Warm Gun Review
PROS
- Cool semi-apocalyptic setting; Fallout meets Borderlands.
- Level designs well-suited to multiplayer matches; resource management as well as triggered 'traps'.
CONS
- Inconsistent performance; gameplay swings from unplayably slow to buttery-smooth.
- Available classes lack the snap of variety.
VERDICT
Ultimately Warm Gun is a basic deathmatch title, albeit a very pretty one. Sadly this doesn't save it from quirky performance issues and a lack of variety further limited by 4-player limited maps.
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I can almost hear my own Mom scalding me in my own memories as I play Warm Gun by Emotional Robots. Though scarily it's not actually her voice, but my own saying 'Just because you can, doesn't mean you should'. It's a worrying moment, but the point still remains - it's true that the iPhone is slowly claiming territory once thought of as exclusive to dedicated handheld or even home consoles, but a bland and featureless FPS deathmatch game does nothing to move iOS forward in this direction.
Indeed the only options you'll be presented with when playing Warm Gun is whether you want to play offline against bots or online against human opponents (and bots). Upon logging in with your Gamespy account (yes, they still exist - mine has served me since the 90s) you can jump in to any one of the available servers (hopefully populated with players) and duke it out FPS-style to see who's twitch skills serve them best.
There are several control options, mostly varied based on how many virtual sticks you choose to use (usually one for movement, one for looking around and a third to shoot). Individual functions can be collapsed in to the other virtual sticks or other control schemes (twin-stick for instance uses movement, firing and swiping to look around).
Disappointingly you won't find much variety in the four available characters on offer despite their wildly different appearances. While each weapon in the game feels a little different, the limitation of three weapons (often melee, ranged and explosive) can be repetitive and in the case of the Preacher a tad overpowered as he picks players off at range with ease.
This is only disappointing because the maps themselves are the true highlight of the game, not simply for their slick visual design, but rather the clever way they've been balanced for competitive play. Ramps, various vantage points, open areas with power-ups (currently only healing) and the occasional trap or two spice up the relatively small maps to keep the action flowing at all times.
Lastly a special note needs to be made of the performance of Warm Gun - the visuals clearly come at a price and that price is performance. This can range from unbelievably smooth (especially with a solid ping and a recently rebooted iDevice) to unplayable and unstable as pings drop below 200ms or if you've been otherwise busy with your iDevice ahead of loading up the game.
Warm Gun is, if nothing else, a strong base for an excellent online shooter, but it fails to take advantage of its features (classes play directly towards team-based modes for instance) and instead settles for a generic multiplayer experience. Worth a shot if you fancy yourself a bit of a dead-eye in first-person shooters.
Screenshots
$0.99
