Battleloot Adventure Review

The kingdom of Kameloot is nothing short of a loot-happy adventurer's dream. Mercenaries from all over the land have gathered to reap rewards and pick up lots of cash. But acquiring stuff isn't the only goal. Without a well-balanced team, success will be hard to come by. Fortunately the rewards (and even the grind) make it all worthwhile.

Battleloot Adventure begins with a one-man party, but before the tutorial levels are finished, players will have a motley crew of mercs to fill just about every RPG role. Warriors can shield others from damage, rogues can dish out lots of pain, mages will roast the more physically focused baddies, and so forth. Each of the available eight characters (two slight variations of each of the four key classes) has its own special abilities to consider as well. The action is entirely turn-based, with players selecting their desired attacker, followed by their desired attackee. With the proper timing it's possible to block significant damage via a quick tap. On the other hand, tapping on a teammate mid-attack will initiate a co-op action which typically does more damage and builds combos to earn stars. Stars that can be kept to earn bonus cash or exchanged to use an adventurer's special attack. However, co-op attacks and blocking drain stamina, and once a character's stamina is gone they can't do either. At least not until they get a little rest.

A major and expected draw of Battleloot Adventure is the loot. But more than just outfitting characters with better and better gear, it's about customization. Players can fine-tune each mercenary with stat-boosting equipment and special skills, and a good squad with the proper skills can totally steamroll over the opposition. The dynamite character design doesn't hurt, either. Seriously, these are some great-looking (and colorful) 2D beasties. I'm especially fond of the rabid/demonic sheep.

I have one complaint and one complaint only about Battleloot Adventure, but it's a doozy. The text for the exposition videos (depicted as adorable stick puppet shows, no less) goes by way too fast. So fast, in fact, that it's often over and done with before the video itself and usually blows past any form of context. I lied about the complaint being a doozy, by the way.

Really, the only thing about Battleloot Adventure that might deter the loot-hungry iOS gamer is the 600+ megabytes it occupies. Aside from that it's cheap, addictive, nice to look at, and quite a bit of fun.