Review: Cartoon Wars-Gunner - Hottest Games of 2010
by Staff Writer
January 13, 2010
Overview
Cartoon Wars-Gunner is a sequel to Cartoon Wars that changes up the gameplay making it a shooter rather than a castle defense type game. You control Captain J who has been banished by the King, and is now seeking revenge. You begin with a bow and arrow, and fight through waves of enemies earning gold to buy new weapons.
Features
It's an action shoot em up with a few rpg elements of upgrading weapons, and skill points. Every enemy you slay increases your gold which you exchange for weapons, as well as upgrades to current weapons. There are 11 weapon types from gun, to automatic rifle, to laser gun, and even full on attack body suit like in the icon. The controls are straight forward with a control stick in the bottom left, and a shooting direction stick in the bottom left. It's a 2D surface, but the characters have 3D space to move in, so the shooting can be left or right. Online high scores are included via safari.
The Good
The gameplay is fun for a few levels as the game is presented with a 2D feel, but 3D movement. It's nice to run around firing at everything in your way. Then you can use bow and arrow, bazooka, and dual guns to really devastate your opponents. Once you get well into the game, after a couple of hours, there is non stop hectic action. Sadly I don't know how many people can make it through to that point. When you finally get some good upgrades, it's quite fun to deal out damage with upgraded weapons. Also the magic abilities are a good way to change the monotonous shooting, and they deal massive damage with nice animations. The controls are somewhat of a hassle, but can be managed to work quite well, and get off some rapid fire, but it does take away some of the shooter aspect.
The stick figure theme is continued from cartoon wars, but everything is more polished. The original was a little rough around the edges in terms of visuals, but luckily Gunner is much improved. As you progress, the backgrounds change every few levels, and the enemy design becomes more exotic.
There are nice animations with blood spurting as you shoot the stick figures, or when an arrow goes through their head. The included soundtrack is action packed electronica that fits perfectly with the feel of the game.
The upgrade system is a nice addition to either boost your characters skills or weapon's performance. Online high scores are included though they're out of app. A save system is included though you have to manually press save. Many people buy it.
The Bad
The controls don't work very well despite being laid out straightforward. The control stick is sticky, and when you're moving in one direction, more often than not it stops picking up your finger so your character comes to a stop. The firing button is a hassle, as you can tap it, or set it to continuously fire, but one way feels slow, and the other you're heating up your weapon too quickly. The gameplay is extremely repetitive so once you've played the first level you've played the whole game. All of the weapons play the same, and the 30 types of enemies don't change the tactics you use. It also takes forever to get any good weapon upgrades no matter what skills you improve.
The levels are completely open, and flat with just more and more enemies appearing. There are no obstacles so it's just mindlessly moving, and firing. None of the levels separate so they all meld into one, and you just never seem to get anywhere. There is no reason to continue playing with nothing to progress the levels, no achievements, and the weapons making no difference. When you die, you just go back to your most recent checkpoint with no negative.
