navigate through the 3D levels, while touching the screen fires a laser or two if you hold down two fingers. You can even launch powerful rockets by tapping the corresponding button at the bottom of the screen, which is situated next to a rechargeable boost pad.

The goal in each level lies in reaching the end to confront a minor boss. Obstacles litter the way, requiring proper navigation to avoid electric fields and circumvent jutting walls. Thankfully, the accelerometer is well-employed and an option is included to set the neutral point.

Although your temptation would be to rush to the end of each level and just eliminate the boss, it's a pointless strategy. Boosting past enemies isn't possible; instead, they speed up with you and shoot you down. The objective is to eliminate alien opposition on your way through each level, not just speeding to the end boss. It demonstrates the careful tuning Venger possesses in forcing you to balance the concerns of speed and combat.

That same tuning could be used to lower the difficulty. It's already been done via the game's most recent update, but remains ever so steep. You can zip through the first few levels easily enough, but hit those double-digit stages and you're in for a trial. Enemies are relentless, especially combined with environmental hazards that quickly chew up your ship. It isn't so much the number of enemies you face as the ferocity of certain ones. Defeating the more advanced foes proves daunting.

It's enough to make you set Venger down. While it attracts with its great visuals and solid combat mechanics, the difficulty has a way of repelling replay. This, however, isn't the only thing holding the game back from being the definite entry in this crowded genre. Introducing online rankings could give it a notoriety boost, for starters. Additional weapons or upgrades would be great too. Considering how overpowered the enemies are, perhaps granting some power-ups would even the odds.

Despite the difficulty, Venger flies high with its graphics and design. Its shortcomings are easily fixed, which makes us hopeful not just for the game but the day that humanity has to face some unknown alien threat. We'll be prepared thanks to Venger's tough-as-nails gameplay.