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Enemy Dawn iPhone Game Review: What the Heil?

[app id=”826238698″]

Enemy Dawn is an iPhone game developed by Eric Simmons / Simplus Technologies Group LLC. This odd and confusing game does have a certain appeal, but some of its presentational choices are completely baffling.

The opening animation of Enemy Dawn features “Hitler” giving a speech in German. I’m putting his name in quotes because he doesn’t look quite right, facially…and also because the flags surrounding his little podium have black crosses, and not swastikas.

Admittedly, the swastika is a symbol that many people find inherently hateful, but not having the balls to use a swastika here feels lazy at best and revisionist history at the worst. And then later in the game, when you start “collecting” stolen gold…well, that just might rub some people wrong, even if you are supposedly liberating Polish towns.

Also, some subtitles would have made the opening feel like some more care was being put into the game’s opening moments. The lack of attention to detail in the game’s opening moments seems odd, given that the game is historical and nature, and given that a lot of detail seems to have been put into constructing faithful digital models of the aircraft.

I do like the configurable controls. It’s nice to be able to adjust the controls somewhat as you’re trying to fire a rocket launcher at a huge array of targets. Once you get used to the controls, this game is pretty easy to play.

Gameplay is fast-paced, and it’s nice to have a casual game that has really hit its stride in terms of balancing replay value and level of difficulty. It’s too bad that there are only five levels.

The thing about historical games is that they need to use the period as more than just window dressing. In the case of this game, the lack of authenticity and forethought is an issue. The App Store description boasts of Enemy Dawn’s “historic landmarks,” so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a game that has some historical veracity.

If this game kept the same gameplay, but existed in a setting that had less political, social, and religious implications, it might be a fun game. But as a WWII game, this title pales in comparison to the richly realized and thoughtfully depicted mobile games that took the time to get WWII right.

Enemy Dawn requires iOS 5.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.