Review: Flick Fishing

Overview Flick Fishing is a realistic 3D fishing experience for the iPhone. There are multiple locations to fish, and many different fish to catch. The game is made for the iPhone, and provides a fishing experience like no other. Fishing is done with a few movements of the iPhone. You simply cast the line by flicking the iPhone forward, and then wait for something to get hooked. Once you hook on, you tilt your iPhone back like you would a fishing rod, and spin the on screen wheel clockwise to reel the fish in. Now those are the basic mechanics, and some fish will having you struggling furiously to reel them in. Features There are six fishing spots each with a different difficulty level. In order of increasing difficulty there is: the old pond, by the river, breakwater, lake shiny, blue deeps, and waves of doom. The last three are ocean fishing culminated by waves of doom out in the middle of the ocean in a storm. Also included are tons of unlockable fish that you collect as you catch them. Once you catch a fish it is saved, and you can view them in an aquarium that you can swipe through. The Fish include catfish, red snapper, largemouth bass, pike, yellowfin tuna, sailfin, and marlin. There are nine types of bait and tackle as well. There are a couple of gameplay modes starting with go fishing which is an un-timed fishing experience on any of the locations. There is also tournament allowing you to play against the computer or a human player. There are two types of tournaments biggest catch, and biggest fish. In Biggest catch you try to reel in the most fish in pounds, and in biggest fish you win by getting a single fish that weighs the most. The tournament allows you to play against a human participant which doesn’t use any fancy connection. You play for three minutes then you pass the device, and your friend plays for three minutes. There is also fish net which lets you create or join a fishing group where you compete for the biggest fish anytime you go fishing in the fish net. The system is maintained by providing codes to you and your friends to be able join the same group. The newest selling point for Flick Fishing is the incorporation of the 3.0 features. The first is in-app purchase allowing you to buy an update for $0.99. The update includes one new fishing location, private island, which is a tropical area. Also included is a new gameplay mode called Fish Jack which is just like blackjack, but with fish. Fish Jack incorporates the new bluetooth connectivity, and there are also four more unlockable fish. The Good The visuals add a lot to the whole fishing experience, and is one of the best selling points of the game. Each of the six areas is unquely designed in 3D. The entire time the water is moving beautifully, and when you lock onto a wish you can see it struggling in the water. Also when you lock onto a fish, your fishing rod bends perfectly in tune with the strength of the fish, and the tension in the line. The sounds are perfect for this game with a great up-beat theme song in all of the menus. When you actually get into fishing though its just the sounds of nature around you. You hear crickets, duck’s call, rippling of the water, and everything you would expect in each of the locations. Your fishing rod sounds great to from the original casting to actually reeling in the fish. With the sounds and the visuals you are immersed in a fishing atmosphere. Fishing can be a little boring, but is definitely a lot more fast paced in flick fishing. When you’re playing a tournament, especially on one of the higher difficulty areas, you catch about five fish in three minutes. For a more laid back fishing experience just go to the go fishing mode, and it feels like a more realistic fishing experience. The controls worked flawlessly, and reeling in large fish was a realistic chore. With 250 lb plus fish it takes about a minute to reel them in with continuing reeling then letting go, and then back again as you tire the fish out. It really is fun trying to real in a swordfish while its raining with the boat swirling side to side, and the fish leaping out of the water occassionally. The Bad The in-app purchase is hit or miss with a lot of people. The title costs $0.99 for 6 areas, tons of fish, and three gameplay modes. For another $0.99 you get one area, and one gameplay mode? It just doesn’t seem worth it unless you’re enthralled by this game. It’s great for Freeverse and it also allows people who thought it was worth more than $0.99 to begin with to contribute more. It’s debatable whether in-app purchasing is a good thing or not, but it’s unnecessary and unsatisfying in this case. A major problem is that the CPU is way too difficult. No matter what I did I couldn’t beat it. When I first started, I scored about 200 lbs, and the CPU would score 600. Then I got better, and would score 600 only for the CPU to score 1000. Then I nearly scored 1000, and they just topped me. The CPU’s score is changing while you play, but you don’t get to see them fish,so there score just pops up by hundreds all of a sudden. This game is fun against another person, but the CPU is just a score that is always better than yours. Also there are no online high scores, just the fish network system requiring code exchange. Replayability is a big question mark with the same gameplay mechanic every time. It doesn’t seem like you would go back to it very often unless you want to collect all the fish. The Verdict Freeverse provides the best and most realistic fishing experience on the iPhone. If you ever wanted to fish on the go, than flick fishing is for you. The visuals, sound effects, and controls provide as realistic a fishing experience that can be had without any fishing equipment. If you’re not into fishing I don’t think this game will appeal to you, and even if you are this game gets repetitive pretty quickly. Flick Fishing is fun in short bursts, and the most fun fishing experience for the iPhone. For $0.99 Flick Fishing is worth it, but don’t expect too much from it. A should have, but nothing more. [gallery link="file" columns="4"]

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