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Armored Strike Online (Lite): One Of The Most Fleshed Out Games On Android

Gene_Bailey

Lurker
Jun 11, 2010
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ARMORED STRIKE ONLINE FULL REVIEW

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This Game is the single most played game on my phone, and its one of the most well made and truly amazing experiences I've ever had while playing a game on any portable gaming device. Its got a little something for everyone, whether that be lots of guns, huge explosions, some pretty amazing tactical game play, or social game play via its online modes. And if you've ever played a Worms or Tank styled game, then you will have no trouble settling into this little gem. The object is simple: Blow up all the other tanks and be the last one standing. How you go about it, however, is up to you. In this review I will break down for you 5 different categories (Graphics, Sound, Playability, Content, and Developer Support) and detail why this game is one the must have games on the market.

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1) Graphics- This game relies on cartoon sprites to get the job done. There aren't any 3D graphics whatsoever, and wouldn't you know it, it adds to the game. Unlike other games on the market that tend to eat up battery life and CPU cycles, this game manages to to be fairly easy on both, and thats in large part due to its wise choice in graphics type. Now does this mean that you're losing out? Better performance at the cost of shine? Not at all. The graphics fit perfectly with the games character, which is as much hardcore and serious as it is casual. And visually, little is lacking. The sprites are well designed and very vibrant. And everything looks and feels like it should. For instance when you call in an air strike of tank buster bombs, you expect the explosion to look deadly, to remove the appropriate amount of terrain, and to not be over the top or too little all at the same time. And on a small screen, thats a hard feat to accomplish. But Requiem Software pulls it off. The explosions are all scaled perfectly to fit the destructive scope of the weapons power, and different objects near you react dynamically, i.e. trees burning when they are caught in the explosion. Thats not to say that the graphics are without faults though. One minor thing I found was that the tanks do not have rightward facing sprites. In other words, they cant turn around. Now this doesn't affect gameplay in any way, but its kind of awkward to see your mech unit walking backwards when you move it to the right or left depending how you started out. Another side note is the use of the background. It would have been very easy for the developer to leave the background static, and for the most part it is, but one very subtle touch is that the clouds are constantly in motion. This allows you to gauge the strength of the wind even when you don't have access to the wind strength meter.

Graphics- 4.5/5

2) Sound- The sound and music... Its very easy for people to have mixed reactions to the sound simply because we are not all playing on the same device. Many phones are clearly more high end than others, and therefore have better speakers, screens, processors, etc. But in my opinion, and on my very low end Motorola Cliq, the sound was phenomenal. Sounds were robust, and fully integrated into the game. Even just selecting menu items have their own sounds, and the explosions and gunshots sound terrific. Now the music, on the other hand, while good, is also a bit redundant. As far as I could tell there were maybe three songs at the most that played in the background, if that. Now bare in mind, the songs themselves were good and fit well with the game play, however I simply wish there were more tunes. Even if they had to be shorter, if there was one tune that looped for each individual level, I'd be very happy. Is this a deal breaker? No, not at all. But it is worth mentioning. A side note here is that on lower end phones without the sizable 1 ghz processors, activating the sound can slow down the framerate at times. Again, not a major issue, and definitely not a deal breaker, but something also worth noting.

Sound- 4/5

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Playability- This game manages to be in-depth, but remarkably easy to control. It was designed from the ground up for touchscreen control, so don't worry about any Droid users having an unfair advantage. As shown in the picture above, everything is clearly labeled as to what it does, and the HUD itself stays clear out of the way, never intruding on the action. And there is no clutter. No useless buttons or buttons you wish wouldn't be there. Controlling the tank is a simple affair, and there is a tutorial that can be found just off the main menu screen. But really this game is a pick up and play it game. You use the fuel arrows to move till the fuel runs out, the power arrows to increase or decrease the range of your shot and the angle button to determine the angle your firing at. Alternatively you can just "grab" the arrow protruding from your tank to adjust where to fire at. The arrows up top are more for fine tuning. And last but not least you have the ammo selector and FIRE buttons. Nothing could be more simple. And the menus themselves offer very clear and concise options. There is no clutter.

Playability- 5/5

4) Content- Ahhh... The real meat of the game itself. It can sound as good as Beethoven's Fifth, it can play as well Call of Duty 4, and it can look as good as Kim Kardashian, but if theres not a lot to do, then you'll be demanding a refund from the Market in hours. Fortunately, there is A LOT to do! 27 wildly different weapons, 8 different and very destructible terrains (levels), 6 different tanks, and 75 achievements to unlock. Also three levels of enemy difficulty AI and 5 varying wind strengths from calm to hurricane force winds. Oh, and did I mention online play with full chat support? This game is chock full of detail and things to do and unlock. When your online and blowing away your buddies or complete and total strangers, you'll start to unlock achievements, which similar to CoD Modern Warfare 1 and 2 give you experiences bonuses to help you level up. As you level up you'll start to unlock new tanks such as the Valkyrie (or as I like to call it the Chicken Walker, due to its obvious design nods to Star Wars) or the Kodiak. All of the tanks perform differently, and most importantly, feel different. The Valkyrie can shoot at almost any angle, but its very lightly armored. The starter tank, the Sentinel, doesn't move very far at one time, and has only decent shot angles, but it can take a hit. So it doesn't matter if your a new player going against a veteran in his top of the line tank, you still have a solid chance. Everything is balanced very well, and the developer is known for constantly issuing updates to ensure that everything remains balanced. The weapons themselves are also very diverse, ranging from your basic, low powered, infinite ammo shot to grenades, to airstrikes, to small mechanical spiders that seek out enemy tanks and self-detonate. Oh and of course there is always the nuclear option... Easy to say that theres too much goodness in one package for you not to love.

Content- 5/5

Developer Support- Whether its the app your phone uses, the OS your computer runs, or the game on your console of choice, we can all agree that quality products are the ones that have developer support. The ones that constantly receive updates. And Requiem Software does not disappoint. This game has changed so much since its original release, it barely looks anything like its 1.0 release. For instance, there was only one tank, there were only 17 or so weapons. When you started each round you were limited to bundles of weapons that only included 3 or 4 new weapons, and none of them were the powerful ones you desperately wanted. Nowadays theres a nifty little store that you can shop at with the winnings of the last round and you can pick up every weapon available in game at it. Including the Nuke (buy a Nuke at the store to unlock the Terrorist achievement). There were only 4 or so terrains/levels. Clearly this game has changed, and it continues to change. New updates are always being released, and new additions in the form of achievements, game modes, tanks, and ranks are constantly being brought to the consumer. In my 5 months with the game, I have yet to see it glitch on me, or to spot a bug. And for the people who do spot a bug, the developer has proven very quick to respond to e-mails with either an update or a written response. This is also the only app where I've seen people complain about having to download too many updates in a short period of time.

Developer Support- 5/5

Final Recap- All in all, this game is a winner. Hands down, its the most refined game on the market, and its constantly being updated. There are two versions, a Lite (free) version and the full version at $3.99. Trust me, you'll end up going for the Full version. Oh and I forgot to mention that the all updates are totally free after purchase. So drop what your doing (unless your reading this from your phone, in which case, please don't drop it) and download this wonderful game now! And I'll see you on the battlefield!

Final Score- 4.7/5

By: Gene .A. Bailey
 

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