Review: Starship Troopers: Mobile Infantry (iOS)

This is a review I’ve wanted to write for awhile but commitments outside of the site kept pushing it off. Originally I had reviewed the first version of Starship Troopers: Mobile Infantry on iOS with the goal of praising the teams at Spectre Media LLC /Indestructible Cannon for developing such a fast-paced and difficult game that was actually fun to play and a challenge, unlike the vast majority of action/adventure games on the platform.

Then the updates to the original version hit late last month, which significantly made the game easier to play after taking player feedback into account, with the majority of users complaining that the game was too fast and too hard to beat. So, taking into account the newest updates and realizing that my initial review was essentially outdated, I set out to borrow an iPod Touch to review the game again and did so taking into account the changes in the latest updates.

In the game, you take the role of the Runner, generally chasing down bugs and killing them while managing your weapons and items and rushing through multiple stages.  While the initial release of the game had me on the edge of my seat as I hustled frantically to keep up with the game, the latest updates made it much easier to dispatch enemies and earn powerups/drops/credits to buy more powerful weapons, including a set of lead boots that make the player character react even slower to ease the speed of play in the game, a nice touch for complete novices who may not be able to handle such an initially fast-moving game, but it makes the game too easy for an experienced player like myself.

On top of the running mechanics the game also features cover fire mechanics similar to Gears of War for select stages and even quick time events, should a bug happen to grab your character from behind as you’re trying to kill them all.

Fortunately the controls for the above situations are very responsive, with the QTE  swiping elements being easy to control and swiping for both aiming and shooting being accurate, though some have complained that just pointing at the bug enemies automatically triggers fire without much effort, something I didn’t notice in playing the game.

For $1.99, you could do much worse for gaming apps on iPhone and Starship Troopers Mobile Infantry is one of the better examples of an above average action game on iOS, especially for the price. It’s not as polished as some of the more well-known iOS games in the graphics department, but with such a high level of play and enjoyment on tap, being shiny is the least of my concerns when playing mobile games, what matters to me is that it plays well above all else and it justifies its reason for being outside of being just another tie-in. Mobile Infantry succeeds on both fronts and the teams at Spectre Media LLC/Indestructible Cannon should be proud of the work they did.

With the game also serving as the tie-in to the Starship Troopers Invasion film directed by Shinji Aramaki, the game also serves as a great example of the tie-in doing justice to its source material, even if the source material itself is a bit flawed.

Starship Troopers Mobile Invasion is on iTunes for $1.99. This review was conducted using a purchased copy of the game (version 1.2) and a borrowed 5th Gen iPod Touch.