Infinity Blade multiplayer proves it’s the most gamer-loving game on iPhone

Developer Chair Entertainment seems determined to see how much free content can be stuffed into an already dirt-cheap game. This is especially impressive considering Infinity Blade’s current temporary price cut to $2.99. Chair’s most recent update for Infinity Blade on iDevices packs in smooth multiplayer action, a survivor mode, and some hilarious new helms. More than that, it cements the game’s place as the one of the most value-packed games on the Apple App Store.

In the last Infinity Blade update, Chair gave us the finger sword, Super Bowl ring, and an assortment of silly hats. This next swath of holiday-themed helms gives players an extra incentive to trudge back up to the God King. Maybe he won’t be such a grump if you’re wearing a helmet adorned with butterfly wings.

The survival mode is a perfect shake up and a nice reprieve from the serious investment of the campaign. You take on titans one after another with only a brief pause to update your weapon. There’s no inventory, health, or point to saving up money. If you don’t spend it, you probably won’t make it to the next baddie. Without the option to restart from a checkpoint or battle an enemy again, players have to see just how many titans they can kill before they keel over.

Finally, the most sweeping change to Infinity Blade is the online multiplayer arena, which operates through Apple’s Game Zone. Players can easily hop into a match and are automatically assigned to play as either a titan or a knight. The knight operates much the same way as in the campaign, but you should expect a much greater challenge. After defeating the insanely tough Deathless Kings in the most recent update, we still got our asses handed to us by some fellow humans.

Playing as a titan takes some getting used to but having seen how they operate; it’s just as fun as being knight. You are presented with a meter that allows you to select the speed and strength of your next attack and swiping the screen performs up to three attacks in a row. When being attacked by a knight, you can rapidly tap pop-up skulls to gain power and block the attack before he lands a combo on you. You are awarded with money (win or lose) between battles, and given the opportunity to improve your inventory. If you’re a titan, you can upgrade your character to a tougher monster. This was especially helpful in balancing certain games where we were outmatched.

Chair has stated (in an interview that you can read right here on GR next week) this is going to be the last major update for Infinity Blade and now the company is on to different horizons. We can only hope they continue to pack the next Chair game with free content after launch just like they did with Infinity Blade.

May 25, 2011