UPDATE: July 27th, 2009
circuit_strike.one makes another great leap forward in its v2.0 update, adding a dual-stick control scheme, iPod integration, and new ship designs among other changes.
Clearly the major part of this update comes in the form of the dual-stick controls, which is more in line with most arena-style top-down shooters in the App Store. It's a fundamental change--about 180 degrees from the standard, Asteroids-type controls--that is meant to appeal to a broader audience, developer Shay Casey said.
"I was hoping that even though we have some very good hardcore players, this would make it more accessible to newcomers," Casey said. "Believe me writers and gamers have ripped the current system to shreds. The funny thing is, once someone puts an hour into it, they start to love the system. It's just not user-friendly up front, so dual sticks should help expand the audience."
And this new setup will do that, without a doubt. It's simple, intuitive and much more in line with what has become the de facto industry standard for these types of games. Fans of Geometry Wars will feel right at home with v2.0.
Veteran cs.one players will probably find that this control scheme makes the game incredibly easy, though. On our first playthrough of v2.0, we crushed the 1-billion mark relatively easily on Hardcore (medium). But then again, players like us aren't necessarily the target of this latest update, and options are never a bad thing.
There also are a few gameplay tweaks worth noting. The annoying problem of having enemies spawn on your position has largely been eliminated. Visual markers now show where they will spawn in advance, so no more cheap deaths. The pause button also has been moved to prevent accidental hits.
Casey said this latest update will likely be his last major tweak to the game as he moves on to other projects. We can't say we blame him--cs.one has come a long way since its original release, and at this point, it's about as complete a game as anyone could hope for.
UPDATE: July 5th, 2009
After our initial review of circuit_strike.one, it was clear v1.0 had issues, notably some crippling performance snags and confusing visual effects.
Those problems have largely been corrected in developer Shay Casey of h.grenade's v1.1 update, which features an astonishing 19 bug fixes and a few aesthetic tweaks. The effort shows, as cs.one takes a huge step toward living up to the potential that we saw in its earlier build.
Most of the bug fixes center around the handling of cs.one's visual effects. Many players complained about the game being "laggy," when in fact the so-called "lag" was a slow-motion visual effect. Those moments are now labeled to clear up any confusion--there were a lot more than we realized, and they happen in bunches on the harder difficulties. It's always good to know why things are happening.
Actual framerate slowdowns, which occurred at the beginning and the end of the levels, have been remedied through pre-loading. There's a huge laundry list of other bug fixes that probably won't make much sense to non-programmers, but the overall effect is a much smoother gameplay experience.
The correction of so many visual effects hiccups is a huge improvement over the previous version. With those major distractions resolved, the brilliant audio-visual presentation really shines through. Should players still experience any performance issues, visual effects can be toned down manually--We didn't experience any problems on this new version with an iPhone 3G, but it's nice to know the option is there if things get too hairy for the hardware.
There are still some minor issues, though. The game still has an annoying habit of respawing your ship in the path of oncoming bullets or on top of enemies, and sometimes the controls don't recognize a shift between the propulsion and fire buttons. But all things considered, the dramatic performance improvements outweigh these ticks.
It's been a pleasure to play this game as it was intended, without having to deal with the the blood pressure spikes that come with unexpected performance drops. Some of the marketing language behind cs.one bills it as a "hardcore" game, which might sell it a bit short--It's about as "hardcore" as Asteroids--so casual gamers shouldn't be intimidated. It's very accessible, and more importantly, very playable, in its latest incarnation.
Now that we can concentrate on the actual gameplay itself, updating the score to a solid "3.0 - Good" is an easy decision.
UPDATE: June 9th, 2009
After following up with developer Shay Casey at h.grenade, we were informed that some of the framerate issues are actually intentional slowdowns of the game. They are triggered when the player reaches certain achievements, such as destroying three enemies at a time, shooting at certain enemies or passing through a wall.
Casey also recognized several other unintentional slowdowns, such as the beginning and the end of the level, and by triggering the countdown timer that leads to the level-clearing scenario. That last part is what bothered us the most, as the whole point of game is to destroy a data core during this countdown timer. There's already enough stress when the screen is flashing red, but to have the game hiccup during the hardest part of a level is frustrating, to say the least.
