Pocket Gamer's recommendation-a-day advent calendar: Afterpulse
One more cracking game from 2015
Every day, as we count down to Christmas, we'll be sharing a brilliant and essential game from 2015 that didn't quite make our game of the year list. We'll reveal the very best iOS and Android games of the last 12 months on Christmas Day
December 17th - Afterpulse
iOS (Free)
Afterpulse is my dirty secret. Although it's not that much of a secret. It's a free to play third person military shooter with a focus on multiplayer, gear-levelling, and beautiful grind.
And it works. It works in a way that few iOS shooters ever have. The levels are tight and smart, the fights don't last more than five minutes, and there's always some challenge to try and complete.
It's not a subtle game, not by a long shot, but there's an infections rhythm to the violence that makes it almost impossible to put down. Shoot, reload, move. Rinse and repeat. For hours. And hours.
The balancing here is spot on, it looks stunning, and the short sharp gunfights fizz and crackle with little bursts of head-shotting excitement.
It probably shouldn't be as good as it is. It should be awful. But I'm still playing every day, grabbing currency so I can upgrade my guns, and enjoying almost every second of it.
It has its problems, but Afterpulse represents an impressive step forward for iOS shooters. Hopefully we'll see more devs learning from it in 2016.