Eliminate:GunRange review

Eliminate:GunRange is interesting in three ways: It doesn’t follow Ngmoco’s standard freemium model, it has nothing to do with the Eliminate franchise, and it's among the first games to demonstrate gyroscope controls and the Retina display on the iPhone 4. Considering Ngmoco likely didn’t have a phone on hand to test the game on prior to putting it in the hands of early adopters, it’s extremely impressive.

Eliminate:GunRange is a mere bare-bones gun range where you shoot stationary and moving targets with a variety of guns. There are three ranges, each of which sport a military theme. All of the guns available are also military-grade. They're nothing like Eliminate Pro’s high-tech facilities, but the setting works just fine.

Of course, what we really care about are the controls. With the gyroscope in the iPhone 4, developers now have three sensors to work with. Eliminate:GunRange takes full advantage of the gyroscope, giving what may arguably be some of the best tilt controls available on the App Store. You really get a feeling of connection with the game. If you find the sensitivity too low or high, you can adjust it in the menu. There is also a calibrate button in-game.

Ngmoco also threw in a secondary control scheme, where you drag on the screen and tap a button to shoot. However, since multitouch isn’t enabled here, tapping the fire button disables dragging on the screen until you lift your finger up. This makes this secondary option difficult to use. That said, this app is obviously aimed at people wanting a gyroscope tech-demo, making this a non-issue.

Eliminate: GunRange also sports high-resolution graphics for the Retina display, as well as improved anti-aliasing, both of which are the new standards of the iPhone 4. Simply put, they are gorgeous. Not only are edges super-smooth and textures crisp, but there is also a sense of depth to the galleries. It’s impressive and the screenshots really don't do it justice.

Simple as it may be, Eliminate:GunRange has about 144 challenges set across the three gun ranges and a dozen guns to take them on with. The catch is that you likely won’t get to them all, since every level requires perfection to complete. The difficulty curve is immense, with even the first level being completely unforgiving. If you don’t hit each target in rapid succession, they disappear.

Regardless of how difficult it may be, Eliminate:GunRange is an impressive tech demo of the iPhone 4’s gaming capabilities. For the price of a pack of gum, any iPhone 4 owners should pick this one up, but be warned that it won't work on any older devices.