Mike Bantick
Monday, 30 August 2010 16:38
Entertainment
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There is nothing like a Rogue-like to blow on the twenty minute commute. And the iPhone makes a great platform for a game like 100 Rogues, just don’t get too attached to your character.
A Rogue-like is its own game genre type, usually quite complex, usually of a very high difficulty and quite often devoid of any graphical or audio effects.
100 Rogues
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Developer
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DinoFarm Games
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Publisher
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Rating
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iPhone (iPad)
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The original Rogue-Likes – such as Nethack for example – were presented with simple ASCII character based graphics, with hundreds of randomly generated levels and enemies as well as several hero types with a plethora of complex rules and equipment restrictions.
100 Rogues, whilst spiritually a Rogue-like takes a lot of liberties by fitting itself into this game genre. Most notably presentation is graphically pleasing with superb sound affects and (currently) a choice of only two types of Rogues. The Fairy Wizard excels at ranged combat, whilst the Human Crusader gets up close and personal with monsters.
The turn-based gaming revolves around delving into a dungeon, with the ultimate aim of defeating Satan. Usually death comes long before any Satan sighting.
Players need to manage loot, assign new skills when experience levels are reached and keep their Rogue’s belly full of food in order to progress as far as possible.
The game is awfully addictive, despite being frustrating at times. Thankfully the team at Dino Farm Games has been bringing out updates on a regular basis; many of the bug-caused deaths have now been removed, though there are plenty of stability issues left behind (particularly on the iPhone 3G under OS 4).
Interface wise, the game works pretty well with the touch screen, you need to be pretty accurate when targeting a ranged weapon or spell, and occasionally this will mean the Rogue makes an unattended move. Each targetable game ‘tile’ is approximately 8 mm’s square.
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