Chair Entertainment’s Infinity Blade II ($6.99 App Store Link), a universal app for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, is the much anticipated sequel to one of the best action games on the App Store: Infinity Blade. The second installment to Chair Entertainment Group’s powerhouse app easily competes with any mobile or handheld game on the market.
Every aspect is an improvement upon the original, and Infinity Blade II is nearly flawless, from the gameplay to the amazing graphics. All the combat mechanics are back from the first game including dodging, blocking, and swiping across the screen to wield your “blade” so to speak, as well as other areas of combat.
Infinity Blade II begins right off where the first game left off. The God King is defeated, and you continue to play as Siris as you discover the secrets of the Infinity Blade and explore deeper into the Deathless tyrants and their army of Titans. Siris seeks help from the Worker of Secrets, but to do that he muist defeat the three “Deathless” at the Vault of Tears.
Gameplay
If you have played the original Infinity Blade, you know what to expect from the second installment. Infinity Blade II features three new combat styles such as the standard Weapon and Shield class, Two-Handed Wielding and Dual Wielding. You can also choose from a variety of armor, spells, and classes of weapons.
The standard sword and shield combat is still there from the first game, and it works well. If you get tired if it, however, and want to switch it up a bit, the heavy weapons will give powerful and critical hits to your enemy just by swiping in any direction. If you prefer duel wielding, you can perform a huge combo, all while blocking your enemies’ attacks. You have a number of choices, which makes the combat fresh.
The enemies’ attacks seem more fluent and dynamic then in the first game and now enemies can perform magic as well. Other new elements include gem slots for weapons to alter the power your attacks on your enemy. Even the menu UI has been redesigned to sort everything into its own slot including stats, items, and gems, which makes the interface that much more smoothly to navigate.
Infinity Blade is on rails as the first one was. It’s not free roaming, but you can still explore the environment and your surroundings. Everything looks beautiful and crisp thanks to the Unreal Engine 3 technology. One thing that is noticeably different in Infinity Blade II , however, is that you can now sync game states between multiple iOS devices using iCloud. To do this though, you have to be connected to Game Center on every device the app is installed on.
Graphics
Infinity Blade II has some of the most beautiful graphics of any app in the App Store thanks to the Unreal Engine 3 technology. The game really shines on iPhone 4S and the iPad 2 thanks the A5 processor, and everything in the game has a great detail and texture to it. One thing is abundantly clear: Chair didn’t hold anything back with Infinity Blade II.
All the lighting, shadows, effects, and textures look amazing, and the environments and character models look stunning too. You can even see the incredibly detail in high definition, as Infinity Blade II support both HDMI output and AirPlay mirroring. Infinity Blade II sets an example for what any iOS game can be. Other developers can learn from what Chair has done to develop more realistic environments and better games overall.
Controls
The controls in Infinity Blade II are as simple as they come. If you’re new to the game, you can just pick up and play. The combat is easy to learn but difficult to master. You basically swipe across the screen to engage in combat and wield your sword. The center bottom icon is used to block with your shield and the left and right are to dodge attacks. You can also cast spells by swiping in a certain motion on the screen depending on the spell you want to use. Sometimes you can button mash or in this case continually swipe across the screen to get through an enemy. Most of the other bosses and enemies towards the end of the game are a bit more difficult, and will take more strategy to defeat.
Verdict
Infinity Blade II is a solid game that does no wrong. The game features hours and hours of gameplay, and if that’s not enough for you, Chair will soon be introducing “Clash Mobs” which will allow for cooperative multiplayer.
Many apps on the app store offer great gameplay, controls, or graphics, but Infinity Blade II has all three combined to create a truly killer app. Nintendo, Sony, and other competitors of iPhone will have to be more alert and competitive now that studious such as Epic Games and Chair are creating these amazing games for iOS devices – and iOS games are only improving.
Infinity Blade II is a must have for anyone who plays games on iOS. Even if you haven’t played the original Infinity Blade, you won’t want to pass up this fantastic, beautiful and well-designed game by any means.
Price: ($6.99 App Store Link)
Rating: 5/5[rating:5]
Pros
- Great graphics from the environments and characters to the lighting and textures.
- Soon to be released cooperative play with “Clash Mobs”
- 3 new styles of combat
Cons
- Storyline and voice acting are good, but can be better
