Game Reviews

Letter Attack

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iOS
| Letter Attack
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Letter Attack
|
iOS
| Letter Attack

The idea of a 'letter attack' is faintly comical, conjuring up images of a particularly fractious game of Scrabble, or perhaps a third-rate superhero who wounds with words.

While heftyapps's Letter Attack won't be sending you into fits of excitement or pleasure, however, it is a quietly accomplished - if somewhat bare-bones - iOS word game.

Another to add to the Q

The concept of Letter Attack should be familiar to any word game fan. So, yes, form as many high-scoring words as possible from a jumble of letters within a limited time span.

These letters have Scrabble-esque values attributed to them ('Q' is worth 10, 'A' is worth 1, and so on). As per tradition, you'll also get more points for lengthier words, with the maximum being eight letters.

In addition, you'll get random x2 or x3 multipliers applied to particular slots on your eight-letter word input, prompting you to be creative with your selection. Adaptability and quick thinking are as important here as a good vocabulary (and, yes, rude works are allowed).

There are also bonus tiles that you can nab by dropping them off the bottom of the screen, match-three puzzler style.

Can't find the words

The input method is similarly simple in Letter Attack. By touching a letter in the jumble, you will add it to the next free slot on the word input grid. Alternatively, you can drag letters to specific slots on this grid. Hit the 'Submit' button to - you guessed it - submit the word.

There are a couple of annoying quirks with this input system, though. For one thing, we found that the letter presses don't always register - even though the input sound plays to suggest everything's okay. This can lead to annoying cases where 'you' misspell words.

This is especially annoying given another Letter Attack quirk - you get penalised for removing letters from the word input grid. It's only a few points, but it seems unnecessarily harsh, and it only exacerbates the aforementioned control lag issue.

Words fail me

Letter Attack's other fault is its scarcity of content.

There are three modes available: Classic, in which you are given between three and eight three-minute rounds to use up all of the letters; Rush, in which you have five minutes to get as many words as possible; and Survival, in which you're constantly fighting to extend the clock beyond its default 30-second limit.

The thing is, there's no structure to any of these modes. You play one-off rounds of each, and if you beat your own high score, it gets noted down. That's it.

There are Game Center tables, so you can match your skills against your friends, but it seems odd to find a word game without a competitive multiplayer mode or a well-constructed single-player mode.

You can play an entertaining game of letters in Letter Attack, sure. As 'attacks' go, though, heftyapps needs a little more planning, a little more technique, and a little more snap if it wants to really hit home.

Letter Attack

A decent word game that lacks the control polish and fleshed-out structure of some of its illustrious rivals
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.