'PewPew': Free Multidirectional Shooter Fun for the iPhone
posted by Blake Patterson on June 3rd, 2009 11:50 AM EDT in Free, Reviews, Shooter, iPhone games, iPod touch games
The App Store has become rather awash with Geometry Wars clones of late. And, while some are better than others, it's hard to argue with a free app — especially when it's a lot of fun to play. And, such describes Jean-Francois Geyelin's PewPew [App Store].
PewPew is a simple vector-based 2D / 3D shooter that features two different gameplay modes reminiscent of corresponding modes in Geometry Wars: Galaxies. The 'Dodge This' mode challenges the player to zoom about the playfield, dodging a barrage of enemies. 'Assault' mode pits the player against an onslaught of enemies, with the goal of destroying as many as possible in an attempt to stay alive and rack up points. The 'Dodge This' mode features one onscreen virtual stick, while 'Assault' features dual sticks, one for motion, one for firing. In both modes the playfield pulses to the beat of the trance soundtrack and power-up boxes can be collected for points and shield energy boosts.
While the game does not have the depth or overall polish of the recently released Isotope, it's quite well done. In fact, it has a more intense sense of speed than Affogato's release, and makes for a very frantic pick-up shooting session.
And what was that 2D / 3D comment all about? While actual gameplay is top-down 2D, play sessions are recorded and can be viewed from the high score screen in a side-angle 3D perspective (see the video). A very nice touch.
The developer promises that additional game modes are on the way, along with an online scoreboard.
PewPew is a rather fun game that every shooter fan should grab. It's definitely worth the price of admission…
[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]
App Store Link: PewPew, Free
Is it me or the GW clones are really the savor of the month. So many titles in so many times. So far I have tried the light version of Isotope and I have really liked it. Waiting for a price drop to buy it out !
waiting for a price drop on isotope too.in the meantime i'll play this and its' freeeeeeeee XD ,-)
Love the 3D replay view, would be great play in 3D like that as well.
This could be on top with Isopote.
The style and controls are already perfect.
Now just add some sounds, more enemies, different waves and weapons and you can easily charge 2 and more bucks for this app. At the moments it's a funny little time waster, but after some minutes you've seen everything and done everything, the waves are just repeating and your fire power ist strong enough to just center your ship and slowly turn 360° while firing…
Yea, it's really nice. In some ways I like it better than Isotope — the speed is great.
Because you are THE retro man in here, next to Peter Hirschberg
Best GeoWars clone solely because of the title.
best. title. ever.
What a bore.
It'd be good with more enemies, but right now it's just a snoozefest. Until it gets updated, I'll leave it off the iPod. At least I didn't pay for it.
Sorry the FREE game didn't live up to your expectations. Maybe your snotty attitude will discourage more developers from releasing FREE games in the future.
Or how about either putting a positive spin on your criticism (it's a FREE game, after all, and a good one at that), or just keeping your obnoxious, entitled opinions to yourself?
100% correct Rickshaw
TO Eightflyingcars: You should really appreciate its free and not just another pointless demo
Plus its not that bad, I quite like it
The game has only one enemy type per mode, and in the shooter mode the enemies don't even follow you around. All they do is move in straight lines. It's a free 'full' game that happens to have less content than most lite apps.
But whatever, I was asked for a positive spin on the game, so here goes: If I'd paid for PewPew I would've been completely livid, so it's a good thing that I got to see how boring it was for free.
Time for some more iDracula!
Wow, that's funny.. That positive spin was exactly how I felt about iDracula. Looked pretty, but was about the most one dimensional game I had. And I payed for iDracula, so I was livid. :p
Pew pew ain't too bad. Could to with some variety in mixing up the baddies, but definitely entertaining.
isotope needs a lot of cleaning up and polishing before it can compare to this title. The controls in PewPew are already superior to Isotope which just doesn't feel right.
this is a true retro and it is up there with iDodge: Space Ninja, Missile Command (Atari), and Retro – Cave Flyer (Big Head Games)
Amazing controls + extremely addicting gameplay = can't wait for updates !!!