Full Review

Mobjoy has two hills to fight up against when a reviewer such as myself tackles a game called 'Road Warrior'. Firstly you're invoking a movie series (even if it's unintentional) that has long since entered the pop-culture zeitgeist as a cult classic, secondly I'm an Australian, making said cult classic all the more precious. So with this in mind, does a free side-scrolling racer have the goods to match up to such high expectations?

OK, so this is a bit unfair, but the game's post-apocalyptic racing theme is no mistake and instead of paying for the game, players are tasked with grinding race after race to topple each of the game's 'bosses', ultimately unlocking all of the cars in the game. The real question then becomes whether or not the gameplay is worth such repetitive play?

After spending your available cash on upgrades or perhaps a new vehicle, you then select from one of a handful of randomly assigned tracks of varying 'difficulty'. Acceleration is handled automatically and players have the option of either controlling the 'tilt' of their vehicle via touch or tilt based controls, while braking and firing weapons is handled by on screen buttons. So far, so ordinary, but 'stunts' in the form of flips award players with cash and nitro boosts, making them essential for blasting your way to the front of the queue.

Unfortunately it's all a bit hairy as the game also revolves around blowing up other vehicles, something the opposing AI is more than happy to do at regular intervals, making it hard to get momentum. Jumping from the usual 'lower' path and taking the higher ground (if you're fast and lucky enough) can net you a serious advantage, but by the time you can master these paths you're likely to be completely outclassing the racers anyway.

It's this lack of balance and the serious amount of grinding required to make up for a lack of In-App Purchasing of game 'cash' that makes it a frustrating experience. Earning that new car, customization or upgrade can be satisfying, but it's a brief moment of joy before you realize a new hill of cash has been placed before you.

Road Warrior presents itself as a rough-tough side-scrolling Mario Kart and comes out as a rather uninspired racer. Considering there's no entry fee it's not bad for killing time in spare moments of the day, but its cheap thrills quickly burn up like so much gasoline in a supercharged death machine.

App Store Info