The intentional gameplay slowdowns, while interesting from a visual standpoint, still end up being a bit of an annoyance more than anything else. Since we spent much of our time playing Hardcore, where things get a little hairier and enemies move a little faster, triggering unintentional gameplay slowdowns most definitely interrupts your rhythm--you will be gunning down threesomes more often than you think.
With so much exploding and action going on during these intense sequences, we just assumed that the device was trying to cope with the stress. With the option to engage slow motion manually, it seems confusing to have it happen automatically. The intentional slowdowns still do not address the problem of crashing during some of the middle Hardcore levels, however.
That said, circuit_strike.one definitely has potential to become a great game should the proper changes get implemented, but it still has a ways to go in its current form.
Remember Asteroids? Back in the day, it was the only option when it came to top-down shooters.
With the recent flood of top-down space-type shooters to the App Store, circuit_strike.one takes its crack at the arcade classic. Developer h.grenade may have been a bit overzealous in its attempt at reinventing the wheel. Overloading the title with graphics has led to serious framerate issues and its control scheme demands far too much patience for casual gamers.
Sensory overload!
CS.one drops players into a computer as a miniaturized ship with the goal of hacking the network by destroying a succession of objects, like shields and energy cores. Think "Tron meets Fantastic Voyage." Along the way, there are Geometry Wars-style monsters floating around to attack you.
Controls are offered in both basic and advanced flavors. Basic is what the majority of people will want to use, as it features a standard round aim stick, a thrust/brake pad and fire button. It controls just like its Asteroids ancestor, floating around a zero-gravity environment based on the strength of its rocket boosters. Controlling the ship is much harder than it sounds, and it will no doubt take some time and a whole lot of dying--and we really do mean a lot--to get good enough to make it past the third level. It really just comes down to figuring out how to use the brakes.
The advanced control scheme seems needlessly complicated, removing the aim pad and replacing it with a rotation mechanic built into the touch screen. Most gamers would probably prefer actually playing the game rather than trying to dial in the sensitivities.
Aesthetically, this game is absolutely gorgeous. The levels are beautifully rendered, with an almost layered, top-down presentation. The game shows a sense of humor by throwing around lines of nerd jargon after every death like, "all ur base r belong to us" or the ever-popular "pwned." Enemies are synchronized with the bass line of the soundtrack, and it really is a sight to see them pulsing along to the techno beat.
pwned
But therein lies the biggest handicap for CS.one. With all that audio-visual weight, the game is most definitely pushing the upper boundaries of the iPhone. Framerate drops are frequent, especially in the harder difficulty levels. After unlocking the Hardcore mode, expect plenty of full-on crashes. The inclusion of a "bullet time" slow motion feature, activated when you shake the device, makes sense, because if you don't go into slow-motion yourself when things get hairy, the game will do it by itself via framerate drops and you'll probably die. We seriously doubt that's how you're supposed to use the bullet time, but it works.
This major hiccup mars what would otherwise be a beautiful, challenging top-down shooter with an old-school feel. Learning the control scheme will most definitely demand your patience, but getting good enough only to see a succession of framerate drops and crashes will no doubt have you frustrated over the amount of time you've spent. Until an update corrects CS.one's issues, you'd better really know what you're getting into before taking the plunge on this one.
22 Comments
I think it is a neat game worth the $1 it cost me. This being said I don't think it lives up to the hype of its many fanatical fans as it clearly needs some further tuning.
I've been playing this game on my 1st gen iPhone with absolutely no framerate issues.
You may need to restart your device to get it to run smoother.
The current frame rate issues are isolated events that only occur on some devices. Also the 3.0 update has helped speed up the game and improves memory performance for some people. You can find it online now and install it if it helps.
We are hard at work on an update that will allow users to disable some of the more over the top visual effects and run faster on 1st generation devices as well as some 3G phones.
As for the controls maybe Kevin just isn't very good at playing games unless they are easy ; ) Step up Kevin you can see the scores on the leaderboards - it's not rocket science : p
This game is challenging (at first) but NEVER too hard.
It took me some minutes to get everything (normally it's easy if you ever played Asteroids) and since then it's pure fun. I become better and better and now alway easily reach level six (on easy) in a fast run without loosing any life (and I'm absolutely a casual gamer)... So, this game is definitely NOT too hard.
And I got a full 16 GB iPhone 3G and there isn't any lag here.
This game is one of the single most stunning games on the iPhone and by far the best arcade action shooter on it.
And I'm not a beta tester :)
There are too little issues:
1: some online rankings (like mine) won't show up, I'm still on zero, even if I beat 1 million several times (I know, not that great)
2: there is a little control but in advanced mode, which makes you turn instead of shoot from time to time.
But the dev already is working on that.
So, from my side a clear 4 for the most fun I ever had on the iPhone. I even ignore Real Racing on my device.
Just wanted to say that I had serious issues with the game when I first got it. Crashing constantly on my jailbroken first gen iphone. Luckily I knew a dev that let me get my hands on the 3.0 software and I can attest that it solves all the problems I had.
Once the game gets an update and Apple releases 3.0 this game will be a Must Have title.
You just better hope that it's still a dollar when that happens ;)
Well I think the game is awesome. I will honestly say that so far the most impressive products on the app store are this and zenonia. Yes it has some problems, but honestly the problems become almost transparent once you really start throwing down with some very nasty geometric shapes. Granted this is not ANOTHER geo wars clone,....this..is something better all together:)
Note:
All games are reviewed on current generation software and hardware.
Slide To Play does not advocate or endorse the use of jailbroken phones or unreleased operating systems, as per Apple's user agreement.
Then again, a non-jailbroken 3G with current OS and no issues :)
Non-jailbroken 2g touch, and haven't had extensive lag, or framerate drops. It does happen mind you, but not to the degree your review hints at....at least not for me.
Keep in mind that the 2G touch is somewhat faster than the iPhone 3G.
I've been playing this on my 3G iPhone for the past hour. Fantastic game. No lag or framerate issues. You guys need to restart your phones or something.
Gotta disagree with you on this one guys. No way is this a 2/4, especially for the price it's offering. But hey, to each his own. AG gave it a 9, iPGN gave it a 5/5, I'm pretty sure there may be some things you guys aren't enjoying because of the lag.
I had no "full-on" crashes with the game. Slight lag? Yes, occassionally. But never a full-on crash. Nonetheless, all reviews are subjective and you justified it with the way the game played.
I consider myself to be a very casual gamer and I did't have any problem learning the controls. Is there a learning curve? Sure, but not much that it can't be picked up quickly. I had it down in the first few minutes. Could improvements be made to the game? Absolutely. But then, anything man made can be improved upon. There's a reason cars become classic and new versions roll off the assembly line every year, or that plasma screen t.v.s exist. Almost everything can be improved upon. This game, as is, is a beautiful, well done game with enough polish and uniqueness that it is set well apart from most of the games available.
I just have to say that I love the discussion here about this game in the comments! I will check out this game for that reason alone.
I have no idea what the issue is!!! I really think this game is worth more than .99 also!! I also play with the advanced controller with no issue's and prefer it over the nube one. 3G here and not one issue, I find the slow motion amazing and love the way it works with the music, goes waw,waw,waw when you go through walls... THIS game should have top rating and the only caution sign here is a bad reviewer in my opinion!?!?!?
You should up the price on this now and can't wait for your next game... Thank you, your one guy??? Amazing job congratulations!
Are you MY robot girl? :)
Heh... I was wondering that myself!
Its nice to see an update come around. I will definitely go back and give it another shot.
- Tim Rattray
Just gave it another go and I really enjoyed myself this time. Great job Shay and everybody involved!
- Tim Rattray
the game is a miss for me. its too chaotic for a small screen + your fingers. the issue for me are not the technical but the game design itself. the whole things lacks clarity and focus and wasn't tailored to the iPhone hardware . I would say this though, if this is on XBLA / XBIG this would be 2x better!
I wish I couldn't factor in the throwaway price but I guess its worth it in the sense that almost almost anything good (not great) can be worth a penny.
- DISCLAIMER: this is just my opinion and should be taken as such.
Thanks for mentioning it again.
I hope, it helps a bit boosting some sales.
Shay earns it.
And I see it as having two games in one one.
It's just completely different (and also fun) with the dual stick controls.
I actually found the dual stick aggravating believe it or not. The way the regular controls work are seamless, fluid and perfect for the game. Certainly the game has come a long way from it's 1.0 release, but even then it's easily a must have - seriously, you're getting a Rez alike Asteroids style shooter with an insane amount of visual/audio flair, global leader boards, a clan system and more besides. Even at it's raised price, it's a steal for what it is - and a perfect way to demonstrate the iPhone's true power to a iPhone non-believer.
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