Storm Attack [App Store]

A storm is brewing… are you ready for imminent addiction?

The App Store is full of puzzle games trying to emulate Tetris and Bejewelled, making it hard to distinguish between the available titles. For a tile or block match game to stand out and succeed it needs to have a niche: a quirky fix that our minds can can relate to and keep us addicted. We want a Tetris-like challenge that takes quick reflexes and common sense, something that makes us think carefully and sacrifice the few for the greater color. That was the pinnacle of tile gaming. No contest.

Once again we drag and drop a constant stream of colored, falling blocks into place. Systematically chaining up events, building up a score before the stack reaches the top of the screen. Sound familiar to a lot of games? Well these are the only similarities. Storm Attack has added features over three different game modes. Each game mode can be started from either level 1 or level 10 (when unlocked). Its a blast! Build a score and combat the slower ealier levels, you can shake the device for a further storm of 15 blocks. Oh did I mention that we must keep an eye on our limited ammo supply, you know the very same ammo we need to destroy these blocks? Destroying less than 6 blocks reduces your ammo by one, with a max of four this can run out very quickly, leaving you in trouble should a storm be close. The new Bomb Mode drops a bomb in to your blocks each level requiring you to sacrafice a certain number of ammo to destroy it.

Agon Online delivers a growing worldwide leaderboard (yours truly is currently the reigning champ 2 color mode… Booyah!) and a tsunami load of achievements (41 in total following the update). The achievements range from the fairly simple ‘Reach Level 10′, the stress incducing ‘Gambler’ in which you need a 7x row clear and beating the developers ‘Secret Score’.
Graphically the game is well laid out, simple, colourful and to the point. Touch gestures to guide the blocks into place. Sound wise its completed with a technoesque beat similar to retro classics. I chose the headphones to keep me in the “zone”.

Overall this game is definitely a winner and a worthy contender of tile game of the year in my books. From the simple and colourful layout, to the potent lightning strikes from the storm. It sets the mood and sense of urgency from the start. Its a perfect example for the casual gamer and the hardcore elite in terms of how gameplay alone here is the winner, with raindrops of prettiness being a side effect. Its been a while since the greatness of Tetris type games was spun around 360 and given the app treatment this genre deserves.

The storm’s a brewing, and its raining gold!

Storm Attack still awes me in its simplicity and addictive gameplay. You will be coming back time and time again for a self induced heart attack just to beat your high score!

5 Stars.

This review was based on version 1.1 of the game.

Also be sure to check out our Promo Code Giveaway for Storm Attack to get a copy of the game.