Fragger Review: Grenade Chuckin’ Fun

App Name:	Fragger
Platforms:	iPhone, iPod Touch
Publisher(s):	MiniClip.Com
Version Reviewed:	1.2
Genre(s):	physics puzzle
Release Date:	July 28, 2010
Price:	$0.99
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Fragger, the new iPhone offering from MiniClip.com, is a launching physics puzzle, the kind of game where you must sort out the correct trajectory and power of a launched object in order to hit a target. In this case, the object is a grenade, the targets are ski-masked soldiers (or maybe terrorists), and the challenge usually involves arcing grenades through windows, down chimneys, and over high walls. It’s an entertaining take on the physics puzzler, and a recent update has made it a definite bargain for the dollar price tag.

About 90 seconds into playing Fragger, I formed my first impression: “Oh, it’s Angry Birds with grenades instead of chickens.” Which isn’t necessarily fair to Fragger, since Angry Birds was far from the first physics launching puzzle in the App Store; but Angry Birds has been a Top App in the App Store for awhile now, and it has sort of set the standard for this genre of games, so we have to go there. No, it’s not as clever or amusing as Angry Birds. But it’s still a really fun game with some very tricky and very frustrating moments. [Level 40, I’m looking at you.]

At first, the physics of the grenades take some getting used to. There’s no three-count here; grenades explode when they hit the ground. So there’s no trick explosions in the air, or timing things just right; it’s all about the physics of the throw, and getting your grenade to land right where you want it to. Luckily, the physics of the throw are really well implemented, so that the grenade arcs and bounces realistically (though it seems to roll more than it should). I do wish the touch controls were slightly less sensitive, though. In a game where precision is key, even a little finger roll as you lift off the screen can send a shot flying wild.

Once you get the hang of it, you’ll have 80 full boards to perfect your aim in. 40 of them, the “Desert Strike,” only allow you to throw one grenade at a time; which can be kind of a nnoying when you have to wait for a bad shot to roll to a stop. The 40 newest boards, “Lost City,” remove that restriction, allowing the game to go a little quicker. The game even promises a third level – and presumably 40 more boards – in the future. That’s a lot of game for a buck.

It does need to be said that there’s a little repetition issue here. In the 50+ boards I played for this review, not once, did the game offer a power-up, a more powerful grenade, a homing bomb … nothing to change things up. It’s all grenades, each level. I would have liked, just a little bit, the chance to use the Fragger equivalent of the Homing Bird or the Splitting Bird.

The graphics presentation in Fragger is good. There’s nothing standing out here, but also nothing hard on the eyes.  The music and sound effects are incidental, but since the game allows you to listen to the iPod in the background, you can safely ignore them. Annoyingly, though, the game doesn’t save state when you switch out to the iPod to change songs. In the age of iOS 4.0, this really needs to be addressed.

Fragger is certainly not my favorite physics launcher game, but it’s pretty good, and good enough that it should scratch the same itch as Angry Birds or Ragdoll Blaster. It’s a worthy addition to the genre, and definitely worth the asking price.

Our Score: 4/5.

About the Author

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

 

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