Remember when consoles had space shooters? Star Fox, Rogue Squadron, Panzer Dragoon...those
were good times. Then someone got the idea that the only things we wanted to shoot in
our games were zombies and Germans.
Uh, hello? Neither of those things explode.
I’ll tell you what does explode, though. My head when I’m playing this thing. This
is exactly the kind of game I’ve been waiting for ever since Fox McCloud started thinking
people want to see him walk. Foxes can’t even do that, you delusional quadruped. It’s
not about you or your biological lies! It’s about flying fast and blowing sh*t up.
Fortunately, those things are back. In a big way.
Actually, it’s a little way. The iPhone fits in your pocket.
Just released to the App Store and sent to us by our friend Cody, ARC Squadron is a space
shooter just like the ones you remember. In fact, it takes all the things that made those
games great and sort of modernizes them. So you have on-rails shooting, space ships, asteroids
and barrel rolls...but also touch controls, customization and some impressive modern technology.
So the name the game is simple. Fly forward, avoid crap, shoot other crap. If you ever
jumped into the cockpit of an Arwing, you’ll be very comfortable in ARC Squadron. The difference
is in control. Without buttons, the team at Psyonix had to think outside the box a bit.
As often happens, creative thinking led to a real breakthrough.
So you play simply by swiping the screen in any direction. The ship basically follows
your finger, and I was shocked by how responsive it is. It’s really no issue whatsoever,
and your weapons fire anytime you place the reticule over an enemy. This is another smart
piece of design. Why mash buttons if you don’t have to?
Obviously, the controls are a big part of the story in ARC Squadron, but another item
worth mentioning is how the game looks. This thing is running on the iOS version of the
Unreal Engine, like Infinity Blade, and it really works to the game’s benefit. The
smooth animations, the solid frame rate, the great graphics...ARC Squadron is a showpiece
game for Apple’s platform.
In fact, it’s a showpiece in a lot of ways. The gameplay is exemplary, the graphics are
stunning, there’s a ton of content, 64 levels, customizable ships...it’s everything you’ve
ever loved about classic space shooters wrapped into a stunning iOS game.
ARC Squadron is the real deal. Your move, Fox.
