Review: The Hero - Is This Game Truly Heroic?

Overview Ever wanted to be the over-muscled spandex wearing hero flying through the skies saving the day from sure catastrophe? Now thanks to Traplight Games you can do just that on your iPhone. In The Hero you fly around saving various cities by putting out fires, catching falling babies, stopping robbers, battling giant insects, fighting off tanks and helicopters, as well as destroying aliens. You have to get through all of the minions to finally get to your arch nemesis Dr. Hubbub, and put an end to his madness once and for all. We gave you a sneak peek, and now it’s time to find out if the game truly is heroic. Features The Hero features a campaign mode with fifteen levels battling tougher enemies in bigger cities as you go. There are two difficulty levels in the campaign mode, and you face over 20 types of enemies. A survival mode is also included that comes in four city sizes from town to Metropolis. In the game your health meter is actually your fame meter which decreases when the threat level in the city rises. The more enemies on screen, the harder you're going to be hit, but you can replenish it a little by giving high fives to citizens leaning out windows. As you're flying around there are varied colored arrows indicating threats, and their respective degree of severity. As you progress in campaign mode you will unlock three super powers including Freeze, Boom Bomb Blast, and Lightning Zapp. Chillingo’s Crystal is included for online high scores of campaign, survival, and combined totals. 20 achievements are also included which are varying unique tasks. You also have a choice of control methods between virtual d-pad or tilt. The Good The first thing you notice about The Hero is how much fun it is to smoothly fly through the air dealing blows to all kinds of enemies. The experience itself is like none other in the App Store as you become a super hero straight out of the comic books. It's great to smash into giant spiders, zombies, tanks, helicopters, and alien space crafts while making sure to put out fires, catch babies, and divert meteors from smashing into the city. You get to fly around deluxe cityscapes scrambling hectically from one target to the next following the arrows surrounding you, and trying not to get too overwhelmed by the sheer number of things to do. The boost button you'll be using excessively as time is of the essence, and it increases damage on enemies. The superpowers are absolutely essential, and you can increase their charging speed by giving high fives. The campaign is extremely well done with an overarching story albeit simplistic, but still enough to keep you entertained. The levels progression is spot on so no two levels play the same with each one introducing more difficult enemies. Survival mode is also included with each of the four city sizes giving different magnitudes of enemies, and four completely different challenges that you'll want to play quite a few times. If it's not great enough to fully enjoy the campaign mode, or even the additional survival mode, Crystal is included too. The online high score tables give a little incentive to replay levels, and the achievements are fun little out of the way objectives like stacking tanks, or smashing a helicopter to the ground. The design of the game is simply remarkable on the iPhone. It's as though you're actually playing the comic book stories, and the artwork is just as beautiful. The animations are great as well whether it's the hero gliding around or destroying enemies making theme burst into pieces, or even using the superpowers, boom. The included soundtrack is an absolute joy to listen to that fits the action theme perfectly. It gets you in the mood to punish evil doers, and something you'll wish you could have on your iPod. The virtual control stick was super silky, just like the gameplay, so the controls simply meld with your finger. The Bad One of the only complaints regarding The Hero is that the campaign doesn't take too long to get through. For only $1.99 you'll get more than you money's worth from the included campaign mode, and then on top of that there is a very enjoyable survival mode. A save system isn't included so your in level progress isn't saved, but your entire campaign progress is saved on level completion. The only other concern could be the controls. The virtual control stick worked great in completing the entire game, but you can't quite do super precise moves, and coming to a complete stop is a little hard. Also you can't do a real sharp turn, as everything is smooth gliding, but that doesn't impact gameplay. Overall that's being nit picky toward an outstanding game. The Verdict The Hero is an amazing experience on any platform, and it's highlighted by being on the iPhone with the smooth touch screen controls that you can take anywhere. It's a game that is totally immersive transporting you to its comic book world, and having you enjoy every life or death second of saving the day. The campaign mode and survival mode could be two separate games which would each be great in their own right, and once combined with the amazing production values you have a real Hero. The Hero is what iPhone gaming should be like, and is a must buy for the tiny price of $1.99. Do yourself a favor, and be heroic.

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