Don't Shoot Yourself! Review

Don't Shoot Yourself! is a lot of fun, as well as really rather tough at times. Doing what mobile games do best it takes a simple idea, adds a well made touch-based control system, and runs with it. Just don't expect it to be forgiving.

As the name suggests, the key behind Don't Shoot Yourself! is to avoid shooting oneself. It sounds easy, right? Wrong. Players move around each level constantly firing bullets, with those very bullets ricocheting off walls and back towards them. When there's only a few it's pretty easy to dodge them, but rarely are there only a few.

Instead, Don't Shoot Yourself! is a frantic experience requiring fast reflexes in order to survive. There's a certain puzzle element to it too, with the need to plan one's route in order to survive and outlast the ever ticking timer at the top right of the screen. Each level is different, offering different challenges and complexities but each is well designed.

Soon, portals and invisible walls make quite the difference to one's success and adding to the challenge. It's consistently fun though, if occasionally frustrating when stuck on one stage for a while. Don't Shoot Yourself! offers encouraging messages every now and then, reminding players that they can do it if they keep trying.

At times the control scheme isn't quite perfect, occasionally working against the player. For the most part though, using one half of the screen for the controls works well on the extra screen space of the iPad. A left-handed mode ensures that no one misses out on the optimal method, too.

A purist experience, Don't Shoot Yourself! is quite the imaginative title. With each level offering a different challenge, and the prospect of some fearsome boss battles, it's an enjoyable experience only mildly hampered by occasional control issues.