Infinity Blade

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Infinity Blade

File:Infinity Blade.png
App Store icon (above),
title screen on an iPhone 3GS (below)
Developer(s)Chair Entertainment[2]
Epic Games[2]
EngineUnreal Engine 3[2][3]
Platform(s)iOS
ReleaseDecember 9, 2010[1]
Genre(s)Action role-playing game
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Infinity Blade is an action role-playing game iOS video game developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games[2] released through the Apple App Store on December 9, 2010.[1] It is the first iOS game to run on the Unreal Engine 3.[3] Upon release it became the fastest-grossing app in the history of iOS, selling US$1.6 million in four days.[5] It has received three major updates since its release and has been reviewed favorably by gaming critics. A sequel was announced on October 4, 2011 and was released on December 1, 2011. As of October 2011, Infinity Blade has generated more than US$20 million.[6]

Gameplay

The game follows a repetitive narrative structure in which the player ascends a castle in a quest to battle the primary antagonist, the immortal God King. At the beginning of the game, the player's character will be slain by the God King. The player then restarts the ascent, now assuming the role of the dead character's descendant. This cycle continues every time the player falls before the God King. As each cycle passes, the enemies increase in difficulty.

The game has no virtual joystick; movement is scripted. The player taps highlighted points to move from room to room. Inside each room the player can move the camera to search for treasure and potions.[7][8]

A screenshot showing combat in Infinity Blade. The character's and enemy's health bars are at the top of the screen, the dodge buttons are at the bottom left and right, and the shield icon is in the bottom center.

The primary game mechanic is one-on-one sword combat with enemies encountered throughout the castle. The player controls the character's sword by swiping a finger across the screen. Players can touch the bottom left or bottom right side of the screen to dodge attacks or the bottom center of the screen to block attacks with a shield, which breaks if used too much. Finally, players may parry incoming attacks by performing an intercepting sword move. Each of these three counters leaves the enemy vulnerable to counterattack for a short period.[7] Players may also use two special abilities, both of which require time to recharge after use. Tapping the icon on the top left unleashes the Super Attack, which stuns the opponent temporarily. Magic is activated by tapping the icon on the top right and then drawing a magical symbol.[9]There are three types of combos. Left, right, left, or the opposite, is a Huge Hit, dealing the most damage possible in three hits. Left, left, right, right, or the opposite, is a Mega Hit which deals the most possible damage in four hits. Left, right, up down, left is an Ultra Hit, which deals the most damage possible.

In addition to combat, there is also a mild role-playing component. An experience points system levels up the player and the player's equipment, which consists of weapons, armor, shields, helms, and magic rings. Pieces of equipment have special properties and a predetermined amount of experience points required to master them. Mastering a piece of equipment increases its sale value but it decreases the experience the player receives by one fifth. Players gain points when their experience level increases or they master a piece of equipment; these points can be spent to improve the character's health, attack, shield power and magic. Players can purchase new equipment using in-game money taken from the castle or from defeated enemies.[7][8]

Development

Infinity Blade began development in the first half of 2009 as a Kinect title for the Xbox 360, but development was later shifted to the iOS.[10] Originally codenamed "Project Sword", it was unveiled by Epic Games at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2010 in June 2010.[11] It is the first game on a mobile platform to run on Unreal Engine 3 (UE3), which is used by numerous console and Windows games.

Epic Citadel, a tech demo for UE3 on iOS, was released for free through the App Store in September 2010. Though Epic Citadel shared the stage with Infinity Blade at the Apple conference, it is a separate piece of software. Epic Games released the iOS version of the UE3 development tools to the public on December 16, 2010. For any game built with these tools and later sold, Epic charges a nominal licensing fee and then takes royalties worth 25% of profits after the first US$50,000.[3]

Expansions

Chair Entertainment has continued to support Infinity Blade with additional content updates. To date, four main expansions have been released, each as a free update available through iTunes. Two of them received coverage in the gaming press, unusual for an iOS title.

