Back in November, Grumpyface Studios released their first iOS game Wispin [99¢] into the App Store. Wispin is a unique take on an arena battling style game in that you don’t actually use any weapons, but instead must match the color of enemies as you bash into and defeat them as wave after wave of them come at you. It’s a really interesting idea that also worked really well in practice and was topped off with an incredibly appealing art style.
Since release, Wispin has been updated several times in an effort to tighten up the handling and controls, which was the main issue we had with the game in our review. Now that the developers have sorted that out, Wispin has finally received its first big content update. In version 1.1 of Wispin there is a brand new enemy type, an interesting new powerup, a third map with a unique twist that completely changes how the game is played, and an assortment of other fixes and improvements.
The new enemy is named Bleek, and he will run up and steal one of your three colors from you if you aren’t careful to defeat him first. Once he grabs a color from you it’s greyed out in your color wheel and you will be unable to change into that color for 10 long seconds or until you’re able to snatch it back from him. As for the new item, it’s called the Spirit Touch and once activated it allows you to defeat any enemies on screen by just tapping them. Both the new enemy and new item fit really well into the gameplay scheme of Wispin, and add even more strategic elements to the game.
The biggest addition to Wispin in this latest update is the new third map, The Glacier. Here a pack of Bleeks rush you before the round starts and steal all the colors from your color wheel. Instead of being able to change your color at will, you’ll now have to pass through colored spotlights in the ground that change position randomly during play. This new take on the Wispin formula retains the core idea behind the game but causes you to have to play it in an entirely different way. Narrowly avoiding enemies as you make a mad dash for a colored spotlight adds an even more frantic element to the gameplay, and it’s a whole lot of fun.
Besides these three major additions to Wispin, there are also a number of smaller tweaks to the game. The beginning waves when you start a game now ramp up more quickly, which is good as it tended to be kind of slow going when first starting a game before. Enemies are now smarter and attack in new patterns, and the behavior of some special items has been made more effective. Also, the Canyon map has been redone and is now much more open and easier to navigate, as it could get pretty cluttered and hard to move around in previously.
We liked Wispin a lot before, as did practically everybody in our forums, and with its first big content update now available it’s an even better game now. If you already own Wispin, make sure to grab this latest update and check out the new features. And if you haven’t yet picked up the game, it’s an easy recommendation if you’re looking for something that’s a bit different with a ton of action.
