I admit it. I love those simple games that developers make. The guys at Readdle have a good game in their hands called Penetrator. Yes, it's simple and we've seen them before. There is a space ship that you guide through a tunnel-like course by tapping anywhere on the screen — pressing down makes it go up, letting go makes it go down. The object is to survive as long as possible, avoiding barriers and collecting the good power-ups.
This is where I will focus on the part that stands out on Penetrator — The Power-Ups. The power-ups are the one thing I really am 'so-so' about. I say this because there are 8 of them, not including the gas-like ball –which bounces your ship to the floor– and the fact that there are 8 power-ups really makes it difficult to remember. I mean, I don't want to have to study them to remember which 4 I want to go for, and knowing the others will kill me if I touch them (including the ‘Skull Power-Up' which makes your ship explode in 5 seconds.) Power-ups to me, help the person. The other side of my brain tells me — these power-ups are what sets Penetrator apart from games like iCopter and CaveCopter, making it that much more exciting and difficult. I mean, you don't have to go for them.
Lastly, the response of touch. When you touch the screen, it does make the ship go up, but not as fast as I would prefer. For example, I usually crash when I am at the bottom and have to go up near the top. All in all, this game is a simple –yet difficult–survival game with decent graphics, in which I myself, can't get past the 1,000 mark yet on level 1. One more thing- make sure you check out the funny comments made after you explode at the top. ‘OH MY GOD! YOUR SHIP HAS EXPLODED!'
Score:
I give Penetrator iPhone App an 8 out of 10, based on the fact of too many power-ups.
Reviewed by:
Jacob Hamlin at http://www.iphoneworld.ca
