Absolute Instant Review
PROS
- Gameplay tightly balanced around the 'teleportation' feature.
- Responsive controls; relative or absolute positioning available.
- Five levels, each with a unique theme and tactic to learn.
CONS
- Only available for 3rd gen or higher iDevices.
VERDICT
Absolute Instant shows a lot of consideration for not only the audience it's intended for, but also the mechanics employed within the game; a short, but exciting treat to play.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
One of the biggest advantages a touch interface has over traditional means when it comes to the shoot'em-up (shmup) is the ability to quickly translate every single twitch you make in to an accurate, analogue command to move your character. The downside of this was the need to go back to the drawing board in order to balance the gameplay to account for instantaneous and finessed movement, but Absolute Instant by Mobili Studio goes one step further - now you can teleport.
With such unparalleled accuracy in movement, adding the ability to move anywhere you want on screen without the intermediary terrain in your way can only mean one other thing - bullet hell. For some this can be a drastic turn-off as having endless waves of bullet after bullet streaming down while only providing narrow pathways for escape requires intense concentration and the dedication to replay levels until you've mastered them. However Absolute Instant takes yet another approach as it introduces enemies that have attacks that can't be avoided.
This opens up an interesting loophole in the design of the game as now enemy waves can be restricted to lower numbers, creating 'walls' of bullets that need to be dodged via teleportation. Most combat prior to boss battles feels like a strange ballet of dancing back and forth in and out of danger, which is perfect practice for the bosses that pull no punches at all with their massive attack patterns that force you to time your teleports and movements carefully.
Sadly the game feels all too short with only five levels to complete and while you have access to two fighters, their only real difference is in the 'spread' of their weapon fire. For a game that provides so much eye and ear candy, it would have been great to see more variety in the enemies and more levels for epic boss battles, but at least you can compete with others for high-scores once you've completed the game.
Hopefully Mobili Studio takes the time to explore the gameplay in future updates to Absolute Instant, but for now it's still a fantastic little bundle for fans of shmup titles.
Screenshots
$0.99
