IPHONE GAME REVIEW
EliminateShooting up for fun |
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Product: Eliminate Pro
| Developer: ngmoco
| Publisher: ngmoco
| Format: iPhone
| Genre: Multiplayer, Shooter
| Players: 1
| Networking: wireless (network)
| Version: US
| App version: 1.0
One of the first free-plus-pay games on the App Store, Eliminate does away with pricing, but that doesn't preclude cut rate gameplay.
Still, premium multiplayer action marks this ambitious game as being something other than your average first-person shooter.
Yet for every innovative feature loaded up in Eliminate - effortless network play, deep customisation, and a cheeky attitude - there's a flaw that locks it down, leaving it cents short of its full potential.
To get into the swing of the game, you're thrown into the action as an employee of Arsenal MegaCorp, who's tasked with participating in an experimental weapons program.
In short, the company asks you to shoot at your corporate comrades in four player free-for-all matches as a way of testing the efficacy of its cutting-edge weaponry.
While offline bot play is offered, the main attraction is network multiplayer.
Eliminate caters for 3G and wi-fi play, both of which function superbly. Credits are awarded for kills, which are used to level up, purchase new weapons, and enhance your avatar's combat attributes. They're only deposited into your virtual account, however, when you possess energy in your combat suit.
Each match saps some of your energy and when you have none left, you're unable to earn credits. You can continue playing, but with no energy, you won't receive any credits.
It takes four hours for your energy to recharge; alternately, in-app energy pack purchases of between 99c and up to $30 allow you to bypass this annoyance and recharge your suit.
Putting aside any discussion of cost, the rate at which energy recharges is a source of frustration. Requiring a waiting period isn't the problem, it's that you're only granted a partial recharge. Full replenishment at the end of every waiting period would be preferred. This shouldn't discourage energy pack purchases because you still would need to wait four hours for a recharge.
The reason the recharge wait is so annoying has everything to do with the game's fantastic customisation system. It's so compelling that you can't help but want to buy energy packs to earn credits just to be able to tweak your character and buy new stuff.
Only one complaint can be lodged against the game with regard to personalisation. Cosmetic armour skins have to be purchased with credits. It would be much better to allow simple colour changes and decals to be free of charge and exact a fee in credits for substantive upgrades.
Indeed, in many ways, customising your character is more fulfilling than combat itself.
A number of issues prevent matches from playing out ideally, including awkward controls, weapon imbalances, and questionable matchmaking. These are what ultimately cause Eliminate the most trouble, independent of the controversy surrounding its pricing structure.
Tapping the bottom of the screen at the centre supposedly triggers a jump, yet it frequently results in your weapon being fired and the camera moving to the left. Fortunately, jumping isn't a big part of the game, so it's not a massive problem.
Clumsy strafing is perhaps more of an issue, but you can mitigate some of this frustration by choosing the automatic fire option when your crosshairs are positioned over an enemy. Similar controls foibles also make the jet pack power-up a hassle and it should just be removed from the game.
In addition, problems with weapon balancing complicate combat. Take the plasma cannon, for example, which is overpowered and allows easier kills than the other weapons given the confined maps. Then there's the gravity hook that's not only cumbersome to control, but essentially obsolete in close-quarters matches.
Curious matchmaking results in more frustration than anything else.
Matches can pull in players of markedly different skill levels, instead of setting up even games. It's common to see three players at a lower level get slaughtered by a fourth at a significantly higher level. The game accounts for these situations by reducing the credits earned by the higher ranking player. You can gain credits for one kill, but it shouldn't come to that.
The concept of matchmaking presumes coordination of games with players within a couple levels of each other.
Some of these flaws like matchmaking will undoubtedly be fixed with server-side patches and as such, Eliminate is bound to improve over time. Yet, the structure of the game requires re-examination in order to address annoyances with its energy pack system, a couple lame power-ups, and weapons functionality.
Still, eliminate these issues and this ambitious shooter can take full aim at fun.
