Darkside™ Review
PROS
- Solid controls coupled with gorgeous visuals, and lots of shooting things.
- A free game that is smart about what to reward the player with for unlocking the paid version.
CONS
- It can be hard to see the asteroid pieces on the iPhone screen; the iPad version would fix this issue.
VERDICT
A very beautiful looking twin stick shooter that offers its players a fun experience for free, and an expanded experience if you want to pay the ninety nine cent fee.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
First and foremost when discussing Darkside by Clockwork Pixels, one has to commend the game for being a free title that's more akin to a demo than an opportunity to nickel and dime its players through in-app purchases. Downloading this twin-stick shooter will give you the arcade mode with limitless play, and for the price of ninety nine cents, you unlock the full game which includes two additional modes, and the use of screen clearing smart bombs. Whether you wish to spend the money or not, you still get a fun, intense twin-stick shooter experience.
Darkside plays a little like Super Stardust HD. Each level has you clearing up asteroids while your movement is confined to the spherical orbit of a planetoid. Shooting an asteroid will break it into smaller and smaller pieces, often littering the screen with score and weapon upgrades. Enemies will also try to take you down, and can be avoided and decimated with the move and shoot tandem controls of your twin joysticks. These sticks give you solid control over your actions but we have felt better fluidity and response in other games of this genre.
The first thing players will notice are the visuals upon loading the game. With the use of lighting and particle effects, this is a feast for the eyes, and that continues level after level of play. The only issue is that on the iPhone, the small screen can have you unwittingly crashing into asteroid debris, and it can cause you to pinball around, lowering your shields before you can gain control and clear a path once more. On the larger iPad screen, this might not be an problem however.
With no barrier to entry, and no in-app purchase design model, it's easy to recommend Darkside to all fans of arcade games and twin-stick shooters. It's not the best game in the genre but it will definitely entertain as you give those meddlesome asteroids what-for!
Screenshots
$1.99
