Rocket Claw Review

By , on October 11, 2011


Rocket Claw
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Charming presentation; cute and vibrant visuals and soundtrack.
  • Easy to pick up and play; basic one-touch controls.

CONS

  • Little sense of progression or variety.
  • Grind, grind, grind, and grind some more.

VERDICT

Rocket Claw's charming style is left to whither thanks to lackluster gameplay that feels like deja vu after only a handful of attempts.


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Oh those darn humans, they've gone and got themselves all lost and floating around space... what's a simple rescue-bot to do? Thankfully the rescue robot in Rocket Claw by Fugazo has a trick up its sleeve and it doesn't take a genius to guess whether the name of the game has anything to do with it.

Upon starting up the game you're presented with the charming, claw-wielding robot CLAWD. and all you have to do is tap the screen to launch a rocket-propelled claw to grab on to crystals, power-ups and the occasional astronaut (and astro-mut) in the process. Bonuses are awarded for multiple pick-ups in one touch, though this opportunity is rare and often limited to the later stages of the game.

Hazards such as floating blocks of garbage, the usual collection of comets and asteroids along with the occasional tear in space and even aliens attempt to stop CLAWD, though power-ups such as a super-claw, or the ever helpful 'crystalization' will clear things out in no-time.

The latter power-up is especially important as each high-scoring attempt will net you a handful of crystals, used to unlock additional modes (timed and survival) as well as an alternate character (CLAWDIA) and temporary power-ups for each attempt. Unfortunately, with the game lacking any other content or variety, the prices are set fairly high for these unlocks, requiring a lot of grinding (or an In App Purchase) to obtain.

This wouldn't be so bad if the game itself presented a varied challenge, however much of the game plays out in a strictly predictable way, with the only randomness coming in the form of when and where you get power-ups and the distribution of the hazards on screen.

Rocket Claw focuses more on its presentation and as such it's an easy game to put down again after only a handful of attempts.

Screenshots

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