“Promoting synergy” is a pretty common mantra in today’s corporate culture. It encourages all employees to work together in harmony to be stronger and more productive as a unit than they each would have been by working individually. The new game Corporate Fury [$1.99] from developer Swinecrafters is the exact opposite of this type of thinking. Instead, you are encouraged to battle coworkers in violent 3D arena brawls in an attempt to take their jobs away from them. There are a ton of wacky characters, plenty of crude humor, and enough fighting to satisfy any gamers needs in Corporate Fury, and it stands out as one of the more unique offerings for the iPhone.

The game takes place in a semi-open world that acts a large hub connecting the fighting arenas and story-related locations together. You start off as a lowly production worker who awakens after taking a brutal beating from your boss. Your buddy Mike, who also acts as the point man for setting up fights, is there to help you on your feet and explain what is going on since you can’t quite remember after being beaten senseless. The first order of business is to visit the in-game shop called Frank’s Goods, then head back to Mike to fight in some low-level matches until you are strong enough to defeat your boss and take his job from him. You will continue this process as the storyline unfolds and as you defeat the team of increasingly higher ranked corporate executives, culminating with defeating the top CEO and taking over control of the company.

The overworld in Corporate Fury is fairly large, although not exactly as big as something you would find in a Grand Theft Auto or similar game. In this world the atmosphere has been rendered uninhabitable, so you are left with a large indoor city filled with plenty of areas to explore and crazy characters to talk to. An automap in the pause screen lets you pick from the key areas and set a handy waypoint that guides your character to them so you don’t get lost. Graphically the game looks pretty decent, and runs fairly smoothly even on older devices. There are some jagged edges and characters aren’t exactly rife with detail, but the overall style of the game works really well and looks good. Most impressive is that the entire game loads quickly upon booting up, and there is no loading at all while playing the game itself.

Fighting in Corporate Fury is fun and totally over the top. An analog stick controls your movement with a button each for jump, punch, kick, and using a weapon. Early in the game it’s pretty basic, but as you defeat opponents you earn credits to use at Frank’s Goods. Here you can purchase an assortment of weapons, armors, special moves, and increased attributes. Once you’ve beefed up your fighter a bit, fighting gets more complex and satisfying. It’s reminiscent of fighting enemies in the newer Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry games, as you can pull off crazy multi-hit combos on the ground and in the air. The weapons you can use are truly awesome, from hammers and knives to explosives and plasma cannons. The armor and accessories are equally interesting, and change the look of your character when equipped.

While Corporate Fury is a ton of fun to play, there are some issues in the game that really bothered me. Some of the opponents you must face to advance the story can be incredibly powerful, and you’re stuck grinding away fighting random opponents until you can level up high enough to compete with them. Luckily the fighting is enjoyable and the assortment of random enemies is varied, so it’s not too much of an issue, but it can feel repetitive at times. Also, traveling around the city by foot can feel a bit arduous, and a quick teleport to the main locations in the game would be a welcome addition. Finally, while you can save manually at your apartment and the game saves automatically when exiting with the home button, in my experience this hasn’t always been reliable and I’ve lost progress because of it. It doesn’t seem to be a widespread problem, and the developer is already working towards fixing these issues, but it’s worth mentioning.

Corporate Fury is an incredibly ambitious title for a mobile platform, and while there are some technical and game design related issues due to this fact, the good far outweighs the bad. With a competent fighting system, dozens of crazy characters, and an interesting world to explore, there is plenty here to keep you busy for quite a while. Just be prepared for the crude humor in the game that is full of sexual tones, foul language, and midget references aplenty. The trailer above will give you a great idea of what you’re in store for, and could easily sell the game on its own. Players in our forums are loving the game, and Corporate Fury is one of those titles you just have to see to believe.