Soldier of War
Since it’s launch, the iTunes App Store has been flooded with a sea of games. Soldier of War (previously named iHooy) developed by Braineaters Games is a new iPhone/iPod touch game that will definitely keep players on their toes. Although it might have a stereotypical name reminiscent of an FPS, Soldier of War is more of an arcade strategy game.
Your objective is to save your stronghold while saving as many civilians as possible. The screen is divided into four rows, the game’s enemies (named Bastards) run down the outer two rows, while civilians move down the middle. When the Bastards reach the large red X you must tap the red button (depending on the side they are coming down) to kill them. Any enemies that squeeze through will damage your barracks, and over time will lead to your death. You save civilians by sliding a switch to reveal a set of stairs that leads them to safety; unfortunately this is where the game’s biggest flaw becomes evident.
As the game becomes faster and more Bastards and civilians come running down the screen it becomes very difficult for the game to understand what you are telling it to do. For some reason when you use the sliders the game registers this action by showing you that they have moved, however the doors to safety do not open. This is incredibly frustrating because the game is basically telling you that it knows what you are trying to do, but it will rarely execute the action.
There are times when the sliders seem to work fine, but it is more common than not that a civilian ends up running towards their death. When everything is working properly Soldier of War is actually a relatively fun game that can easily eat up your time whether it is on a commute or just at home. Currently, the game is only $0.99 in the iTunes App Store, although I find it hard to whole heartedly recommend a game that features such a major design flaw. Those looking for a challenge coupled with addicting and rewarding gameplay (when it works properly) should check out Soldier of War and start killing some Bastards.
Likes:
- Addicting gameplay
- Great pick up a play design
- Excellent concept
Dislikes:
- The controls are frequently unresponsive
- Unoriginal name
Review Score
/ 
The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.
