Infinity Blade: All flash no fun

It’s no secret that one of the perennial draws of Apple’s iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) is the wide selection of fun and often addicting games.  This has pushed the platform to the forefront of handheld games, even surpassing Nintendo in handheld gaming sales from time to time. At first, these games were usually simplistic, with one or two methods of play, and 2D visuals.

PC game developer Epic Games, Infinity Blade is an action role-playing game based on sword fighting.

The first thing you will notice about Infinity Blade is that the graphics are simply astounding.  This holds especially true for the iPhone four’s Retina Display.

However, anyone familiar with Epic Games will know that they are renown for cutting-edge visuals, so this comes as little surprise.  Furthermore, especially on mobile devices, the most important aspect has always been the fun factor.  It is in this department that the glossy veneer of the production values begins to erode.

The core sword fighting in the game is accomplished by swiping one’s fingers across the screen to swing the blade.  While there are specific gestures for blocks, parries, etc., it doesn’t take long to realize that you can actually win most fights by spastically and indiscriminately running your fingers over the screen until the enemy is vanquished.  While this will certainly illicit some odd looks playing it in public, it is a fun gameplay mechanic.

The flaw of Infinity Blade is not that it isn’t fun in concept, but rather that it is nauseatingly repetitive.

The formula of entering a castle, vanquishing some dispensable foes, and fighting a slightly more difficult boss is slavishly adhered to for the entire experience.  I suppose the diplomatic way to describe the story of Infinity Blade would be that it is “open to interpretation”.

However, a more accurate description would be that it is virtually non-existent, and a complete lack of story would have been more endearing than the cursory amalgamation of tired cliches that comprises the actual story.

Infinity Blade began purely as a technological demo known as Epic Citadel, and in many ways it could be argued that the game remains a tech demo.  The graphics are amazing, but the rest of the package is frankly boring.  If you are in dire need of an iOS sword fighting game, this is undoubtedly the best choice in that area.

However if you (like most of us) are looking for a simple and fun way to pass some time between classes or elsewhere, you are better served by saving your money for other App Store endeavors.

Posted by JeffSterling on Feb 10 2011. Filed under Leisure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.