$20 Game of the Week: Infinity Blade (IOS)

Releasing in late 2010, Infinity Blade was a very significant game for the mobile market, especially the iPad. It was the first mobile game that made use of the Unreal Engine 3. With a serious graphical powerhouse engine behind it, tablet systems would be on their way to being taken seriously as gaming devices. The game itself isn’t too shabby either. It provides an experience that is best suited towards mobile devices, although it tends to get a bit repetitious.

The game’s intro pretty much establishes the direction that the game is taking. Your character unsuccessfully challenges the God King, and after being defeated, he is killed. Sometime later his son sets out to avenge him, only to meet the same fate. As a descendant, you make your way up the castle again and again, taking on all the monsters, eventually encountering the God King. After you fall in battle, your character is killed, and your descendant (which is you) will once again take up the seemingly endless quest for vengeance. The trick is however, thanks to the game’s RPG like elements, you get stronger each time you ascend the tower, and your items and experience are retained from each playthrough. So eventually you’ll be strong enough to defeat the God King. Maybe not on your first playthrough, or even your second, third, fourth, or even fifth, but you’ll take him down eventually.

Since the game’s release, the developers have added free updates, including new areas, monsters, weapons, and microtransactions (which believe it or now, were requested by fans). A sequel has been released, a third title is in the works, and an e-book is available bridging the plots of the first two games together. So, if any ‘hardcore’ gamers out there still scoff at the idea of tablet gaming, download Infinity Blade. It shatters the expectations of what one expects from a tablet game.