Previews

Hands-on with Isolani for iOS

The new FPS from the guys behind The Drowning

Hands-on with Isolani for iOS
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iOS
| Isolani
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The Drowning wasn't much cop. Just read our scathing 4/10 review of it for proof.

But the game's innovative first-person control scheme was, at the very least, something different.

You controlled the game through various taps and gestures. Tap on the ground to move, pinch to zoom in, and tap two fingers to shoot, with the bullet travelling to the point in the middle of your pinkies.

Twins

It's a bit of a shame, then, that Scattered Entertainment has binned all that hard work and gone back to a more traditional twin-stick setup for interplanetary follow-up Isolani.

Like in Dead Trigger 2, you move with your left thumb here, aim with your right, and automatically shoot at any enemy you target (though you can turn auto-fire off in the options).

It works well enough. And from Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour to Deus Ex: The Fall to Neon Shadow, there are enough first-person shooters on the App Store to know whether you like touch-driven gunplay.

It just feels like the studio is pedalling backwards.

Isolani

But that's not really the worst of Isolani's problems.

At this early stage, the game is just dull. A lifeless, joyless slog through a boxy shooting gallery with a cast of nuisance floating sentry bots.

You shoot down robots; find and shoot locks to open doors; and waltz to the exit. There are a few different robots with some unique tactics, but you kill them all in the same way: by pointing your crosshairs in their general direction.

It feels like some forgotten (and completely forgettable) shooter from the '90s. A bargain bucket Quake when you only had a tenner to spend on a new game.

Isolani

Isolani does hold some promise, though. The story, about an energy arms race around the universe's last star, is intriguing.

But unless Scattered can come up with some ways to shake up the gameplay before the game's global release, we won't be looking forward to this one.

We also don't know how the monetisation will work in the game. It doesn't have any in-app purchases in its current state, though it looks like there will be some kind of energy system in the final product. We'll let you know.

Note: This hands-on preview is based on a game in 'soft launch', so any prices and mechanics are subject to change before the game's worldwide release date.
Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer