Circuit Strike.One (iPhone) Review
Posted by Sam Pow on 08.25.2009
Circuit Strike.One is an exhilirating top-down iPhone shooter, and is among the best on the app store. Its awesome music and graphics will keep you hooked just as long as the gameplay will.
Nowadays shooters are a dying breed. I'm not talking about first and third person shooters that can be found on every Gamestop shelf on Earth, but rather good old fashioned top down and side scrolling shooters. In a world where games have become so technologically advanced, most shooters are too simplistic or limited to warrant a full retail game, which limits them to services like Xbox Live Arcade or PSN. Look on the iPhones app store, though, and you'll find indie shooters in plenty. One of my favorite shooters for the system is Circuit Strike.One (or CS.One for short). It brings addictive gameplay and bright, crazy visual effects to this lost medium that is shooters, and succeeds.
The tagline of CS.One sums up the gameplay fairly well: Kill everything. Touch nothing. You control a ship by using the touch screen to steer and propel, as well as fire. It works a lot like asteroids. The propulsion is very touchy, so you'll be using drifting strategies and tapping methods to achieve movement. Overall, it works well and makes controlling your ship more challenging and fun than a simple "push this way to go this way" control scheme. The fire button sends out a stream of energy, like a laser, that fire straight. This means all you have to do is line yourself up with an enemy to kill them, which can be harder than it sounds.
The point of the game is simple: you infiltrate a computer network and destroy a certain amount of shield generators. This unlocks the main network core and starts a timer. That's how long you have to destroy the core before you lose. All the while you will be attacked by numerous enemies that the system admin sends to destroy you. Luckily, you have a few advantages on your side. As you kill enemies, they drop ghost data, which can be used to accumulate and activate bullet time, a feature which allows you to slow down the game and make yourself invincible for a small period. This switches up the gameplay, and gives you a reason to kill the enemies. If you do get overwhelmed, you can fly though any one of the side walls to enter another room. This will be exactly the same as the last, but the shield generators will all be there, so it's like starting over. After you successfully destroy the power core, you will be teleported to a new network with more enemies and power generators. Each time you destroy a network you move to an even harder one, until you eventually run out of lives.
The challenge level throughout the game remains solid, and slowly builds higher and higher. The enemy AI is fairly good, and will trap you in between bullet patterns, forcing you to pull off some impressive maneuvering if you want to survive. The different enemy types sometimes even seem to work together, spraying your front area with bullets but putting a missile behind you that could easily explode anytime and end you. And when you do die you might actually find yourself laughing. The game throws some ridiculous but awesome insults at you for losing, such as "PWNED," or "All your bases are belong to us."
The graphics in CS.One really are something to look at. The bright explosion effects and 2.5-D levels will dazzle you as you zip about in zero gravity. The effects all look great, and they create simple but effective tones in each area that keep changing and keeping things fresh. All the enemies are nicely varied, and will definitely remind you of geometry wars. Some shoot missiles, some have rapid fire, and some are turrets, stuck in place. The whole game is detailed well, hell; the menus are even tilt sensitive. The UI in CS.One is a little loose, and sometimes touches don't quite respond as they should. I only experienced this in menus, though. The text is another problem. In an attempt to code the entire game in hacker language, the developers replaced every e, a, t, l, and o with its appropriate number counterpart. As if this wasn't confusing enough, they also threw in an odd and often small font, making sections of the game all but impossible to read.
The audio in CS.One is a definite main draw of the game and is utilized perfectly. The game has a system which mixes the music in real time and syncs it to gameplay. It makes the crazy techno beats and synth come alive because of the way it's intertwined into how you play. The music is also blended with the visuals, which means that the game will flash and bounce to the rhythm of the tunes. It may not sound like much, but when you're actually in the game playing it makes all the difference, and is really a cool feature.
While the one gameplay mode may get boring after a while, it's "keep going until you die" essence usually keeps you entertained until you finish. The game also features three difficulty levels, which all dramatically alter the way the game plays. Also interesting is that the game features a set of thirty achievements to collect in the game and use to brag to your friends. Unfortunately, no matter how many difficulties or unlockables there are, the same basic gameplay remains the same, and after a while it will get stale.
CS.One also brings with it an online feature that was added with a recent update. The faction system allows you to choose your side online in a battle between several forces to see who can get the highest score. This is where your stats will actually count, which the game keeps track of over several areas. Global and local leaderboards will show you who has the best score overall or just in your area. Between all these new ideas, CS.One can stretch itself far beyond the basic mechanic of shooting stuff and getting to the next level.
The 411
Quite simply put, Circuit Strike.One is fun. It brings arcade style shooter action to the iPhone wonderfully, and gives you a good dose of geometry wars style gameplay on-the-go. At its current price, it's definitely worth giving a shot, if only to hear its badass soundtrack. Ignore all the other asteroids rip-offs on the app store, and skip straight o this game, you'll be glad you did.
Graphics
8.5
CS.One has many bright, fun visual effects that add to the already-great 2.5-D backgrounds
Gameplay
8.2
The controls work great, and the amount of challenge is just right. The basic gameplay formula is simple and efficient
Sound
9.0
The soundtrack is easily the best part of the game, and features a system which mixes the beats in real time to fit the pace and effects of gameplay
Lasting Appeal
8.0
The game adds lots of extras in an attempt to extend the games life, but they only go so far. Once you tire of the game itself, none of the bonus features are going to bring you back for more
Fun Factor
8.0
The game is a great pick-up-and-play title, and everything comes together well to make an overall fun iPhone package
