AGRAV: Inertial Orbit Review

Developer: null2 Berlin
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
App Reviewed on: iPhone 6s

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AGRAV: Inertial Orbit isn’t an easy game. Sure it starts out that way, but it soon turns into an arcade style challenge - the kind that will infuriate and beguile you in equal measures. It’s backed up by a well thought out pricing model, too.

Each level is a kind of puzzle. You control a spaceship as it attempts to negotiate various obstacles, while picking up collectibles for extra points. The trick here is that you can’t directly manipulate the ship. Instead, you hold your finger to the screen to create a black hole, thereby causing your ship to go towards it.

It’s an interesting way of doing things and it works quite well. It takes seconds to learn how to do this with more time devoted to mastering this form of manipulation. The ship travels in a curved manner so the trick is to learn how to use that to your advantage. Go off the edge of the level or hit an obstacle, and it’s game over, so precision is vital.

You can speed things up too by placing your finger directly in front of where you’re going (this is where 3D touch would have been great), with speed being imperative in timed missions, but also making things much harder.

At times, such requirements feel a little fiddly, with luck also playing a role, so you might find yourself a little annoyed. You’ll still go back to it though. AGRAV: Inertial Orbit does a decent job of gradually introducing new elements so there’s generally something new to tackle here.

You get 30 levels for free, which is plenty to ensure you know exactly what to expect from it. For a further $1.99, you gain an additional 60 levels, which is a plentiful supply of tricky challenges.

AGRAV: Inertial Orbit isn’t quite as stylish as it’d like to be but it makes up for it with an original way of doing things. It’s got that right mix to keep you coming back for more.