If you’re a fan of vertical shooters, as you know, there are plenty to choose from. None stand out or are as challenging or addictive as AstroWings. For the third installment in the series, M2M Entertainment has recently released AstroWings3-ICARUS (Free, App Store Link).
As in the previous two AstroWings games, it’s more of the same as far as gameplay goes, which in this case is a great thing, especially far the diehard fans of the series. There are plenty of upgrades, weaponry, and items to go around in ICARUS. In AstroWings3 the story is not much different from the previous titles. This time around, you play as the heroine, Hera; a goddess leading a battle in a war between ancient deities and demigods.
Gameplay
As in any vertical shooter, the story is pretty general, but at the same time there does feel like there are connections with characters such as Hera, and thus following her story. In the game there are a ton of upgrades throughout each level, which add so much gameplay value to AstroWings3. Since this series is somewhat more difficult than other vertical shooters, you feel more accomplished when you’re awarded with those upgrades.
In the game you start off with one ship, the Athena. You can upgrade to the Ares or Poseidon through in-app-purchases. It would be nice if you had the ability to choose a specific ship before you start the game, or even throughout the game if you complete a specific number of levels. Unfortunately you can’t, but that doesn’t change the game much because there are a ton of upgrades including shied defense, maximum hp, and attack; which can be purchased in the coin store.
As for the wing store, it’s more or less the same. You can purchase shield recharger, recovery hp, and revival item for the Athena ship. Besides collecting coins and wings within the game, these upgrades can also be purchased through IAP starting at $0.99. So yes, while AstroWings3 is a free game, there are so many IAPs Nevertheless, it’s pretty challenging to complete the game, or even play a majority of it without buying IAP. If you’re more familiar with vertical shooters, or more specifically have played the previous AstroWings games, you should be able to get through it just fine.
There are three difficulty modes within AstroWings3-ICARUS. You have to start with easy difficulty, and then you can unlock normal and hard modes. I think this was a good direction that the developers went in by only allowing the user to start on easy. Since AstroWings is such a difficult game, they probably didn’t want anyone getting frustrated really quickly by choosing a harder difficulty from the beginning. What I’ve noticed while playing AstroWings3 is there’s no way to tell how far you are into each level. It would be nice if they included some sort of meter, so you would be able to keep track of your progress and know if you’re almost through with any given level.
Controls
The controls of AstroWings3-ICARUS are just as easy to get used to as on any other vertical shooter. It’s a pretty simple gesture of just moving your finger around the screen to control the ship. It does feel very natural and fluid. Since you’re able to move the ship anywhere around the screen, it helps while dodging opponents’ fire. There are also two fire buttons, “P”, your power weapon and “S”, your special weapon. These can either be moved to the right or left of the screen depending on your preference. Also, you have your main fire, which the ships shoot automatically.
Graphics
As far as the graphics go, they look great for an arcade-style vertical shooter. I did notice the graphics look a little better on a smaller screen such as the iPhone 4S than they do even on the new iPad. Under the options in the main menu you can choose the graphics quality; either low, medium, or high. I noticed little difference, if any though. The lower and medium qualities are more used for older devices to make it compatible and keep the game running smoothly. M2M says AstroWings3 does have full HD graphics, though I don’t think they mean the graphics look better for retina displays.
Conclusion
Overall, AstroWings3-ICARUS is one of the better vertical shooters available. It sets the bar for the genre and even goes above and beyond the previous AstroWings games. The game does have a few faults though, such as not being able to choose a difficulty from the start of the game or even choosing your ship unless you do it through IAP. It does add a lot of gameplay value this way, because it just makes the games that much more challenging, especially for fans of the genre and the series. If you’re looking for an intense, fast-paced, (and not to mention, free), vertical shooter, try out AstroWings3-ICARUS.
Price: (Free, App Store Link)
Rating: 3.5/5[rating:3.5]
Pros:
- Hours of challenging, intense gameplay
- Great background story
- Full HD Graphics
Cons:
- A lot of in-app-purchases including two other playable ships
- No indication of your progress through each stage
- May be a bit difficult for those new to the genre or the series
