Got an iPad? Good. Stop whatever else is your doing, head over to the App Store right now and buy this game. Trust us, it’ll be the best £3 you’ll spend this month. Ok ok, there’s not much left of March, but you know what we mean.
Sword & Sworcery is a point and click-esque action adventure game with beautiful 8-bit style graphics and a mesmerising soundtrack.
You guide a nameless sword-wielding warrior monk through various verdant locales by tapping on the screen where you want her to walk. You start out with just a faithful hound for company and pick up companions along the way. Like all good adventure games, Sword & Sworcery features a healthy dose of exploring, puzzle solving and one-on-one combat.
For general exploring and puzzling, you hold your iPad in landscape mode; whenever you run into an unfriendly beastie, the action shifts to portrait mode.
There’s just two on-screen controls for defend and attack (see right) and besting your foes depends on raising your shield and swinging your sword at the right time. It’s simple, full of retro 8-bit charm and doesn’t require button bashing Street Fighter style combos to win.
As well as containing nods to RPG classics (the opening level scenes are VERY Master Sword from Zelda) internet humour (we spotted a double rainbow pretty early on in the first level) and other mobile games (there’s an Angry Birds reference) much of Sword & Sworcery’s fun can be gleaned from the soundtrack and the various sounds that things make when you interact with them.
From the rustling sound that bushes make when you dash past them to the sheening shimmering sound of rainbow reflected light from the blade of your sword, there’s literally an entire world of sounds waiting to be discovered.
There’s also rewards to be gained when you stray from the beaten track and properly interact with the scenery. While there’s a set end A to B path for each level, there are plenty of little additional things to point, click on and unlock, which gives Sword & Sworcery a decent amount of replay life.
It’s got excellent coffee table value too. Sword & Sworcery is perfect for showing off to your friends when they come over to coo at your shiny touchscreen toy. It’s pretty much the perfect iPad game.
Each level also takes up a ‘track’ on a pretend 7-inch piece of vinyl, which sits on the homescreen when you load the game up. We guess this is the titular ‘EP’.
We can’t wait for an LP-edition to roll out. Or even better, a double album. Can we have one based on Tales from Topographic Oceans, or something?
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery is the work of Capybara Games Inc. We’re very much looking forwards to seeing what else they’ve got up their sleeves.
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