Warpack Grunts has some very nice touches, but unfortunately there are too many serious issues that mar this game and keep it from becoming a GREAT game.
The first issue is a big one: Simply put, the viewable area in Grunts stinks.
Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying I want to see more terrain at a time, all I’m asking is that I be able to actually SEE MY ENEMY BEFORE THEY ARE ALREADY SHOOTING ME.
I know, it sounds like a lot to ask, but in my opinion fun games are games where you actually have a chance at excellence. I assure you, any soldier on a battlefield tends to see his target before he can fire on his target, MUCH LESS BE FIRED ON by his target.
Playing Grunts feels like being a myopic soldier who had his Coke bottle glasses stomped on at the beginning of every mission, and it results in levels where you gauge the location of your enemy based on the velocity and angle of the exit wounds of your character…
NEWS FLASH: FREEVERSE/STRANGEFLAVOUR, THIS IS NOT WHAT WE IN GAMING CIRCLES LIKE TO CALL FUN.
The second issue is a big one too: The controls. The controls in Grunts are as counterintuitive as it gets. Let me break them down for you so you can understand just how terrible they are.
PROBLEM #1 – MOVEMENT
What’s that, you say? Movement is a core gameplay mechanic? Aye matey, it is. And yet on the iPhone, game developers insist on taking a perfectly good wheel and reinventing it to be a square.
In Grunts, you simply press and hold a finger on the screen where you would like your platoon to go. Sounds easy, right? WRONG
To be fair, if the game were only about moving, then maybe, just maybe, this would have been acceptable, except the game is about moving and shooting…. with precision.
Tapping and holding on an intended destination and letting your platoon pathfind their way there is, in many situations, less than ideal. And let us not forget that double tapping fires your weapon which, suffice to say, stops you cold in your tracks.”
How many people enjoy playing shooting games where you must stop moving to shoot a weapon? (Okay, Resident Evil aside, which btw they have wonderful reasons for stopping before shooting, so we won’t get into that here.)
The controls are not only limiting, but they also remove the player from the action one step further by setting up this mechanism of waypoint tap travel coupled with double taps to fire.
PROBLEM #2 – FIRING
To fire in Grunts, you simply double tap your finger at your intended target. Sounds easy, right? WRONG
Now please, take a moment and venture into Imaginationland with me…
Let’s imagine that you’re a sniper, and you finally have your target in your sights. You hold your breath, control your pulse, and double squeeze the trigger… Double squeeze the what!… oh and remember to hold it down after the second squeeze for continuous fire!
Excuse me sir, but no.
How precise would you feel having to squeeze a trigger on a rifle twice to fire once?
Now remember that unlike a trigger on a rifle, your finger on an iPhone is not constrained to a mechanical linear path, but is instead free floating. Double taps, coupled with remembering to hold your finger down after the second tap takes way too much mental overhead in the back of your mind.
So what are our suggestions to fix the controls? How about this instead:
Just invisibly split the screen in half vertically: Let the left half of the screen act as a touch analog stick for movement, and the right half as another touch analog stick that lets you point your weapon and fire. (Think iDracula)
Now the game is immersive: you have direct control over your team, and you can even run and gun!
Couple this with a change in the enemy AI so that they don’t start firing until they can see you, or more specifically until you can actually see them, on the edge of your screen and you’ve got a fun, replayable game.
Grunts is a great idea, but due to some fundamental issues, it has extremely limited (re)play value.
The art throughout the game is fairly decent, and there are some truly wonderful touches like the trees swaying in the breeze and the sounds of the jungle. However, when you compare this game to Wingnuts 2 (a true gem that I desperately want to see translated to the iPhone), it’s hard to believe that Freeverse was even involved in this project, as they would have had to unlearn a great many things in order to feel comfortable shipping this product.
Here’s hoping that Grunts 2 is better, and that it’s not just packed with more explosions, but with more immersion, precision, and fun.
- Maze
Warpack Grunts has some very nice touches, but unfortunately there are too many serious issues that mar this game and keep it from becoming a great game.
The first issue is a big one: Simply put, the viewable area in Grunts stinks.
Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying I want to see more terrain at a time, all I’m asking is that I be able to actually see my enemy before they start shooting at me.
I know, it sounds like a lot to ask, but in my opinion fun games are games where you actually have a chance at excellence. I assure you, any soldier on a battlefield tends to see his target before he can fire on his target, much less be fired on by his target.
Playing Grunts feels like being a myopic soldier who had his Coke bottle glasses stomped on at the beginning of every mission, and it results in levels where you gauge the location of your enemy based on the velocity and angle of the exit wounds of your character…
The second issue is a big one too: The controls. The controls in Grunts are as counterintuitive as it gets. Let me break them down for you so you can understand just how terrible they are.
PROBLEM #1 – MOVEMENT
What’s that, you say? Movement is a core gameplay mechanic? Aye matey, it is. And yet on the iPhone, game developers insist on taking a perfectly good wheel and reinventing it to be a square.
In Grunts, you simply press and hold a finger on the screen where you would like your platoon to go. Sounds easy, right? Not so much.
To be fair, if the game were only about moving, then maybe, just maybe, this would have been acceptable, except the game is about moving and shooting…. with precision.
Tapping and holding on an intended destination and letting your platoon pathfind their way there is, in many situations, less than ideal. And let us not forget that double tapping fires your weapon which, suffice to say, stops you cold in your tracks.”
How many people enjoy playing shooting games where you must stop moving to shoot a weapon? (Okay, Resident Evil aside, which btw they have wonderful reasons for stopping before shooting, so we won’t get into that here.)
The controls are not only limiting, but they also remove the player from the action one step further by setting up this mechanism of waypoint tap travel coupled with double taps to fire.
PROBLEM #2 – FIRING
To fire in Grunts, you simply double tap your finger at your intended target. Sounds easy, right? Not so much.
Now please, take a moment and venture into Imaginationland with me…
Let’s imagine that you’re a sniper, and you finally have your target in your sights. You hold your breath, control your pulse, and double squeeze the trigger… Double squeeze the what!… oh and remember to hold it down after the second squeeze for continuous fire!
Excuse me sir, but no.
How precise would you feel having to squeeze a trigger on a rifle twice to fire once?
Now remember that unlike a trigger on a rifle, your finger on an iPhone is not constrained to a mechanical linear path, but is instead free floating. Double taps, coupled with remembering to hold your finger down after the second tap takes way too much mental overhead in the back of your mind.
So what are our suggestions to fix the controls? How about this instead:
Just invisibly split the screen in half vertically: Let the left half of the screen act as a touch analog stick for movement, and the right half as another touch analog stick that lets you point your weapon and fire. (Think iDracula)
Now the game is immersive: you have direct control over your team, and you can even run and gun!
Couple this with a change in the enemy AI so that they don’t start firing until they can see you, or more specifically until you can actually see them, on the edge of your screen and you’ve got a fun, replayable game.
Grunts is a great idea, but due to some fundamental issues, it has extremely limited (re)play value.
The art throughout the game is fairly decent, and there are some truly wonderful touches like the trees swaying in the breeze and the sounds of the jungle. However, when you compare this game to Wingnuts 2 (a true gem that I desperately want to see translated to the iPhone), it’s hard to believe that Freeverse was even involved in this project, as they would have had to unlearn a great many things in order to feel comfortable shipping this product.
Here’s hoping that Grunts 2 is better, and that it’s not just packed with more explosions, but with more immersion, precision, and fun.
- Maze
Tactile Gamer