Smash Cops Review: Reckless Law Enforcement you Won’t See on TV

App Name:	Smash Cops
Platforms:	Universal (Optimized for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch)
Publisher(s):	Hutch
Version Reviewed:	1.01.01
Genre(s):	Racing, Action
Release Date:	February 3, 2012
Price:	$2.99
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Do you love to watch high speeed chases on the evening news? Thrill whenever the cops of COPS get behind the wheel? Resist the urge to ram speeders on the freeway? Then you’ll love Smash Cops . App Developer Hutch has delivered a solid smash-em-up racing game, and it’s sure to appeal to fans of the genre.

Each level of Smash Cops is framed like an helicopter shot of a police chase, complete with a news banner overlay. Your goal is to complete a stated objective, said objective usually boiling down to “Crash X cars by any means necessary .” It sounds repetitive, but the levels are fast enough and fun enough that you don’t feel bored.

Hutch has really done a good job of building a fast-paced driving game that feels like it belongs on a touch device. This is mainly due to the controls. In Smash Cops, you put your thumb (or finger — I found I got better control that way on the iPad, where the thumb is a bit short) behind your car to accelerate. Sliding your thumb left or right causes the car to turn the opposite direction. It takes a bit of getting used to, but you’ll quickly figure out how to execute turns and get it going in a relatively straight line. Tapping with a second finger or thumb gives the car a burst of “ramming speed,” which you use to damage & destroy the cars you’re chasing.

One of the reasons Smash Cops works well is that the levels and missions are short. It’s a high-adreneline burst of action, after which you get some satisfying crashes and then move on to the next level. Some levels have other goals — like driving to waypoints — and those levels suffer a bit from the lack of action. This game is about smashing and crashing, and any level that doesn’t let me flip a perp’s Mustang is a level I don’t want to replay.

Replaying is necessary , though, as it earns you stars that you need to unlock other levels and other features. Chief amongst these is other cars, including the “Super” cars, which are limited use items and give you advantage in finishing a board. Of course, many of these are also unlockable via IAP (what isn’t nowadays?), but grinding for stars isn’t too bad.

I did find the controls a little overly sensitive for my taste. While the touch-driving is innovative, it takes some getting used to and precision driving is hard. You’ll want to scream at the first cone relay, which challenges you to make it to the end without hitting any cones — a feat that seems far more difficult than it should be. There is a jopypad, but it feels like more of an afterthought than anything. You’ll quickly switch back to the touch system.

Smash Cops is a good racing game with a neat control scheme, good graphics, and plenty of action. If you’re a fan of games like Reckless Racing or Death Rally, then you should definitely check Smash Cops out.

Our Score: 4 out of 5

About the Author

Writer@Large Brian P. Hudson is an educator and freelance writer currently living in Dearborn, MI.

 

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