Freeverse Software has long been considered as a premium Mac games publisher. The Apple Design Award winning publisher are well becoming a premier publisher in the iPhone/iPod touch games arena. Their first title for the iPhone, Flick Bowling, did pretty well with a 3-star average rating.
Flick Fishing is the second title under the Flick Sports brand of games from Freeverse. Along with Flick Bowling, Flick Fishing also employs the accelerometer to bring a fishing game that’s close to the real thing.
Playing the game is simple. Select “Go Fishing” from the main menu and then choose a fishing location to begin with. If you are a newcomer, The Old Pond (in the middle of the map) makes for easy tutorial sessions.
The game makes full use of accelerometer in order to cast your line. I’ve come to realise that casting straighter and with a little more force usually results in your line going further away from your starting point. And that usually results in a better chance of fishing up larger catches. As with real fishing, you can choose from various lures and bait, but that really depends on the location. You get to choose from 6 different fishing locations and use up to 9 different types of bait and tackle.
Once your bait is cast, all you need to do is wait for the fish to bite. When that happens, move your fingers onto the reel that appears in the middle and start making clockwise turns to reel the fish in. Remember to also pull back on your pole to drag the fish nearer. Take note of the two gauges that appear at the top of the screen. They measure the line tension as well as the strength of the fish. Your catch won’t give up easily and will usually give a fight. In order to prevent the line from breaking due to tension, make sure to let the reel spool out a little and then reel it back in. It is this “spool out, reel in” tactic that will weaken the fish, allowing you to pull them in.
All the fish that you caught will eventually be released. Don’t fret though, as they’ll also appear in your trophy box, complete with a brag button that lets you send an email to friends, informing them about your catch.
Flick Fishing is one of the highest detailed games I have seen so far on the iPhone. Each fishing spot comes with a highly detailed environment and photograph-quality water effects. Wildlife, stormy skies and other environmental effects brings the already highly detailed looks to another level. The environment effects each other as well; expect to see your tacklebox sliding on the boat if you choose to fish in the rough sea. I’d also like to mention that the water effects in the menu screens react to the device’s movement, try shaking your iPhone/iPod touch and see what I mean. Nice!
Adding a little bit of story to the game is this mysterious old man whom they consider to be crazy. During ‘free play’ sessions, you may engage him to see if there’s any mission for you to accomplish. Just tap on the exclamation mark near the middle of the map and listen to what the old man has to say. He’ll send you to catch a certain fish, or in some occasions, treasure boxes.
Besides the simple “Go Fishing” mode, the game also offers a timed-mode Tournament challenge, where you get to play with a friend via hot-seat or thru a Wi-Fi network, as well as the CPU. “Big Fish” challenges the players to catch the largest fish within the time limit while “Big Catch” pits the players to catch as many fish as possible. You can set the challenge duration between 3, 5 or 10 minute sessions. Both mode requires different sets of skill, so it is best if you finish explore the simple mode first by going thru all the available fishing locations.
I’ve encountered a hidden easter egg by simply tapping the light house. Its lights then revealed to me the Xtreme mode, where I get to catch… er, tuned ducks. Any other hidden items that you know of?
I’ve also come to a bug where one of the fish that I caught has got its Brag button shifted. The missing Brag button appears under another fish which I have yet to catch. Another issue I have with the game is the way the lines are cast. The game requires that we tilt the device a little bit and then flick it forward. However, when you fish with a real rod, what you do is to pull the rod back and then swing forward. I find that this should be the correct method, but the game doesn’t seem to register.
Rating: 4.5/5.0 Taps
Pros: Highly detailed graphics and environment, simple playing mechanism, Simple and Tournament mode for replayability
Cons: Casting mechanism, a few minor bugs
Flick Fishing is available on the iTunes App Store for $0.99 each and is compatible with both the iPhone and iPod touch running firmware 2.2 and above.
