OOMF! Review

Endless Runners frequently suffer from the fact that everything's been done before, so it's refreshing to see OOMF! approach the genre from a different angle. It's not quite got that 'just one more go' mentality that's required of such games, but that doesn't mean it's not fun for a time at least.

OOMF! is a First Person Endless Gunner, rather than Endless Runner, but the same principles apply. Players simply control the trajectory of the character, while also tapping to shoot or swiping to jump. It's fairly easily done, with tilt controls that aren't too twitchy or too sluggish dictating direction.

Each session of OOMF! is pretty frantic with numerous monsters coming at the player. It's possible to dodge them but one's much better off taking them out with a few shots to gain points. There are power-ups and new types of ammo along the way as well, which certainly help. There's also the benefit of upgrades, which soon make one quite the force to be reckoned with, as well as providing a reason to keep on playing.

Switching things to a first-person perspective does offer some perils, though. Namely, a sense of progression is lost to an extent as it's tricky to fully see what's going on. Plus at times it's all too easy to feel as if one's running into danger that they didn't necessarily see because the screen is so cluttered with other colorful imagery. It's possible to adjust to such things but never entirely cure the issue.

As a change of direction though (in more than one way), OOMF! does deserve to be applauded. It's taken a risk, and while it's not as much of a hit as other titles, it's still a pleasant change of pace. Building up those upgrades is still kind of satisfying, even if it's not quite as gripping as other Endless titles.