Spectrum Shock Review

By , on December 1, 2010


Spectrum Shock
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Challenging action gameplay.
  • Smooth, customizable tilt controls.

CONS

  • Little gameplay variation / alternate modes.

VERDICT

Spectrum Shock isn't easy to get comfortable with, but learning to master the unique shooting system can be a fun challenge in itself.


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Attempting to come up with something unique isn't always easy, especially when it comes to arcade shooters, but Spectrum Shock by BoxFrog Games attempts to fuse the iDevices tilt controls with an interesting shooter concept that will have you spinning to keep up with the action.

As a basic endless arcade title, your only goal is to survive as long as possible while taking out as many enemies before you run out of energy. To shoot, players need only to tap the enemy they're after and one of three turrets aligned equally around the center of the screen with fire a weapon specific to the target you're after. The challenge comes in tilting the device to help your turrets to align with the enemy despite each shot featuring the ability to home-in. Should you delay for too long, the enemies will latch on to the center and drain your energy and can only be detached by deploying a screen-clearing explosion that slowly recharges based on the number of enemies you've shot down.

The artwork is simplistic and clean, with a digital style set as though the war were being waged by nano-technology inside an android. Movement of the central turrets is smooth, though alternate controls would have been nice as tilting and tapping around the screen can become overwhelming even on lower levels.

Currently this mode is all that's available, though once you've mastered the basics on the easy and medium levels, you can really ramp up the challenge in the hard and 'extreme' mode recently added to the App. Spectrum Shock may be simple in concept, but mastering its gameplay is certainly no easy task and while more variation over the course of a round would make it more exciting, it's still an interesting time waster to try.

Screenshots

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