Last week, Pocket Monkey Games released Sparta: Lords of War to the app store. The 2D side-scroller pits your ripped Spartan warrior against a never-ending wave of enemies bent on your destruction. With your trusty sword and ever-present shield, you’ll need to use your brain as well as your brawn to establish yourself as THE Lord of War.
Sparta (version 1.0) is a good beginning to what is shaping up to be a great pick-up-and-play game. Stylistically, Sparta gets compared to Zombieville, and rightfully so. Whereas Zombieville’s enemies randomly pop up from the ground to attack the redneck whose only defense is his current weapon, Sparta allows the warrior to protect himself with his shield, as well as stun his foes with a swift kick. Also, enemies can attack from afar, as archers sporadically appear to keep the sword-swiping hero on his toes.
Pocket Monkey Games promises updates that will include new enemies, levels, music, weapons, and even a story mode. As of the writing of this review, the first update has not yet been released, though it is expected any day. The update will hopefully target movement controls, which are a bit wonky right now. The warrior will continue to move a bit even after releasing the movement button, often resulting in his walking into, or through, the enemy. This reduces the effectiveness of the attack, and sometimes results in battle damage. The health bar could also use an upgrade, as it is unclear how near-death our hero is until he meets his end. Three deaths and our hero is done.
Currently, the graphics are terrific and the original soundtrack is top-notch. The warrior moves either left or right, and there are dedicated buttons for block, kick, and attack (though no ability to customize positioning). For every 20 enemies eliminated (in glorious bloody fashion), you advance to a new level with improved armor and stronger enemies. While a single swipe or thrust of your sword kills an enemy on the first level, a kill takes two attempts on the second level, three on the third level, and so forth. We found gameplay to be overly simple through the first couple of levels, though it quickly ramps up the difficulty as you progress. We have increased our total kills each time we’ve played, so there is definite replay value as you attempt to best your previous score.
Sparta was introduced at $0.99, with expected price jumps as updates are released. Currently, it’s worth the price, though the updates will have to add some significant value in order to justify the higher price tag. With the expectation of new weapons and enemies, as well as improved controls, we slice and dice our way through the first 3 dimples to give Pocket Monkey Games’ Sparta: Lords of War our 4-Dimple rating!
Sparta: Lords of War gets our AppSmile 4-Dimple rating:
