BackStab – Review

Our rating:

By: Gameloft

Version #: 1.0.0

Date Released: 2011-06-23

Developer:

Price: 6.99

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Backstab is the latest game brought to us by Gameloft, the developer responsible for landmark iPhone games such as Dungeon Hunter and N.O.V.A. This is perhaps their most technically ambitious game to date, as gamers are thrown into a free-roaming sandbox set on a lush Caribbean island.

The story places you in the role of Navy Captain Henry Blake, who gets betrayed by a man whose villainy is instantly obvious from his unnaturally posh English accent – and the fact that he’s called Kane. With the help of an attractive female rogue, your mission is to get your revenge on the evil Kane and clear your name. The missions along the way are varied, as you get to swim, man cannons, and slash your way through hordes of identikit English redcoats.

But the story isn’t what this game is really about. What is really intriguing here is its world, and the question of whether the iPhone can handle this kind of scale. For the most part, the answer is ‘yes.’ The game looks great, and although distant buildings tend to pop abruptly into view, the game world, with its lush beaches and large cities filled with beggars, hookers, and side-quests is surprisingly immersive. Among the side-missions are races and an amusing ‘arena’ mode, in which you get to fight creatures as varied as bears, zombies and giants.
 
Yet with a game as ambitious as this there are bound to be flaws. The touch-screen feels fairly limited for the free-running Assassin’s Creed style of gameplay that Backstab demands. At certain points you find yourself jumping into the abyss or falling off a ledge for no reason.  The camera sometimes feels awkward, and it can be a real nightmare navigating the frankly unnecessary platform elements of the game.

Combat, meanwhile, is simplistic but fun. There is a single button for attacks, which you tap at frantically to unleash undeservedly stylish combos. If you’re in the right position at the right time, you can unleash some brutal finishing moves, including a surprisingly graphic decapitation. Do well enough in combat, and you can temporarily make enemies go slow-mo while you chop them down at a normal pace.

BackStab is one of the most technically accomplished games on the iPhone and is a genuine feast on the eyes. Sometimes it feels as though the gameplay just doesn’t match up to visionary game world, but an accessible combat system makes up for this. The storyline is decent, and the missions varied, but the main selling-point of this game is its lush, large world, which holds plenty of surprises and treasures for the more adventurous gamers.

***

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