First Look: Shooter

I happened to try iSniper Lite [iTunes link] the same week I was offered a chance to preview Shooter [iTunes link]. If you've played iSniper, you get a sense of what the basic gameplay in Shooter is like: use the accelerometer to move a sniper's scope around a board and shoot bad guys. But Shooter (from Paramount) improves upon the basic iSniper game in several important ways... and yes, it's based on the movie of the same name starring Mark Wahlberg. The game just hit the store and is currently being sold for $.99.

Shooter adds a "hold your breath" mode that is designed to slow the moving view down a bit. Like the "focus" mode from the Matrix videogames, you can only hold your breath for so long. While in this mode the view did slow down, but I found it hard to move the sight as well. It's as if your actions are muted instead of throttled, forcing you to move the iPhone really far in one direction to move the view. Update: Peter notes in the comments that you're supposed to use your finger to move the sight when in this mode. Still, that's a bit tricky while holding the iPhone and holding a breath button and needing to push the fire button...

One other complaint: reloading. iSniper features autoloading, which makes it easier to pick up and play and gets the gameplay moving a lot faster. I realize the designers likely chose to use manual loading because it does add to the challenge, but I wish there was an option to turn on autoloading. Still, that's a minor quibble. This is a game you'll be playing for some time. Read on for an explanation why, or check out the gallery.

Whereas iSniper is like a shallow arcade game (point and shoot the baddies), there's a full story mode in Shooter that comes with several missions and great gameplay. Plus, there are medals to win, further challenging your skills. Just mastering shoot/reload/breathe is a challenge, but the basics can be grasped quite fast. I found myself having more fun with it than Saturday Night Fever: Dance [iTunes link], if only because Shooter was easier to play.

Even aside from Story mode, which is a good amount of gameplay, Shooter's Arcade mode isn't just point-and-shoot. I was pleasantly surprised to find a mini game waiting for me on a "mission" level in Arcade. Before I could begin the mission, I was prompted to build a silencer for my rifle. Unfortunately, I spent too long figuring out the interface and not playing so I lost that round, but starting over is easy enough.

There's just a ton of polish on this game, which makes sense coming from the publisher. It's great to see such attention to detail, as menus make noises and animate. Unfortunately there's a bit of lag and loading time to deal with, but this is something we're all used to when you cram complex games or apps into small devices.

Shooter is a steal at $0.99US; I think you'll play it more often than you would many of the other 99-cent apps out there.

Below is a video from Paramount for the game.

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