N3V games, the developer of Heist : The
Score has an interesting history. N3V rose from the embers of Auran,
who burst onto the gaming scene, years ago, with their innovative
RTS, Dark Reign. What made it even more special was that Auran was
an Australian outfit, as are N3V now Their latest iOS game is the
on-rails shooter, Heist : The Score, which takes place in the 30s.
You are the newest
addition to a ragtag mob, that currently consists of Giuseppe Gallo
and Salvotore Da Luca, stereotypical American Italian mobsters.
The Heist refers to a raid on “the National” and the aim being to
recover a suitcase locked away in the inner depths of the grand, old
building.
What is inside this
suitcase is anyone's guess; the contents must be important enough to
risk one's life against waves and waves of cops and other
adversaries (I won't spoil the twist that happens half way through
the game, half way being half an hour). There also is enough teasing
at the end to warrant a sequel.
The bottom left of the iPad controls the viewing angle and
crosshairs, as well as taking cover, while shooting and reloading is
controlled from the bottom right. A further action is shaking the
iPad - this opens doors and fortunately, there aren't many
opportunities to perform this jarring feature.
The controls are
made even more difficult with huge recoil of each weapon, that
totally knocks your crosshairs away after every shot. The
checkpoints, though, are numerous - dying in the game means
restarting from, at most, 5 minutes earlier.
The game's visuals are mixed. The backdrops are pretty and bright,
with splendid art deco interiors. In saying this, with the release
of recent shooters, the engine seems simplistic and dated.
Characters seem to lurch and lumber towards things and this is made
worse with the lack of detail evident on them.
Heist sounds great
through headphones with booming bass filing your ears. The voice
acting is professional, but a little overly simplistic and
caricatured.
One last criticism
is that the game is way too short, lasting just over an hour, but at
an introductory price of 0.99c, it is recommended for shooter fans
who don't mind being on rails, for a change.
