Game review: Robocalypse - iPhone / iPod Touch

When playing shooting games I like to charge in all guns blazing. I like driving pedal to the metal in racing games. And I prefer all-out attack when playing football games.

I’m not ideally suited to games requiring deep thought and patient planning. When it comes to strategy my approach is on the shallow side.

With this in mind real-time strategy game Robocalypse – Mobile Mayhem shouldn’t have appealed.

Rather than dismiss it, however, I found myself drawn to it due to a deep-rooted ambition of mine to one day control my own army of robot minions.

I’m pleased I gave it a chance because not only does Robocalypse actually make strategy fun but it’s also got such outlandish charm that it’s quite unlike any other game I’ve seen before, certainly on iPhone/iPod.

Vogster Entertainment won plaudits for the Nintendo DS version of Robocalypse, and now the game has been ported to Apple’s mobile devices.

The conversion has gone very smoothly, providing intuitive touch controls on the iPhone/iPod and also a clean, clear user interface.

In single player mode Robocalypse serves up 17 missions to work through.

The game features a zany plot revolving around lead character Myron Mako, an unfortunate science geek thrust into the role of military leader defending humanity against the evil plans of Demolisher the robotic warlord and his armed forces.

Each mission is a mixture of military campaign, resource harvesting and bot production, taking place on a battlefield which you can scroll around using your finger or via dragging a square around the mini map at the top of the screen.

Buildings must be constructed, such as factories and bases. Robot units, such as soldiers, builders and medics, must be manufactured. Scrap metal must be gathered which allows you to run your army.

All the while you are doing these things you will need to send metallic troops into battle to defeat Demolisher and his wicked robot fighters or defend against his attacks on you.

There are primary objectives for each mission which must be completed to move on to the next, and also secondary objectives which you can ignore or fulfil as you wish. There are usually different ways to meet the objectives, which keeps things interesting during each mission.

At your disposal are 10 different unit types which get involved in combat, gathering, building and repairing.

More powerful than the basic units are hero robots, of which there are six in the game, all with different abilities. The heroes have 20 weapons available and can be upgraded during the game using an RPG-style levelling up system.

A lot of the time your units are self-sufficient - collecting scrap metal, carrying out repairs and even fighting with the enemy under their own steam without the need to micromanage everything.

There is little time to sit and relax, however, as direct interaction is required on a regular basis. Warfare is at the heart of this game, of course, and victory will depend upon how successful you are at managing your troops.

Hero robots, of which you are only allowed one of each type at any time, must be controlled individually by tapping on them and then touching the location on the map where you want to move them.

Units, which you can have as many of as you can build, are moved around in groups using a clever action flag system. Again using the simple touch controls, you choose an attack or defence flag and place it in a spot where you want a team of troops to gather.

The use of action flags for commanding teams of units is a simple but effective control method. This typifies the design values of the game. Everything is well implemented without being fussy or fiddly, which is an achievement on the small screen of the iPhone/iPod.

The 17 missions in Robocalypse provide a lot of content, each one taking upwards of 10 minutes to complete. The missions are nicely varied and with three difficulty levels there is much to get your teeth into.

If you should lose interest in fighting a computer-controlled Demolisher then step into multiplayer mode for local or global battles across 18 additional maps.

I’ve not had chance to check out the multiplayer side of the game but the inclusion of online play is a huge boost for any game.

Robocalypse has three main strengths.

Firstly, it is surprisingly fast-paced for a strategy game. The action can be very intense at times, which stops it from ever getting boring.

Secondly, it is surprisingly fun for a strategy game. As I mentioned, I’m not normally a fun of the genre but I’ve found Robocalypse to be very entertaining. This is partly due to the engaging gameplay but is also down to its third and probably biggest strength – its sense of humour.

Playing out like a kids’ cartoon, the game is bursting with personality and mirth thanks to the talents of acclaimed animation writers Jay Lender (SpongeBob Squarepants) and Micah Wright (Angry Beavers).

To help the wacky storyline along there are comical cut scenes involving the main characters throughout the game. The different bots also provide humorous quips in speech bubbles during battles.

Expect to have a smile put on your face when playing Robocalypse.

Overall, Robocalypse is a highly polished and enjoyable game.

It’s the most fun you can have with fighting robots without assembling your own army of tin servants.

Now, where did I leave that blueprint for world domination ...

Verdict: 8 out of 10 – If like me you generally find strategy games to be dull and overly complicated, this slice of robotic mobile mayhem is well worth checking out.