Eliminate |
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The price might be right, but Eliminate has a few wrongs that need correction: matchmaking issues, weapon imbalances, and a couple control quirks which shoot holes in the fun
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Joined:
Feb 2009
Post count:
261
I think this is a revolutionary achievement on the iPhone that deserves to be rewarded with a higher score. Despite having a few flaws, these things aren't going to stop people playing, and on the whole, I think especially for the price that you can't do any better. I really dislike how reviews on this site are focused on nitpicking mistakes rather than praising achievements. An ambitious game is bound to not be perfect, and reviewers can't see past it.
failtorespond | 4 November 2009
I always find it funny when I hear a contradictory critique on almost any review that I read. It always starts off as "It should have got a better score even though XXX could have been fixed, or XXX could have been better", and then it ends offensive to the reviewer. It is what consumers want to hear. I want to know what the reviewer thinks it is that holds the game back from being a perfect score, and I think this was a fair review.
They(the person writing the review) have to critique the problems because that is what most consumers and readers want to hear. They cannot rate something higher just to appease to a certain fan base. Imagine half the crap you would end up blowing your money on if they all said everything was a 10, just to make that games fans happy.
failtorespond | 4 November 2009
This game kind of sucks. I have been playing it off and on today and it just feels partial. I don't think I would want to spend that much money just to play this game.
This free-plus gimmick seems like a way to launder more money out of everyone. I feel like there was no positive intentions for the consumers with free-plus apps. I would much rather pay one time and have all the features, with option DLC or whatever- than to get a free game and pay X-amount for some energy that is a VERY temporary purchase.
Joined:
Oct 2006
Post count:
683
For me the bottomline is that the controls aren't are slick as I would want them to be. In a single player game like Modern Combat, this is fine because the developer can tweak the AI to suit, but in something like Eliminate, while it's a fun game because everyone blasts away, fragging and fragged, I also find it fairly frustrating.
Also, so far I've spent $1.98 on power cells, and I might drop a couple more 99cents, but I can't see I'll be playing Eliminate next week, because of those fundamental issues.
dumas1000 | 4 November 2009
The controls are spotty. The gameplay is basic; like old-school 007 Golden-eye-basic. The weapon/armor/upgrade system is very nicely done. I do get the feeling of want to play one more match just to progress a little more. One more upgrade here or there. If I can just add one more point to my weapon's damage. One more level and I unlock this weapon or that armor suit. It feels a little like COD in this way. Pay to play is too expensive though. It's simply not competitive within the appstore marketplace.
I still believe that gameplay is imbalanced and that the game is not noob-friendly enough, especially for casual gamers. This imbalance comes from the very thing that adds replay value to the game. The upgrade system is a double-edged sword in many ways. And remember, everyone starts out as a noob. Being a noob in this game, however, is especially frustrating. A lot of people might quit early on without giving the game on honest chance due to the frustration. The learning curve can be steep. People aren't going to want to purchase DLC unless they are able to overcome the learning curve first.
Joined:
Jun 2009
Post count:
19
i think a seven is a fair score. eliminate has serious potential. if ngmoco pays attention to the consumer it should only take 1 solid update to shoot this game up to a 10. i love this game even with its quirks and find it to be one of my favorites so far but that might just be because im a huge shooter fan and this one works well. finally.
Zombies | 4 November 2009
It's a decent game, but I'd probably give it a 6 personally. The controls just aren't tight enough for my liking.
Delete | 4 November 2009
The waiting time is pathetic. I would rather pay a one-time payment of $9.99 to be able to play and earn credits anytime I want.
freaky sauce | 4 November 2009
i work for an iphone gaming company. we are playing games all day long. IMO eliminate is trying to do something pretty incredible on a very new platform. iphone = fps? did anyone really think that was possible when these idevices came out? i think not. regardless the consensus amongst an office full of gamers is: controls are weak, in-app purchase is BS, but the overall game is very polished with near platform quality production. if you like FPSs you will like this game. but don't expect xbox or playstation on an iphone - its not clear its even possible at this stage...
