iBomber Attack Review

iBomber Attack has rolled its treads into the App Store and aims to blow you away with the top-down, tank-busting action. Are the missions worth accepting? Or will you just be driving into a minefield of disappointment?

First there was iBomber, which had you raining down death from above. Then there was iBomber Defense, the series' foray into tower defense gameplay. And now there's iBomber Attack, a new iteration that lets you rampage through Europe in a tank! What's next? Maybe an iBomber USO Show rhythm game?! Yeah, that will probably never happen, but Attack is actually loads of fun, so that's all the iBombing you'll need for a while.

The game puts you in control of a tank that roams around Europe during what appears to be World War II (the in-game manual features a Hitler 'stache-wearing peanut as an example of the enemy). You'll take on missions one at a time, dropping into a level to complete objectives, cause destruction, and liberate the enemy's gold stores. There are also secondary objectives to complete for bonus points and hidden intel to collect for extra lives.

The panzer-pulverizing fun is played from a top-down perspective, reminiscent of the older Grand Theft Auto games. You have two virtual thumbsticks to control the tank and its turret. If you're like me, you'll find yourself doing a lot of figure 8's to avoid fire while taking potshots of your own. The settings have an option for letting the thumbsticks float to wherever you're touching on the screen, so you won't have to rigidly keep your thumbs in place at all times. The controls feel good and work even better. With a bit of practice and some major upgrades, you can drive laps around an enemy tank and its turret will never have the chance to lock onto you.

Completing a mission nets you Victory Points, the number of which is determined by how well you did and how much you destroyed. These points can be spent on upgrades that will make your machine leaner, meaner, and capable of causing more vehicular carnage. And those upgrades are essential in the later levels, when the enemy seems to throw all of its forces at you.

The earlier stages give you simple objectives, like blowing up buildings guarded by a small squad of tanks. But as you progress, you'll have to fight ships surrounded by turrets that fire a hailstorm of projectiles and soldiers with flamethrowers. I'd recommend maxing out the Tank Speed first, as it will help you outrun most of the opposition's bullets, flames, and rockets. It's also a good idea to save up gold to buy support slots. These slots let you equip secondary weapons and gadgets to help you in the fight, like a minigun or the ability to call in airstrikes.

However you choose to deal out damage, you'll be doing it in style. The visuals are crisp and the interface is clean. Details like tread marks in soil and fiery explosions are candy for the eyes. But what I like most are the menus. They're so pleasant and minimalistic that I can't help but be impressed with the presentation. I've come across games that often fill as much crap as they can into the menus and interface to the point of distracting from the game, so iBomber Attack is a pleasant change of pace. 

iBomber Attack is a pretty fun experience. It takes gameplay concepts from classics like Grand Theft Auto and Smash TV and combines them to bring us a fun directional shooter. The pacing in the beginning might feel a bit sluggish and boring since there's not a lot to do, but the challenge rises considerably in later missions.You'll find yourself pulling all sorts of crazy moves to avoid blowing up, while simultaneously blasting shells at the enemy. If this sounds like fun to you, then go on and download it now. I'll personally be looking forward to seeing if they'll make an infinite runner starring the tank. Maybe they can call it iBomber Retreat. Hmm. Give me a call, Chillingo and Cobra Mobile.

App Store Link: iBomber Attack for iPhone & iPad | By Chillingo | Price: $2.99 | Version: 1.0 | 240 MB | Rating 9+