Free Seems Too Steep For Penguin Fight
Penguin Fight! (Free) by SixClick Inc. pits penguins against penguins as they lob projectiles back and forth.
Whether you play against someone sitting next to you or the computer, you and your opponent occupy opposite ends of a field. Each of the six penguins comes with a different weapon, which fires when you tap the blank area in front of your penguin. Of course, you’ll need some fancy footwork to dodge the incoming fire from your opponent.
While this game’s quirkiness enticed me to pick it up, I can honestly say I’ve never been more disappointed with a game (well, maybe The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but that’s another story).
For starters, the controls are terrible. There are two areas on your side of the field to control your penguin. The first area is a strip along the bottom of the screen that will move the penguin. Instead of directional arrows, tapping anywhere inside the area makes the penguin go to that spot.
On top of that, the firing area is directly in front of the penguin. This presents a problem where essentially your hands are lined up one in front of the other, this obscures your view of what’s happening on your side.
I can only imagine how cramped the real estate would get if two people were on the iDevice at the same time as they played against each other.
Perhaps my biggest disappointment with this game is the misnomer of it being free. This app’s catch is that the full version is an in-app purchase of $1.99. The app embodies a bait-and-switch setup, especially considering you can’t directly buy the paid version from the App Store.
You certainly don’t have to buy the paid version, but the advertisements in the game are terribly intrusive. At least no banners show during gameplay. You’ll just see them every other time.
Just about everything about this game got in the way of me having an enjoyable experience.
