Bowman Defense by Triniti Interactive is yet another addition to the ranks of the archery-style arcade games littering the iPhone and like so many other successful games it has risen to prominence thanks to the liberal use of "creative license" and a fairly generic style of gameplay.

The copy-cat nature of so many games on the iPhone is usually best represented by the lack of experimentation in the controls where the expectation is "if you've learned how to play game X then you'll have no trouble with our game Y". The controls are stock standard, requiring a touch and swipe to draw back and aim the bow. As with others, this leads to somewhat inaccurate aiming, especially due to the fact that touching in a different spot will require a complete readjustment; there's just no consistency, resulting in a flailing hail of arrows as you pray they find their target.

Bowman uses a black and white shadow-puppet aesthetic that dominates the screen. Though unlike the PSP game Patapon that inspired it, there's not a lot of color to break up the visual repetition. The music will drive you mad, so it's a shame that there's not even basic iTunes compatibility either.

Bowman Defense is a solid archery-style arcade game that matches the best in its genre and once you've reached a compromise with the controls there's a lot to enjoy, but to reach that point might take longer than some are willing to try. Good, but still a flawed game.