Review: Trigger Happy Christmas - Plus Video Review
by Staff Writer
December 4, 2009
Overview
Trigger Happy Christmas is one of the first Christmas themed games to hit the App Store. It’s much more than just a match three game spiced up with holly and candy canes. It’s a 2D arcade shooter from Games Faction who developed Inkvaders which was published by Chillingo. I don't usually publish the main title screen, but this is the best one I've seen.
You play as Santa, and you have to save Christmas from whom you would least expect, the elves. The elves have gone bad, and are trying to steal the presents. Santa is sick and tired of the elves, and has opted for weaponry to blast them away. He has to gather all of the presents that the the elves were trying to take.
Features
The game has one mode, and it's basically survival where you try to collect presents, and blast away elves for as long as you can. As Santa is running around collecting presents Rudolph is trying to take back control of the sleigh, and is tossing help to Santa.
You begin with a shotgun, but Rudolph provides a machine gun, flame thrower, and grenade launcher all with hilarious names. Pick-ups also include invulnerability, double score, double damage, and freeze elves. You loose if an elf just touches you, so be careful. Indicators are included on the left and right side of the screen showing how many elves and Rudolph gifts are to the left and right of you.
AGON is included for online high scores and achievements. 12 achievements are included with killing a certain number of elves, with specific weapons, or in special modes.
Also you can send electronic greeting cards from within the game. There are four designs, and you can e-mail them to anyone. The game has straight forward controls with left/right buttons in the bottom left, and jump and fire in the bottom right.
The Good
Trigger Happy Christmas is just so much fun as you run back and forth blasting away elves. The game is challenging as it's not just blasting elves, but also collecting presents. All of the enjoyment of Inkvaders (review) is included here just with a hilarious Christmas theme.
As you progress it becomes quite hectic as more elves come that are bigger, and require more ammo to kill. You need to keep an eye on your ammo count, as it depletes quickly. The most challenging aspect that makes you keep focus is that just one touch of an elf, and it's game over.
The sacrilegious take on Christmas is absolutely exceptional. I mean how seriously can you take a made up character in the first place? It's great to see the broad smile across Santa's face as the elves are being blasted into pieces. This game is absolutely hilarious, and worth it on just the amusement alone.
The game looks as good as it plays with great cartoon detail for Santa and the elves. Seeing the elves being blasted apart is great as bones, and brain chunks pile up with an explosion of blood. It's just so different to see the blood stain the white serenity of snow in the north pole.
The soundtrack is superb that gives you a Christmas theme spiced up for an action movie. All of the weaponry sounds appropriate as well. The controls worked perfectly to move, shoot, and jump to avoid elves. Just as a small nice detail the controls are snowballs.
It's super addictive to play one more time, and get right back to blasting elves. Maybe if I just concentrated a little harder I wouldn't have died. You will think, "I can reach those high scores, and will have a good time doing it."
Sending Christmas cards worked really well, and all four designs are top notch plus there are funny lines. The actual e-mail received is high quality with a detail of your highest score so far.
The Bad
The main problem is that there is only one gameplay mode leaving you doing the same thing every time. Replaybaility is the only thing to question with this title. It's the same each game where you collect presents, and shoot elves in a relatively small area.
The online high scores and achievements though add some incentive, and the game is addictive enough to answer that question. Also more a suggestion than a critique would be to just add ammo when you collect two flamethrowers, not just replenish back up to 40, but instead give 80.
The Verdict
Trigger Happy Christmas is, and will be the best Christmas themed game in the App Store. It's a fresh take on Christmas themed games, and is just so well made. The hilarious theme combined with the fun and engaging gameplay make this an easy recommendation.
It's more than just a great Christmas game, it's a great arcade shooter too, and a should buy for $0.99.