Bowmaster Review
PROS
- Semi-realistic archery gameplay.
- No animals harmed in the making of this game.
- Varied locations and animals to hunt.
CONS
- Tilt-camera can be overly sensitive.
VERDICT
Mastering your aiming in Bowmaster can be hard if you don't develop rock-stable wrists, but with practice you'll soon be sniping deer off distant cliffs like a pro.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
With so many bow-related games to choose from, it's nice to experience first-hand how to aim and fire a bow thanks to Bowmaster by iOccam. Putting aside the references to Robin Hood, your goal is to compete against various archers in a competition to score the most points in an artificially created shooting range.
Aiming and firing is easy to achieve, using two fingers in the portrait orientation to aim and draw back your bow and arrow. Various mock-animals will make their way around a series of fixed paths and will score you points based off the shot location and distance shot. Accelerometer controls allow you to tilt the camera to get a better aim on your target, but also throws your aim off if you move slightly while lining up a shot.
The game's 3D world is simply rendered in lush greens and cleverly hides the limited landscape by the use of a light fog and strategically placed hills or trees. Animals are easy to recognize and their variety is amazing, including birds that glide through the air and deer that jump ravines.
Bowmaster's real challenge comes in trying to master your bow in order to beat the game's AI opponents. Each successive bowman raises the difficulty curve substantially, so even though there are only five opponents to conquer you'll be busy for a long time. More gameplay features would give Bowmaster more of a shelf-life in your iPhone collection, but you'll still get your money's worth with just the main campaign.
Screenshots
