Author
Josh Cox
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Chillingo
Do you hate Martians? Me too! I hate those bigheaded green freaks. You know who else hates them? Generic Marine, I bet he hates them more than both of us combined. In the game Inkvaders HD, Generic Marine takes no prisoners as he tries to eliminate those smelly Martians.
Inkvaders HD is a 2D side-scroller that is all about kicking ass and chewing bubble gum and you’re all out of gum (Editor: Nice Duke Nukem reference). You will walk and fly through the levels demolishing Martians with a plethora of weapons ranging from electric pistols to Gatling guns to rocket launchers. For high scores and upgrades you will want to try to collect meteors and equipment boxes along the way. If you are running low on ammo or maybe have saved up enough for an upgrade just stop at any weapons vending machine (looks like a soda machine) and choose your weapon. Upgrading throughout the game is a necessity. The Martians become quicker and more resilient as you progress through the game. A quick way to tell if you need a weapon upgrade is if it is taking more than a couple shots to take down a Martian. If you are, get a bigger gun.
The graphics are what sets this game apart and makes it special. All of the visuals are hand drawn, extremely colorful, and vibrant. The visual theme of the game is the hand drawn look. The main menu screen is an obvious spiral notebook with lines. And the screen transitions fit the same theme. They are a human hand turning the page of the notebook book revealing the next screen. The detail is quite high for hand drawn graphics and they are full HD quality. The audio is also very good. The sound effects and music almost steal the show and that’s hard to do considering the amazing visuals. It seems like every gun has a different sound. The background music is exactly the type of music you would want it you were on a Martian killing spree. It’s fast paced and has a beat that you can shoot to.
The game is set up into two parts; a Story mode and an Endurance mode. The Story mode will take you through three locations including the moon, a military base, and a civilian city. Each location has 10 levels with each one with different attributes and lay out. The Endurance mode is just that; level after level after level of alien ass kicking. Continue to kill Martians, gather rocks, and upgrade boxes so you can upgrade your weapons and make the levels more enjoyable.
At $2.99, Inkvaders HD isn’t even worth thinking about, it’s a must buy. The graphics are laughably awesome and along with the audio this game’s aesthetics are top notch. Do yourself a favor and pick this title up today.
Overall Value for it’s $2.99 price point
Overall: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars Graphics: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars Sound: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars Controls: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars