Knight’s Rush Review: Get Medieval with this Gory Button Masher

App Name:	Knight's Rush
Platforms:	iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
Publisher(s):	Chillingo Ltd
Version Reviewed:	1.0.1
Genre(s):	action
Release Date:	September 01, 2010 (updated)
Price:	$0.99, 66% OFF! (was $2.99)
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It’s always a treat when a developer manages to create worlds of great depth and excitement on the iPhone’s smallish screen. I’m talking about vivid landscapes, exciting situations, and enough variety that makes you want to come back. Knight’s Rush from Chillingo is one of those games. Set in some sort of medieval alternate reality, it’s over the top, excessively violent, layered with depth, and just a whole lot of fun in general. By not taking itself too seriously but showing off gorgeous attention to detail, these crazy worlds full of monsters, torture devices, and tons of blood manage to somehow be ever-so inviting. Go figure.

Chillingo doesn’t waste any time on story here. When playing the tutorial, we learn that our main character began as a regular knight in the horde. He was destined for a “normal” life of slaying other humans. And that just wasn’t good enough . . . He longed for something different, and boy did he get it. After stumbling onto a portal, our iron-clad hero was ushered to an alternate realty where things were more interesting, to say the least. Along with him came two other knights with different appearances, skill sets, and weapons. And that’s where the action begins. Play as any one of these three warriors as you battle through eight lush worlds to discover the hidden artifacts at the end of each. Yes, there is a lot of button mashing to be done, but Knight’s Rush also presents us with an entertaining upgrade system for skills and perks. And, by forcing us to reset when we go into a new world, we have no choice but to experience the game in many different facets and enjoy it for all it’s worth.

The gameplay moves from left to right like a side-scroller, but we’re also given freedom of movement up and down. A joystick in the lower left portion of the screen determines your direction, and buttons on the right allow you to jump, attack, special attack, cast spells, etc. Starting out, it may seem like all your doing is mashing the attack button, and that’s largely true. Expanding your capabilities means leveling up and distributing points to other skills and perks. Then, as things get more difficult, you’ll find you can unleash ferocious pets, drop bombs and traps, slow down time, or freeze your enemies. Approaching these upgrades strategically is necessary to succeeding, as death means being sent to the beginning of the world and losing all your upgrades and progress! It’s a risky game structure because dying can be so discouraging, but it also makes success all the more rewarding . . . The enemies you must slay are half of the fun. Spiders, wizards, vikings, and all sorts of other knights all stand in the way of getting the artifact, and with graphics this slick, it’s tough not to stare at the weapons, obstacles, and enemies all trying to bring you down. But, guaranteed, stare for more than a few seconds and you’ll be in pieces.

Journeying through the eight different worlds will unlock the other game modes, “Endless” and “Super Endless.” As implied, you get to play in the game worlds endlessly in these modes, seeing how long you can survive, upgrading your knight, and comparing scores with other players’ progress through Crystal.

The only flaws of Knight’s Rush relate to player movement and repetitive gameplay. While upgrading and battling through the worlds is great fun, the epic bosses at the end are somewhat of a letdown, as it’s just more tapping the different attacks, and with no strategy required. You’ll also find that your knight gets turned around once in a while, since the up-and-down, side-scrolling action is a bit tricky to nail down with the virtual joystick.

But these exotic locales and fearsome foes should be plenty of attraction for the low $2.99 price. We’ve heard lots of comparisons to the Xbox Live downloadable title Castle Crashers, and it says something about its quality for an iOS game to even be put in that category. There are several hours of campaign gameplay to enjoy here, and then “endless” fun in the other modes. Don’t let the slight detractions stop you from suiting up your knight, jumping through a portal, and finding what awaits. It’ll be unlike anything you’ve seen before. That much is for sure.

About the Author

Devin Wieland

 

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