iPhone game of the day: Artillery Brigade - it's you against an army. And you have very big gun

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Stripping the first-person shooter to its very core

On iPhone
Game: Artillery Brigade
Price: $0.99 / £0.59
Size: 64.1 MB
Get it now on the iTunes store:US/UK

You know that feeling in a shooter when you manage to get a hold of one of the much sought after turrets and start laying waste to whole squads of dudes? It’s pretty awesome. Artillery Brigade takes that one awesome moment and makes a whole game out of it. And it works pretty well.

For some reason, your army has been completely wiped out. Destroyed to the point where they look to you, some shmuck will no combat training, to operate what seems to be the only turret left. So you’ll be fighting by yourself against waves and waves of enemies. You have three types of weapons to fire - a machine gun, a rocket launcher, and anti-aircraft guns - and upgrades are earned as you complete missions in the campaign. And you’ll need all the firepower you can get.

Since you’re the one with the big gun, your enemies’ main defense is to simply overwhelm you. Soldiers will run in from all corners of the map, slowly creeping up on you until they’re within firing distance. And then the jeeps come. And then the tanks and the planes. Soon enough the screen is filled with explosions and bad guys. It’s a heart pounding, intense experience but it requires a cool demeanor. The only way to get out of a mission alive is to be smart about how you take down enemies. And not only do you have to deal with what feels like an entire army single handedly, but the terrain as well. Some levels take place at night, reducing visibility, while others take place in the mountains where there’s lots of cover.

Artillery Brigade seems simple. After all, all you’re doing is firing a gun turret. And we’ll confess it took some time to get used to zooming in and out, and tapping the radar to swiftly swivel to the next target (which turns out to be a damn efficient way of doing things). But the sheer volume and variety of dudes to shoot makes it worth playing. It looks great, has a lengthy campaign, and even a survival mode to expand the play time indefinitely. The body count is high in Artillery Brigade. And that’s just how we like it.

Jan 25, 2011