Game Reviews

Swift Revenge

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| Swift Revenge
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Swift Revenge
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| Swift Revenge

Are you tired of auto-scrolling action games and all their kind? Would you go as far as to suggest auto-scrolling games are... for the birds?

Go ahead - Ayopa Games certainly won't deny it.

Swift Revenge is an action title starring an adorable bird who's an expert at diving. And at switching costumes on the fly, so to speak.

As the crow flies

Little Swift is enjoying the airborne life when, all of a sudden, the black-hearted Dr Crow pops into town and starts exploding things.

Filled with righteous fury, Swift makes a beeline for the mad doctor. Their confrontation somehow rips a hole in the space-time continuum, but Dr Crow decides that's no reason to stop being a jerk.

Thus, he resumes his destructive agenda through the ages, and Swift suits up to stop him.

Armed birdie

Though it looks and plays much like an endless-running game, Swift Revenge technically isn't an endless-runner. That's because its action is divided into five stages with definite finish lines.

Nevertheless, the gameplay should feel familiar to fans of the endless-runner genre. Swift begins each level in a perpetual dive, and you need to steer him away from obstacles and enemies by tilting your iOS device left and right.

Swift is no shrinking violet, however, for he launches himself at threats when you tap the screen. His charge can rip through debris and most enemies, and said acts of destruction earn you points.

Swift Revenge's real USP, however, is Swift's ability to change his costumes along with his means of attack. He occasionally sails by icons that grant him a projectile weapon (guns, ninja stars) or a melee weapon (swords, lightsabers).

While Swift's guns enable him to attack safely from afar, his swords are frustrating to wield. It's kind of difficult to attack a target at close range when it's zooming towards your face at a skillion miles per hour.

Turn back time. Try again

Swift Revenge's controls are also a bit problematic. While the tilt option works well and your prompts are registered sharply, there's no option to calibrate your accelerometer. This makes it difficult to play the game while lying down in bed. You either save the world while sitting up or ditch the whole venture.

Swift Revenge's moments of charm outnumber its aggravations, though. Swift himself is cute, particularly when he's decked out in a costume. Plus, the banter between him and Dr Crow is pretty funny. The game offers plenty of challenge, too. It's not very long, but you'll stumble over each level's randomly generated pitfalls on a number of occasions.

Swift Revenge is, in fact, a pretty frustrating game. You're never spared; not even right out of the gate. Luckily, checkpoints are generously dotted about, so you won't get knocked too far back when you die. These small mercies ensure Swift Revenge is an addictive game that you'll come back to again and again, regardless of how many times Swift careers into flying boats ferrying families of robo-bugs.

Sure, Swift Revenge's controls can use a little tightening up, and there's no denying that we're gliding through territory here that's been charted again and again. Still, the pumping soundtrack and selection of weapons should keep you happy while you're queued up at the bank. And that's really all you can ask for from a mobile action game developer.

Swift Revenge

Swift Revenge is a very decent auto-scroller in which you're taken on a tour of different eras
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