Coming in hot after reviewing Sky Force Reloaded, here’s another great vertical shooter for you to try out. HotField by developer C2Matrix is no ordinary shooter with splendid 2D/3D graphics effect and an addictive gameplay.
Previously, I mentioned about using multi-touch in shooter games so that players do not need to lift their fingers off the screen in order to perform special moves, like shooting the laser. Well, HotField’s developers thinks its a good idea to implement multi-touch for the game. In fact, the game also utilizes double-tapping for another special move taken from movies like The Matrix and appropriately called ‘bullet time’. What this actually does is to slow down your enemies and their bullets. Heck, some of the bullets are shrank as well, making it easier for you to save your bacon out of that sticky spot.
Like living life on the edge? Then try moving your craft near enemy bullets to enhance your own weapon’s firepower as well as gaining some much-wanted laser power. Quoting the developer: it’s dangerous, but addictive!
HotField features three different types of ships for players to choose from. Each of the craft has a different shooting pattern and 4 levels of firepower which is upgradeable by picking up power ups along the way. Hardcore shooter fans will find it interesting to get all the hidden bonuses.
Challenging you is a simple story line of good against evil in six different stages of increasing difficulty. Like most traditional shooters, each stage is guarded by a boss that has more fire power than any weapons of mass destruction known to man.
Aside to the four difficulty levels of easy, medium, hard and… mad, the game also features a special ‘boss’ level difficulty. This mode lets you test your skills against each stage boss. Leveling things are are the fact that you have a total of three lives and your craft has got its firepower upgraded to the max.
Separating itself further from the other shooters out there is a record feature, which is accessible at the start of a new game. Each frame of your gameplay is saved and can be replayed at a later time. Helps if you like to review your performance or observe the pattern in which enemy crafts appear. Those whole love to brag would welcome this feature as well as the online high scores table that can be synced once you complete a game.
Lastly, the game also provides support for both landscape and portrait modes, something I have not seen in any other shooters that I have personally tried. In landscape mode, the game screen is very much reduced to give way for the virtual keypad.
A high-quality shooter with elements that mimics shooters from the 90s-era, HotField sure does bring back a lot of memories when compared against shooters from the arcade or home consoles. It is highly replayable, especially the boss mode difficulty levels, which skips all the unneccessary grunt-level enemy crafts and tasks you straight into saving the world from evil once again.
HotField is currently available from the iTunes Store at a 33% time-limited sale price of only $1.99 a copy. Get it while the discount lasts.
Rating: 4.0/5.0 Taps
App Data
App Name: HotField v1.01 | Developer: C2Matrix | Purchase via: iTunes App Store @ $1.99 | Released: Mar 24, 2009 | Reviewed on: iPod touch v2.2.1
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