Dragons: Rise of Berk Review
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Dragons: Rise of Berk Review

Our Review by Jennifer Allen on May 22nd, 2014
Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: PLAYING IT SAFE
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Build a village and raise some dragons in the formulaic Dragons: Rise of Berk.

Developer: Ludia
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.1.7
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 5

Graphics / Sound Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar
Gameplay Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar
Playtime Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar
Replay Value Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar

Overall Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar

With a new How To Train Your Dragon film on the horizon and a popular Cartoon Network show under its massive wing, it's about time that the franchise introduced a new game to the App Store. That game is Dragons: Rise of Berk, a freemium-based village building title that's going to seem quite familiar to many.

Much like many other games of this type, Dragons: Rise of Berk is all about building one's home up. A keenly designed mixture of resources ensures that everything ticks along nicely over time with the need for fish to reward the vikings, while wood is used to build new structures. Players start out with the basics but it's down to them to construct anything more significant or opt to upgrade existing buildings. Early on this takes little time to do, but soon enough timers become a more significant issue and progress slows down.

So far, so very typical of the genre. But what about those dragons? Yup, Dragons: Rise of Berk has plenty of those. 18 different species can be collected over time and they're quite a charming bunch. Well animated, they feel a bit more interactive than one would expect, although it is ultimately a visual flourish rather than anything deeper. These dragons can be sent off to acquire wood, fish, and more for the player, with new eggs to hatch also found this way.

Really though, Dragons: Rise of Berk is a game we've all seen before but with a different skin to disguise things. There are missions to follow to funnel players along a certain path and that plethora of timers to keep one slowed down unless they want to spend real money. There's the promise of a Battle Mode, which could potentially spice things up, but for now it's merely a 'Coming Soon' on the menu.

Kids might savour more of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, but there's really nothing particularly new here to enjoy.

iPhone Screenshots

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iPad Screenshots

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