Bank Job Review

By , on July 9, 2012


Bank Job
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Charming presentation; clean, simple cartoonish 3D visuals.
  • Hats act as both an incentive and a reward.

CONS

  • Passive playing can lead to long, boring, yet profitable runs; no real major incentives for risky play despite obvious risk vs. reward design.
  • Store doesn't show your current cash; hard to weigh up your choices.

VERDICT

Bank Job is an intriguing auto-runner, but somewhat lacking in long-term incentives to keep you coming back time and again.


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Aussie developer Screwtape Studios aren't exactly new to the iOS scene, but you'd be forgiven for thinking they'd been around for much longer considering the quality of Bank Job's presentation. While it may be a relatively basic endless auto-runner, there's an undeniable charm to Paulie Barbosa's thieving antics.

Your job is that of scarpering off with as much loot as possible, while avoiding the many traps (and bombs) that line the corridors of the bank you're inside. The controls couldn't be simpler as they only require you to tap or hold the screen to either switch to the corridor above/below or avoid a trap respectively. Gems, bundles of cash and piggy-banks alike will bounce along, so you'll need to expose yourself to grab them, but bombs can be mixed amongst them, so you'll need to balance your greed with prudence.

You're also given a chance before a Game Over, with Paulie gaining an exclamation mark over his head once he has taken some damage. Passing through a checkpoint to 'bank' your loot will remove the mark, but these only appear in the bank itself. To understand why this may not be the best course of action you need only find a ladder and take to the sewers below the bank where loot is plentiful and traps are deadly. It's a risk-versus-reward scenario that will require fine-tuned timing to exploit.

Your reward for diligent collection of loot is access to various 'hats', each of which impart a special effect on Paulie for a single run. Unfortunately the cost of these hats can be excessive, but if you're skilled enough you can make up for the cost by earning significantly more loot on these individual runs.

For now that's all there is to Bank Job - it's simple, fast and fun, especially once you can afford to get hats involved. With any luck the game will add more depth and replay value through variety thanks to power-ups or better rewards for its 'mini-missions', but until then it remains a well-presented distraction for you to enjoy.

Screenshots

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