Game Reviews

Warm Gun

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iOS
| Warm Gun
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Warm Gun
|
iOS
| Warm Gun

When you strip it all back, every FPS game just involves running through a maze and timing your button presses when a set of polygons converge in the middle of the screen.

But the best games in the genre do everything they can to distract you from this fact, including explosive set-pieces, beautiful graphics, cinematic story-telling, and relentless action to immerse you in their pixelly worlds.

Not Warm Gun, though. This one's just about running through a maze.

Were it not for the impressive Unreal Engine graphics, no doubt this title would have gone unnoticed by most people. As it is, those drawn in by the screenshots will find a lacklustre multiplayer shooter that comes up short in almost every possible department.

You're not alone

There is no single-player portion in Warm Gun. Actually, that’s only half-true: there is a single-player mode, but this takes the form of a botmatch against three inept AI opponents, so it might as well not exist.

With no difficulty modes or structure it comes across as a fairly half-hearted practice area (or, indeed, a warning sign) for the main focus of the game - the multiplayer.

First impressions of this side are soured somewhat by the use of Gamespy, a system that this old PC gamer has very little time for.

True to form, trying to register a new account merely crashed the app, forcing me to head to the website on my PC.

Touch then move

Once in a game you may be forgiven for wondering why you went through all that bother in the first place.

Pretty much every mistake you can make with an iOS first-person shooter is made here, with controls that don’t allow you to drag your aim while firing, an auto-aim that does anything but, and sensitivity that seems to overshoot no matter what setting you have.

Even if you’re one of the types who can shrug off lousy controls, Warm Gun is lacking even the most basic of features.

The four-player limit is bitterly disappointing after games like Modern Combat 2, while the scoreboard doesn’t show the scores, meaning that games suddenly end without warning.

Not that it really matters who wins - there’s no persistent ranking or other such features to keep you playing, and the number of times my opponents stayed for the duration of a match could be counted on one hand.

Character building

There are attempts to inject some spice into the formula. You can pick from four classes, for example, each carrying its own unique weapon, melee/pistol, and grenade.

However, the AK and rifle feel overpowered compared to the rest, and the grenades float like helium balloons through the air.

At least the low number of opponents means that none of the five maps on offer suffers from the same spawn-camping seen on Gameloft multiplayer titles, although lag still kicks in far too often given the lack of players.

Even at this early stage the servers aren’t exactly brimming with competition, and without decent controls, gameplay, or progression, it's unlikely many will warm to Warm Gun in the weeks to come.

Warm Gun

With wonky controls and lacking even the most basic of features, Warm Gun is a multiplayer-only FPS that should be left alone
Score
Will Wilson
Will Wilson
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).