Review: OMG Pirates!
by Staff Writer
December 15, 2009
Overview
OMG Pirates! is a brand new beat em up style action game from the creators of Zombieville USA. You become a ninja, and you have to take on waves of Pirates who are attacking your village. It’s up to you to defend against the pirate scourge, and fight your way all the way back to the source for vengeance.
Features
OMG Pirates is a side scrolling action adventure game where you battle across multiple regions. In campaign mode there are 10 levels to progress through with each one having three scenes of a bunch of enemies. Three difficulty modes are included, and you're graded based on your performance for each level from apprentice to master.
The hard difficulty is unlockable, and there is a survival mode as well to unlock. As you dispatch of pirate foes, you level up your abilities. You can learn new combos, increase attack power, and health. The controls are straight forward with a virtual stick in the bottom left, and two action buttons: green (counter/jump) and red (attack).
Also there are hit combos that contribute to your overall rank. Each blow you deliver contributes to filling your power bar that is in the upper left. When full you tap on the glowing blue circle to unleash a super blast to injure all enemies on screen which is absolutely epic.
The Good
OMG Pirates is outrageously wonderful to play. It’s just so easy, and smooth to have all types of amazing ninja moves at your fingertips. One great aspect is that it brings the beat 'em up style of gameplay to the casual gamer without making it too watered down for the veteran of the genre. It’s simple, and yet challenging at the same time.
The campaign mode really separates from other games in the genre, and Zombieville. Rather than just endless survival, you’re actually going somewhere towards a goal. On your journey the backgrounds change, and there are boss battles making it a true adventure game, and not just action.
There are pirates and ninjas, the epic battle that everyone wants to see, but it never has happened. Finally, Mika Mobile has brought us the extreme storyline. Also the ninja, and each of the various pirates is designed so stereotypically well, it brings a smile to your face as you're chopping them up. The cartoon art style is similar to Zombieville, but with a little more polish.
What really shines, is all of the ninja move animations. Every move the ninja makes. from simply walking, to one slice, to multiple combos. are exceptional to witness. Another great thing to see is when you finally hit a pirate enough you slice them in two with an explosion of blood. Arrggghhh!
Another great aspect is that there is a 3D world to move in unlike the 2D aspect of most beat em ups, and Zombieville. That way your ninja can dodge attacks by moving to the side, and not just restricted to forwards and back movement. Each of the backgrounds change. which is a great improvement on Zombieville, and all are great including the ninja village, pirate ship and bar, and even in a volcano.
The sound department is absolutely exceptional. There is a different soundtrack for each of the 10 levels that kind of combine a zen and swashbuckling theme. Then there are the sound effects from the swoosh of the sword to the actual impact on the body, and finally the aarrrgghh of the pirates as they're chopped in two.
Just playing through campaign mode makes this game easily worth it, and then when you finish you unlock survival mode. If that wasn’t enough each level is graded, and the game evokes a desire to better your ninja rank. Also if you get 5, 10, or 15 master levels you can unlock some cheats.
The Bad
There really are no problems with OMG Pirates! To be picky the game can be viewed as just button mashing. Personally, I never found that, as I was always concerned with the buttons I pushed to do combos, and specific moves.
One small minute thing to be picky about is that there could be online high scores and achievements especially related to survival mode, but honestly who cares when you have such a great game to play.
The Verdict
OMG Pirates! is one of the very best games in the App Store, and one of the most fun and enjoyable beat-em-up style games I’ve played anywhere. This is an absolutely exceptional game to play to slice and dice your way using outstanding ninja moves through various waves of pirates.
This game is only $1.99, and it is worth way more than that. Hopefully. big companies can see an example of what a good iPhone game is. All I can say is OMG Mika Mobile what a great game, and one of the easiest absolute musts I’ve given.