Game Reviews

Draw Slasher

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Draw Slasher

Draw Slasher shouldn't be as much fun as it is.

This is a game about swiping your finger left and right, over and over again, to kill monkey zombies that come lumbering onto the screen. That's basically it.

It shouldn't work, but thanks to a combination of variety and tight controls, it does.

Slashy slashy

You play as a ninja apprentice who learns that his village has been burnt to the ground by zombies. Monkey zombies. Pirate monkey zombies. By slashing with your finger across the screen you can cut the zombies into pieces, but they can slash at you, too.

To begin with you'll just be slashing left and right, but soon you'll have to really think about where your finger is running. Some enemies have armour on, meaning you'll have to aim at specific body parts, while others will require you slash them from behind or above.

Of course, at other times the game will just want you to slice like a madman through half a dozen enemies at once. The two approaches complement each other well.

There are more types of slicing, too. Some levels have you slicing into the air to dodge missiles, while others see you bounding around an enemy waiting for him to put his guard down.

Then you've got special Jutsu powers for bringing a whole horde of enemies to its knees in one motion; a levelling system for gaining boosted powers; great boss battles; challenges; arcade modes; and more.

It's this variety that makes Draw Slasher so damn playable, and is the reason you'll find it difficult to tear yourself away.

Draw!

It helps that the controls are precise, detailed, and wonderfully fluid. Aside from anything else, Draw Slasher simply feels good to play.

Unfortunately, the good times don't last forever. After a while you'll come to see less variety in the gameplay as you reach for familiar moves and swipes to take out unfamiliar foes. Most of the variety turns out to be in the presentation.

Even so, while Draw Slasher may look and sound rather boring it's anything but. This simple, elegant, well-made casual game is exactly the sort of cheap and cheerful experience that handheld consoles were made for.

Draw Slasher

Don't let Draw Slasher's simple concept put you off - there's some serious fun to be had here
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Mike Rose
Mike Rose
An expert in the indie games scene, Mike comes to Pocket Gamer as our handheld gaming correspondent. He is the author of 250 Indie Games You Must Play.