Scram Is A 3D Running Experience That Will Keep You Awake At Night
Scram ($0.99) by by Implication is a first-person, 3D running game in which you must escape. But what are you running from? And, more importantly, do you think you can escape?
Lights fail in the thing's presence. They flicker off, one by one.
It sees you. It's coming for you out of the dark.
You run, dodging over, under, past debris.
This has to be one of those dreams.
Where you run, and you run, and you run, and just before the thing gets you, you wake up.
But what if it isn't?
What do you do if you can't wake up?
You run.
Faster.
Scram is like that dream you have where you're constantly running, and ridiculously afraid, but you have no idea from what or why. But this time, you never wake up. It reminds me a little bit of The Dark Meadow and Doom — which, in my book, makes it an automatic winner.
The goal of this game is to avoid the obstacles thrown in your way, while you're constantly running for your life.
Faster and faster.
Swipe and hold right or left to move in that direction; release to return to the center. Swipe up to jump over obstacles and swipe down to duck under them. The more you make it unscathed, without running into anything, the faster you'll go. The further ahead of that ... thing you'll be.
Don't stop running.
The sound effects are just the right amount of creepy, they will scare you into running faster down these hallways and dark caves. The darkness of the game itself is eerie and causes panic. Lights will flicker off behind you, alerting you of the thing's presence.
Faster.
Sometimes the walls will start to cave in on you — or is it only your imagination? Either way, you must duck quickly and continue running. If you stumble too many times in a row, it's too late. The thing will grab you, and drag you back, as you scream. This is the epitome of game over.
So, it's simple: don't fall. Just keep running. As fast as you can.
Currently, there are four levels to get through — the hotel, the cave, the hospital ... and the one I haven't gotten to yet. The levels are plenty long and they plan on adding more in future updates.
The graphics are very well done, and even though I know the dimmed lighting is for effect, it sometimes takes away from gameplay because it gets so dark. However, I do realize that's part of the game and how it's supposed to be.
Scram is available in the App Store for $0.99, that's 50 percent off the original price, for a limited time. It's currently only optimized for the iPhone and iPod touch, but they're working on bringing it to the iPad soon. Playing this on an iPad would be even more intense.
I really enjoyed this game; it's quite a thrill ride. Gameplay is exciting and it even has full Game Center support with plenty of great achievements to acquire. I look forward to more levels.
And remember: Don't stop running.
