Thursday 23 January 2014

App Review: BLOODMASQUE

App Review: BLOODMASQUE


Game Developer: Square Enix 
Price: Free
Reviewed on: iPad 
Updated: January 16th 2014




Ever wondered what it would be like to put yourself into the shoes of a fearless and strong vampire slayer, like Buffy? Well now’s your chance to attach your own face to a digital vampire slayer version and become just that… or kind of.

BLOODMASQUE is an RPG developed by SQUARE ENIX and has witnessed huge success on the App store reaching 500,000 downloads. It is free for a limited time, so why not download it and give it a try?

The game is set in the nineteenth century in Paris, it is completely ruled by the terrifying vampire race. The player becomes the last hope; you are the main character, a half vampire slayer out to save the human race from eradication.

The storyline may seem a bit daunting and depressive, but there is a humorous, light-hearted nature to the game. At the beginning of the game the player has the choice to assign pictures to the digital vampire slayer and associate them with casual, pleased and angry emotions. These prove to be hilarious when seen throughout the gameplay, especially when seeing some kind of resemblance to your face in a weird screwed-up facial expression in dire situations in the storyline.

Trust me it is funnier than it sounds.



Gameplay:

As mentioned above, you become a vampire slayer stalking the streets at night to prey upon your vampire enemies. This particular game does require a constant Internet connection, which enables the player to connect with other fellow BLOODMASQUE players.

Missions are set throughout the streets of Paris, completing particular tasks ends with surprise treasures for your custom character. These treasures can range from uncommon to relic, depending on your choice of Stake (gold, iron or wood).  The choice of Bloodclan’s can have a huge impact on the difficulty each fight; each Bloodclan has a weakness and strength.

Each battle typically starts at an easy difficulty, usually fighting against vampire followers (humans) and working the way up to try a shot at the more difficult high-levelled vampire boss. Combo hits result in higher health point deduction against the opposing character, and aid in the charge of special attacks.  Once the enemies HP have reached 0 you have the chance to stake the fiend through QTE which looks remarkable, especially as these moves are vary depending on the vampire killed.

Each mission has a time limit, so quick attacks and intelligent and well judged dodges should be made to ensure the completion before the end of the timer. If you run out of time you risk the chance of losing hidden treasure and having to start from square one. 

Once a mission is completed the player will be awarded with coins that can be used to buy armour, weapons, fangs, supplies and shards. BLOODMASQUE does have an in app purchase feature but fortunately this isn’t essential in order to experience BLOODMASQUEs full potential as a game.

Controls:

Playing from an iPad device, movements are controlled by either tapping or swiping the touchscreen.

Typical movement when roaming around mission worlds can prove to be difficult, the tap and swipe feature wasn’t ideal for general controls. However, the tap and swipe controls were stunning when used in battle sequences. Tapping to attack and swiping to dodge was simple yet stunning to watch.

Overall, the roaming controls were only a minor setback and didn’t affect the gameplay negatively as there isn’t much of this involved within the gameplay.


Graphics and Sound:


BLOODMASQUE takes full advantage of the iDevice, it was stunning on my iPad with retina display.  The backgrounds were filled with crisp, clear and stunning images of Paris, and each individual character involved within BLOODMASQUE had a huge amount of detail, all adding to the high quality gaming experience.

Pros:
-Easy controls within battle
-Free for a limited time
-Great custom content treasure
-Your own face on a digital vampire slayer

Cons:
-Easy to handle movement on pre-mission
-Always needs Internet access
-Battery drainer

Overall thoughts


An enjoyable game like no other, definite strive forward in the development on iDevice gaming. I love the content that can be unlocked through progress in the game, adding new armour and weapons to your own individual character with your facial creatures is strangely pleasing. I would recommend the download of this app is priced back to the original stamp after the limited time has ended. All in all, a hilarious and fresh game with charming graphics and game features.

Score: 4/5



Contact details:
Twitter: Lauraanneash
Email: laura.anne.ash@gmail.com



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