iDracula for the iPhone provides solid dual analog gaming on a touch screen.

Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Price: 99 cents (currently)

Developer: Moregames Entertainment

Publisher: Chillingo

I originally discovered iDracula while browsing the ars technica OpenForum a few months ago but only recently had a chance to try it out. Moregames Entertainment has managed to create an interesting take on the dual analog shooter genre that has been made popular by games like Geometry Wars. For those unfamiliar, a dual analog shooter consists of the user controlling a character, in our case a vampire hunter, from the top down view perspective. You are confined by a rectangular area and can move in any direction with the left analog stick and aim in any direction with the right analog stick. This is accomplished on the iPhone by using two virtual analog sticks on the touch screen which each function identically to similarly placed sticks on a dual analog controller such as those used on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. Anyone who has played a game on the iPhone or iPod touch with a virtual control stick is aware of the limitations of this type of scheme…accuracy is not always the name of the game. The lack of a physical stick or button can make it easy for you to miss the mark with your thumb. Once you adjust however you will find a game with tight controls that other developer’s should be looking to mimic.

Gameplay

The core essence of a top down shooter remains…shoot everything that moves while avoiding the enemies and collect ammo, weapons and health to survive as long as possible. However, iDracula is deeper than similar games in the genre because of two features.

The first is the Perks system, which enables you to upgrade your character as you progress through the game. Starting at 3,000 points and doubling from there, a “Perks Available” button will appear in the upper right corner of the screen below the map. You will be presented with four randomly chosen character upgrades and will be allowed to choose one. The choices range from options such as maximum health increases or damage dealing increases to turning your character invincible for 30 seconds with a promise of death at the end of said 30 seconds. How you choose to upgrade your character is completely up to you and Moregames has provided enough Perks to keep the game interesting and varied.

The second feature is the Rank system which provides you with an overall persistent rank title based on how many Omens you have collected throughout your iDracula career. Every so often Dracula will appear and if you are able to successfully kill him, he will drop an Omen for you to pick up. Collect 10 Omens and you will move up from “Noob” to “Amateur”, collect 10 more and you will again increase in rank to “Gunner”…and so on.

Options

There are three maps to choose from and four game modes, with varying enemies for each map. The four game modes function as follows:

Survival – Start with the pistol and fight off the oncoming enemies. Over time the enemies will drop more powerful weapons (8 in total), ammo and health; which you will need to fight off the increasingly stronger and faster enemies. Every so often you will be given the option to choose a Perk from four randomly chosen options. Kill Dracula when he appears to collect an Omen.

Rush – Choose the machine gun, flamethrower or saw. You have unlimited ammo and must kill as many enemies as possible. No item drops or Perks.

Wave Attack – The game consists of waves (or rounds) of enemies. The enemies only drop gold, which you can use after each “wave” to buy weapons, ammo or health. The enemies get stronger in each successive wave. Perks consist only of upgrades to total health, damage, reload speed and income (size of gold drops). Each time you upgrade one of the four options through the Perk window, it increases the level of that stat which carries over to the next wave. Kill Dracula when he appears to collect an Omen.

Super Survival – Like Survival except the enemies are tougher and, in addition to the normal item drops, will also drop instant effect items. These items will activate the moment you touch them and will do things such as freeze the enemies, make you run and shoot faster, etc. They are also on a timer so their effects will eventually fade.

Issues

A few flaws blemish an otherwise outstanding effort. Occasionally I found it difficult to see approaching enemies in either the bottom left or right corners of the screen due to my thumbs taking up a good amount of screen real estate. It doesn’t ruin the game but takes some getting used to. Additionally, for a game which provides a persistent rank system, an online scoreboard and/or friends system is sorely missing and would allow for increased competition among friends.

Summary

None of these issues, however, can detract from the fact that this game is tons of fun to play, is varied enough to keep you entertained for a while and is an outstanding value at the asking price of 99 cents. The outstanding graphics and decent music and sound effects also add to the value. I could easily see this game costing between 5 and 10 dollars on the Xbox Live Arcade or Playstation Network. This is a must buy for any iPhone gamer.

Rating : 5/5

Gameplay video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GiXK1cRmBo