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Crystal Reign is a fantasy target shooting game that's out right now for iPad

Angry ballistas

Crystal Reign is a fantasy target shooting game that's out right now for iPad
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| Crystal Reign

Take Angry Birds's 2D ballistic shooting system, multiply it by six, and apply it to a casual target-shooting game. The result should look something like Crystal Reign.

At least it should once you've stirred in a healthy dose of fantasy sci-fi.

Developer Hunted Cow is perhaps better know on iOS for its hex-based strategy games like Tank Battle: East Front 1942 and Civil War II: 1862, but Crystal Reign is something altogether lighter and more immediate.

You gradually build up your magic crystal-fuelled tower on the left hand side of the screen (left handed sorts can switch it to the right), with each floor playing host to a single siege weapon. These can be ballistas, cannons, or something a little more fantastical.

The firing mechanism appears to be the same for each though - you pull back and release, just like in Angry Birds, with the same arcing aiming dots.

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With your robotic targets hovering onto the scene from various angles and only really pausing when they're about to shoot back at you, there's a surprising amount of skill-under-pressure required right from the start.

When your base crystals inevitably sustain damage, you'll need to use the gems you collect from fallen enemies to make repairs in between waves.

Crystal Reign seems like an enjoyable enough target-shooting game based on my brief time with the game. Whether this simple sense of fun can be sustained for longer than five minutes is a matter for an in-depth review.

A customisable tower, two tough bosses, and a story narrated by Kevin McNally (him off Pirates of the Caribbean) could provide the depth and variety required, but we'll have to wait and see.

Crystal Reign is available now on iPad for £1.49 / $1.99.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.