  • Content Pack #1 (version 1.1), released December 20, 2010: Added a new enemy, equipment, microtransactions, and the ability to play MP3 music in the background. It also removed the experience level cap.[12][10]
  • Content Pack #2 - Infinity Blade: The Deathless Kings (version 1.2), released March 2, 2011: Added a new single-player campaign accessible by traveling a different path down through the dungeons. This expansion nearly doubled the length of the single-player campaign and the number of enemies to be fought. It also added new equipment. This update was followed by update 1.21, which added support for the recently released iPad 2.
  • Content Pack #3 - Infinity Blade: Arena (version 1.3), released May 19, 2011: Added player vs. player functionality called "Arena Mode", a tiered combat game progression where one player fights as the hero and the other as a series of Titans. The update also included a single-player version of Arena Mode called "Survival Mode", and new equipment. This update was followed by update 1.31, a minor patch.
  • Content Pack #4 (version 1.4), released October 4, 2011: Added a new enemy, new equipment, and sneak peeks at Infinity Blade II and Infinity Blade: Awakening.[4]

Reception

Unlike most iOS games, Infinity Blade was reviewed by several major gaming sites. IGN gave the game its Editor's Choice award with a score of 9 out of 10 saying, "The result is a beautiful, addictive, and surprisingly deep game easily among the best available on iOS4 devices."[7] 1UP.com gave the game a score of B+, saying, "If you're looking for a game that really showcases the potential power of your iOS device, Chair/Epic have done a stellar job of bringing a near console-quality game to the iPhone."[9] Destructoid gave the game 8.5 out of 10 saying, "It was a technically impressive piece of software, demonstrating some truly incredible visuals on Apple's mobile devices."[8] Joystiq gave the game 5 out of 5 saying, "It's the kind of deep, well-thought-out combat system that puts most console sword fighting to shame."[14] Eurogamer gave the game 8 out of 10 saying, "So get it. Get it because it's ferociously satisfying, well designed and well executed."[13]

Sequel

Infinity Blade II was announced on October 4, 2011 during the Apple iPhone 4S Presentation Keynote. It was released on December 1, 2011.[15] The sequel features enhanced graphics, a revamped storyline, along with two new weapon classes added in: Dual Wielding and Heavy Weapons, in addition to the already-existing Shield & Sword.[citation needed]

Infinity Blade II garnered critical acclaim from many major video game critics. IGN gave Infinity Blade II a perfect score of 10/10 and also stating that "Infinity Blade 2 is a must own". GameSpot gave the game a score of 9/10, calling it "The Perfect Sequel".

However, the sequel has a critical bug affecting lots of players where the game resets and the current experience, level and equipment are lost after varying amounts of time. [16][17]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Michael McWhertor (November 29, 2010). "Infinity Blade Unsheathes For iPad, iPhone In December". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d Michael McWhertor (November 2, 2010). "The First Epic iPhone Game Is Now 'Infinity Blade'". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c Stephen Totilo (December 14, 2010). "More iPhone Games Will Soon Look This Good". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  4. ^ a b Flak (October 4, 2011). "Infinity Blade 2 Announced, Infinity Blade Update and New Novella". Epic Games. Epic Games. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
  5. ^ Patrick Garratt (December 12, 2010). "Infinity Blade is fastest grossing app ever". Appmodo. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  6. ^ John Gaudiosi (October 4th, 2011). "Chair Entertainment Talks Infinity Blade II". IGN. Retrieved December 26, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e f Hilary Goldstein (December 8, 2010). "Infinity Blade iPhone Review". IGN. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d Nick Chester (December 9, 2010). "Review: Infinity Blade". Destructoid. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  9. ^ a b c Matt Clark (December 10, 2010). "Infinity Blade Review". 1UP.com. UGO Networks. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  10. ^ a b Nathan Grayson (December 15, 2010). "Chair details upcoming Infinity Blade DLC, teases potential Kinect version". VG247. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  11. ^ Michael McWhertor (September 1, 2010). "Project Sword Is Epic's First Unreal Engine iPhone Game". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  12. ^ Stephen Totilo (December 20, 2010). "Infinity Blade Update Tomorrow Lets You Buy Gold, Adds Santa". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  13. ^ a b Mark Brown (December 14, 2010). "Infinity Blade Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  14. ^ a b Justin McElroy (December 9, 2010). "Infinity Blade review: Greatness cut down to size". Joystiq. AOL. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  15. ^ John Gaudiosi (October4, 2011). "Chair Entertainment Talks Infinity Blade II". IGN. IGN. Retrieved October 4, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ [1]
  17. ^ [2]

External Links

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