Infinity Blade was released in on December 9, 2010, by Chair Entertainment, and quickly became one of the most well know iOS games. It was the first games for iOS that was developed using the Unreal Engine 3 and falls into the category of an action role-playing game. It was reported that during the first four days it sold US$1.6 million making it the fastest-grossing app in the history of iOS.
You start the game with an assault on the castle of the God King with no chance of success; you are quickly crushed by one of the God Kings guardians. After your death you return to the game 20 years later as the son of the fallen hero. At this point you then start your journey through the castle fighting against a predefined amount of enemies in predefined locations. During each journey through the castle, or Bloodline, the enemies become harder, the loot increases, and more skill is required. This is a seemingly endless cycle but you level up and purchase new equipment along the way fighting you a fighting chance. Each Bloodline can take between 20 – 30 minutes depending how far along you are and how much time you spend looking around.
You will get to a point where you have acquired the Infinity Blade and the game changes a bit. Once you have the Infinity Blade you have the option of exploring different parts of the castle providing you some difficult fight, good loot, and more of the story line. I was pleasantly surprised with how deep the story actually went. I won’t go into any more details here because I don’t want to ruin the best part of the story for you, well at least I think it is the best part you be the judge.
The movement thought the castle is controlled by clicking on locations on the map or an enemy to fight. While you are moving throughout the castle you can find hidden treasure, make sure to look around for it because it can add up quickly. During battles you fight by swiping your finger across the screen to control your sword. There are different movements you can learn and you can also dodge or block attacks. Battles can get pretty heated and require some skill, don’t think you can just keep swiping your finger and win the more difficult battles, learning to dodge and use your power attacks and magic is crucial. Chair Entertainment did a great job on this part of the game, it almost makes you feel like you are in a real sword fight.
As I already mentioned you will have the chance to upgrade your equipment and skill along the way but what I didn’t mention is how this can affect your leveling. After each battle you earn base, bonus, and equipment experience. You can only earn so much experience from each piece of armor or weapon until it is mastered. You get another bonus after you master that item but at that point it should be replaced with something else to maximize the amount of experience you earn from each battle. This forces you to constantly change your equipment which is a bad thing if you like to use the same thing for a long time. That said, there is many items to choose from, each with its own advantages, making it extremely difficult to master every item.
Now let’s get into the graphics a bit. When this game first came out I was truly impress with how great it looked, especially on my iPad. The detail of the characters and environment was amazing, nothing was left out. The graphics in the battles were even better, in my opinion similar to what you would find on a console game, but I would expect nothing else since it was designed on the Unreal Engine 3. I cannot truly represent how great this game looks in words, you would need to actually see it, the screenshots help but don’t do it full justice.
Overall this is a great game and well worth the $6.99 I spent on it. Since I bought the game I have spent about 30 hours or so playing it which is a lot considering how short each Bloodline is but what can I say the game is very addicting. The only thing I didn’t really like about the game is it can get repetitive at times but it is a great way to pass time when you don’t have much else to do. I think I played this game as much if not more than I played Angry Birds, and well I played Angry Birds a lot. My final recommendation to you is to buy this game if you are looking for a good game for the price. It will also do a great job in showing off the capabilities of your iPad.
