Once in a while, when you have a device that does gaming as well as everything else, a particular game comes along that takes you on an adventure that’s hard to quit. I found one such game recently. Hero of Sparta (iTunes link) is a very remarkable game for being, well, a general hack-n-slash at its core. This means that you basically go around killing monsters using various bladed weapons by mashing buttons like crazy. However, that isn’t to say that this game doesn’t have its rewards.
When you start the game, you’re first treated to an opening movie showing your hero battling it out with a bunch of guys and a nasty cyclops-resembling monster. This was very impressive, but a little misleading as the high-quality animation made me believe that all of the cutscenes would be like that. Cutscenes are, of course, the chocolate-chips in every gamer’s dream cookie. The rest of the game had cutscenes that were impressive in showing you the scope and breadth of where you are in the game, but nothing approaching that cinema quality.
The menu is very straightforward and I had very little problems navigating it and learning what everything does. The options menu has settings for game hints (on/off), music and sound effects level sliders and has localization of several common languages. The new game option has standard difficulty options: easy, normal and a “heroic” mode which is unlockable after beating the game on either difficulty.
Gameplay is a real treat, especially for someone like me that has tried his fair share of most game genres on the iPhone platform. Keep in mind that the iPhone has only one physical button on the front. The game designers give you a virtual control stick with which to move the hero and three action “buttons”: one to swing your weapon, another to shield and use special abilities, and one that appears under certain battle conditions. There’s also life and magic meters on the top part of the screen, along with a menu escape. This game interface surprisingly doesn’t interfere with the rest of the game on screen. The virtual controls worked very well, only being a problem when my thumbs weren’t aligned properly! One thing I should mention about this game: it’s very graphic-intensive; I would recommend installing MemoryInfo and using it to kill all non-essential iPhone memory processes before starting the game.
The goals of the game itself are very straightforward and on-screen game hints will let you know if you’re going wayward. There’s a couple of neat surprises to this seemingly mindless brawler. First, you can search for powerups for your health and magic meters. Most of these are obvoius to find, but some aren’t that easy. Second, there are some puzzle elements to later levels that, while being simple puzzles, still add some needed depth to the gameplay. You can also upgrade weapons that you acquire throughout, and the decisions to upgrade which abilities of each weapon can also make your warrior’s life easy or a living hell.
The game itself is engaging, with a storyline and cutscenes that immerse you into your character. I found myself eagerly looking forward to the next chapter, the next challenge, even the next bigger sub-boss. The designers put some thought into making the game challenging, but not extravagantly difficult for newbies like myself. I got killed a few times, but it wasn’t too hard to figure out what I was doing wrong and adapt.
All in all, I had to give this game a 4 out of 5… whatever symbol you care to think of. I can’t give it my highest rating because, while the entire storyline was bordering on epic grandeur… the ending was just pure anticlimactic crap! If it weren’t for how great the rest of the game is, I would have felt completely bilked instead of merely cheated of a good ending. Still, I would recommend this game to anyone who wants a good adventure. Sans the ending, I really enjoyed being the Hero of Sparta!
First, Christine shocks the hell out of me by actually LIKING and recommending a symphonic metal band to me. If I haven’t already told you guys, her and I butt heads so much on music tastes that we often end up listening to music via headphones around the house. Unfortunate, but it’s a workaround. Anyways, the band is called Delain and I bought their album immediately after she played a few samples. Very good stuff, with just enough of a commercial sound to appeal to more of the masses. And the singer has got such a phenomenal voice! The music is also progressive enough, with at least a couple of key changes in their songs. Here’s the video for their single “April Rain”
The second cool piece of entertainment was the finale of the Doctor Who: The End Of Time two-parter that finished off the seasonal specials after the 4th season. This finale was totally unexpected, and the ending was so touching, it made me cry. I’m a softie for stuff like that. David Tennant gives up his role as the 10th Doctor with pure style and heart, and Matt Smith picks up the torch as the 11th Doctor with some of the weirdness we saw from David Tennant’s beginnings, but more manic. I won’t say any more. You’ll have to see for yourself! 
I’ll write about this tomorrow.
