Space DeadBeef Review: Classic Shoot'em Up Gaming for the iPhone

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The Evolution of Gaming

As mobile phone gaming is quickly meeting handheld gaming there is a rise in expectations as to what you should get from a phone game. Instead of the classic days of Snake we have fully three dimensional software that utilizes complicated touch screen technology to bring a gaming experience that is truly unique. A recent hit among the iTunes loungers is Space DeadBeef, and it does just that.

A Unique Take on Classic Gameplay

The concept from the game hails from classic side scrolling shooters where dozens of enemies are simultaneously challenged from dozens of armed aerial weapons. You begin the game as a ship flying across a cloud painted sky. You begin to encounter opposing ships in front of you, which either will hit you with their collective ammunition or charge you in a kamikaze retread. What is clever about the game’s design is that you use the touch screen to direct all firing. You touch specific ships, or parts of ships as the case becomes with more advanced enemies, and then one of the missiles from your craft locks on to that target. This way you can dot around the screen with your finger, locking into all relevant target points and then letting the missiles go at once. If you hold your finger down and drag it around to all the target points the missiles will not fire until you have released. There is a more powerful weapon whose strength is determined by how long you press your craft with your finger. If instead of targeting one of the enemies you lock on yourself you then build up power for a climactic release when you finally stop touching it. You move the ship in the same way that you target; where at any point you slide your finger up and down on the touch screen your ship will do the same.

Download This

The game is brilliant in its simplicity, and the beauty of the graphics rivals any game currently available on the iPhone. Each enemy is brilliantly crafted with its own design and behavior, which requires you to constantly revise your strategy to respond to a changing environment. Any shot that makes it to you will kill you, so you have to have the attention of a Marine sniper. Luckily a death only brings you back to a specific part within the level you are playing, which makes it not quite as catastrophic. There are times in this game when a little more diversity in background and characters would be helpful, but for what it is it is one of the best. Nine out of ten stars.

This post is part of the series: Space DeadBeef

Articles relating to the iPhone game Space DeadBeef.

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