Price: $0.99 Score: 6/10 Category: Games
Record of Arden War 2 from BiCore is an interesting hack n’ slasher with visuals straight out of the 16-bit era.
The game offers up a bevy of options, including the ability to choose the gender of your hero at the beginning of the game. This is no arbitrary choice, as each gender has unique quests to undertake and slight story differences. Containing scores of unique quests, a pet system that alters the way you do battle, and a well-designed auction house that allows players to trade items with one another, Record of Arden War is a robust and lengthy adventure.
Though the game has a few slight drawbacks, Record of Arden War 2 will keep fans of the action/RPG genre busy for many, many hours. And as long as you’re not looking for a particularly deep or engrossing experience, Record of Arden War 2 can be a rewarding experience.
Record of Arden War 2 tells the story of land in turmoil. Tasked with protecting the King’s strong-willed daughter (or son), your character will take on a variety of quests, which are doled out from your royal party, or other non-player-characters located throughout the game. Much of the game requires you to simply head out to the play field and slash through dozens of enemies, either to rid the countryside of their menace, or to collect goods and return them to your quest-giver. Yes, you’ll do a lot of screen-tapping in this game, as you control your character through an on-screen button system.
You’ll also collect loads of items as you tear through enemy after enemy. Many of these items are elements that can be traded or used to construct more useful pieces of equipment. In addition to collecting scads of loot, you’ll also benefit by leveling up, which will in turn allow you to more efficiently slice and dice your foes.
Truthfully, you may find yourself wondering, “Is this all there is?” After all, one can only button mash for so long before beginning to look for a bit more depth. Luckily, the game has been padded with options to distract players from their incessant screen-tapping. As you play through the game, you’ll find different pets that you can equip. Naturally, each pet has its own special ability, adding a bit of strategy to the mix. In addition, enemies will drop runes that you can equip to your character, giving him/her status boosts. And finally, if you’re really looking to get into the customization features, you can browse the auction house, which allows you to trade items with other Arden War players.
Sadly, Record of Arden War 2 isn’t quite as polished as it should be. Korean developer BiCore did a passable job with the English translation, but there are loads of spelling and grammatical errors throughout. Regarding the presentation, the enemy and character designs are far from impressive, and play-field itself is surrounded by a large frame and partially obscured by the virtual buttons. So instead of showing off the relatively large iPhone screen, over half of the visual real estate is needlessly useless.
Bottom Line: Record of Arden War 2 is a fun hack n’ slasher, but far from a must-have title.
Record of Arden War 2 is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.