Game Reviews

Respawnables

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Respawnables
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| Respawnables

Have you ever found yourself wishing that console first-person shooters were less gritty and more cartoony?

Did you ever wish that you could strafe behind walls while delivering a steady stream of suppressive small-arms fire and laugh as your target collapses to the ground in a comedy pratfall?

If you answered "yes" to either of these questions then Respawnables is the game for you.

For those unfamiliar with the FPS genre, the point of Respawnables is to gun down as many characters as you can within the time limit of a level.

When it's your turn to be on the receiving end of the bullets, you'll die and respawn shortly thereafter.

Respawnables plays a lot like a simplified version of Call of Duty - you control your movement with one virtual joystick and control the camera (and your shooting) with the other.

What's that, you say? You want to look somewhere without shooting first?

Well, you'll be out of luck with Respawnables as the two actions are inextricably linked - but, given the light-hearted nature of the gameplay, it doesn't matter all that much.

Guns or butter

Because Respawnables is a Zynga game, there are all sorts of opportunities for paid upgrades and in-app purchases in the game.

Happily, however, these purchases are - for the most part - optional, and it's possible to enjoy Respawnables for hours without spending any hard currency on it.

If you have aspirations of online multiplayer, however, you may want to warm up to the idea of spending some cash as the 'pay-to-win' model can quickly, and dramatically, destroy the balance of gameplay by providing newer players with ridiculously overpowered guns, gear, and stat-boosting consumables.

Some of this equipment is level-locked, so you'll still need to grind through a few matches to have access to it, but if you're prepared to spend a good amount of cash on your arsenal then the grinding itself will become much easier to breeze through.

Despite its high-pressure approach to in-app purchases, Respawnables is a game that you can download for free and enjoy by yourself for hours.

If you want to laugh at the typical FPS experience while still enjoying the basic elements of the genre, Respawnables is the game for you.

Respawnables

Bright, polished, and enjoyable, Respawnables rarely misses its mark
Score
Matthew Diener
Matthew Diener
Representing the former colonies, Matt keeps the Pocket Gamer news feed updated when sleepy Europeans are sleeping. As a frustrated journalist, diehard gamer and recovering MMO addict, this is pretty much his dream job.