High Flyer Death Defyer Review

Friday, October 7, 2011

High Flyer Death Defyer Review

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High Flyer Death Defyer Review

By Greg Dawson on October 7th, 2011
Our Rating:

:: FALLING MADNESS
Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

High Flyer Death Defyer breaks out of the side scroller genre with a skydiving fantasy world of comic book style art complete with monsters and visually appealing design.

Developer: Game Mechanic Studios
Price: $4.99
Version: 1.0
App Reviewed on: iPhone 4

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.55 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.65 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.65 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.61 out of 5 stars

Games were never meant to trap individuals into a zombie-like state of mind where all feeling is lost. They were meant to unleash long lost worlds, new fantasy realms and make the impossible, possible. Where most games fall short on iOS is when they continue to recreate the wheel. High Flyer Death Defyer breaks away from that very norm.

The game takes the user on a genre-bending comic book art style, sky diving adventure rather than the familiar side scroller game mechanics. While I have absolutely no problem with side scrollers, I revel at the chance to review games from indie developers – the ones that find new ways to turn gaming back into an experience.

At first sight, I wasn’t sure how my iPhone 4 was going to handle the fast speeds and serious gameplay that High Flyer Death Defyer offers. The game throttled my iPhone 4′s accelerometer and I thought itwas going to turn the game into a jittering annoyance, but to my enjoyment it was smooth no matter the number of fast free falls I made to scoop up points, speed through rings and evade mechanically augmented gargantuan monsters.

The best feature of the game is the virtual skydiving as well as the attention to level design. As mentioned above, it is completely different than what is normally used to get player from point A to point B and adds a nice touch for dynamic gaming.

To control the jetpack-equipped character, the gamer uses a small – optional but on by default – joystick on the bottom left of the screen. While this controls the direction, other controls such as dive, roll and land are on the bottom right and upper right. While the joystick provides an easier level of difficulty, make sure to go to settings and deselect it for a true skydiving test. Beware, it ups the ante, but then again, it also ups the re-playability.

I had my initial doubts about the gameplay mechanics of a falling character as side scrollers are always a sure bet. Then I took High Flyer Death Defyer’s for a spin and was surprised at the level of entertainment it provided. Indie developers such as Game Mechanic Studios are a true source of innovation.