Tag: Action rpg »

Smash Spin Rage is two-faced. It strolls around with a pleasing concept, looking all interesting to play...then the sad, depressing reality sets in. This is a giant IAP trap.

First, the good. The concept is original: an action-RPG with a ‘character’ that’s a disembodied spirit swinging a ball and chain around to wreck up the place because of reasons. The story is presented in cutscenes that don’t make a lot of sense, but no matter: swing that ball round and round and break everything! Break columns! Break vases, they know what they did! Break skeletons into pieces! Break the hearts of enemies, then break their faces! Break everything while spinning around rapidly! Stop spinning? Spend coins to start spinning up again, or just fling the spikey ball around to break everything manually!

Playing as an object takes some getting used to, but at its core, it’s really cool. Oh, and the game supports iCloud. I started playing on my iPhone, but hadn't gotten too far in, so I expected to start over when wanting to play on the iPad, but no! My progress was there! It was a Christmas miracle!

Now, the not-so-cool stuff, which is everything around the game. The game is based on a free-to-play model and it goes whole hog with it. Coins can be earned in-game, and they can also be spent in-game on a wide variety of things. Need to heal quicker while the heat’s all about? Satisfaction is just a few coins away. Want to get up and spinning instantly? Spend some coins. Want to do more damage or become more powerful? Spend some coins. Run out of coins in-game or don’t want to grind? Buy them with real-world money!

Now, here’s the problem: saving up the coins to become better is difficult because in order to just stay afloat, spending coins on fleeting in-game items is required. It just feels like a trap to push in-app purchases, rather than an actual game, albeit one designed to push optional sales. That free-to-play balance is really important, and this one is way too imbalanced in the favor of pushing IAP. And when a game does that, it doesn’t make me want to spend money. I’ll spend it on games that treat me better.

And look, girlfriend, Smash Spin Rage just ain’t gonna treat ’cha right. He’ll come by with promises of spinning and smashing, but honey, the rage will be all yours when he expects ya ta pay. Have some self-respect, girl! Play something else! Be a strong, independent woman!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=

At first I was disappointed. Dark Avenger looks like a pretty cool dungeon-crawling hack-and-slash RPG, but it’s broken up into these tiny little stages and there’s virtually no story outside of a guy going around killing what looks to be undead. Then I noticed the option to replay levels in a Time Attack mode and it all clicked; this isn’t a conventional hack-and-slash RPG, it’s more like somebody stuffed the genre into an arcade cabinet. And despite a few minor complaints I’d say they did a darned good job of it.

As I’ve mentioned the world of Dark Avenger is riddled with the undead. Or so it would seem, anyway. The rather aggressive protagonist’s motivations aren’t made entirely clear but that’s okay because there’s killin’ to be done! Like most other iOS action RPGs the interface uses a simple virtual stick/giant attack button surrounded by ability icons control scheme. Players slice their way through each relatively brief level in an attempt to open up the next and gather loot and gold along the way. Later levels, in turn, provide better loot and more gold but can be a lot tougher.

The going is a little slow at first but once the player’s character levels up a bit and gains a few more skills Dark Avenger really starts to come into its own. Yes, it’s another Diablo-like on iOS, but the emphasis on smaller levels and replayability is surprisingly clever and works quite well. Especially the Infinity Tower that pits players against increasingly tough waves of enemies for lots of gold and medals (or something like that) that can be used to buy better gear.

The way Dark Avenger is broken up and the rather small levels might be off-putting to some but I still think they fit the mobile platform well. However I’m not too crazy about the rather stiff combat system. Using the same exact three-hit combo over and over again feels repetitive, this same combo ends with a knockback that forces the player to chase after their targets, and skills can’t be triggered during an attack so it’s impossible to cancel out a combo with a special attack. I’ve eaten way too many flaming golem fists simply because I couldn’t trigger my character’s dash move during a combo.

It may not sport the most responsive combat system in the world but Dark Avenger still manages to be fun thanks to its arcade-like nature. There’s lots of loot to earn and possibly upgrade, and plenty of skills to unlock and train. Plus the Infinity Tower is practically a game unto itself.