Raiding Company

You can have the sleekest, most technologically innovative car out there, but if you don’t fill it with the right fuel it’s not going to last long on the road.

Such is the case with Raiding Company, a game that purrs with iPad-specific features and smooth curves, but is fuelled by underwhelming gameplay designed for the titles of yesterday.

As one of four characters - ranging from a shotgun-packing adventurer to a laser-firing robot - your task is to pilfer a artifacts from four tombs and hold back the horde of slightly aggrieved ex-owners of the priceless treasures.

Rather than angry middle-aged museum curators and genteel old ladies, these owners are more of the undead kind: zombies, mummies, bats, and more zombies. The ones that act first and pick your brains later (quite literally).

To keep your prize firmly in your sweaty palms (and your cerebral cortex intact) you’re equipped with twin virtual analogue sticks. Interestingly, there's an option to leave the direction of fire up to the computer should you not get along too well with the twin-stick controls.

Beyond the controls, the most obvious throwback to twin-stick hits of years gone by can be seen in both the graphics (which bear an uncanny resemblance to the block-headed Minigore) and the enemy designs.

Raiding Company does manage to break away from the crowd by offering unique multiplayer that has you joining with up to three buddies crowding around a single device to cooperatively destroy waves of monsters.

You have to place the iPad on a dry towel or newspaper to stop it skidding about, but the mode works well. It's entertaining, particularly given the competitive streak that has you stealing health pick-ups and point triangles in order to become the round's MVP.

If only the game was a more compelling as a whole. While the basics are here - upgradable weapons, smooth controls, and ever-increasing waves of nasties - it feels flat and uninspired.

For example, although upgrades are possible, none of the weapons ever feel like they’re any different from one level to the next - something that’s more an annoyance than a major problem due to the fact that enemies never get stronger, just larger in number.

While its fun to see who won a match at the end of a game, it’s frustrating that there’s nothing in the way of local or online leaderboards to keep you playing or let you fight for bragging rights over your friends during the course of multiple games.

Innovative multiplayer is sure to persuade social twin-stick fans to give the game a test drive, but it’s unlikely to last too long thanks to the slim gameplay and lack of compelling structure.