iPhone Appidemic: Road Warrior

Get your post apocalyptic chop shop warmed up.

What is it?

Road Warrior by Mobjoy is ostensibly a car race action game; you need to beat the other cars to the finish line to win the round. As you place better at the finish line you will earn more points you can apply to upgrades to your vehicle. The other aspect of the race is that every car is armed and trying to shoot every other racer.

The look of the game is a sort of desolate wasteland that is in line with the game’s namesake.

How does it work?

There are only three aspects of the game you control, but there are four control buttons. On the left are two buttons for direction of rotation (clockwise and counterclockwise), on the right is a button for brake and a button for fire. As you race along, you can shoot your opponents, using the brake to slow down just enough to get behind your target for a good shot.

Use the rotation buttons on the left to execute midair flips when you go over some of the hills and ramps along the way. Be careful with your rotation—if you land upside down you will explode on impact. The good news is your vehicle will reappear quickly.

Completing flips successfully will also earn extra points. If you earn enough points and finish enough races in first place you can unlock new vehicles.  Even if you don’t have enough for a new car, you can upgrade the weapons, the engine, the armor and the car color.

Is it contagious?

I wasn’t exactly thrilled with this one. The driving aspect is almost nonexistent; the player is reduced to shooting and spinning. At times it seems the best way to get through the course quickly is to crash and explode rather than land well and have to climb a hill from a dead stop. The voice of the announcer is something you will have to decide if you can tolerate. When you execute a flip, the game will announce it. When you crash, the game will announce it. And the voice it uses reminds me of monster truck announcers. If your are okay with this, great. As for me, it was a bit annoying.

There is some challenge to timing your flips, shooting your opponents, and knowing when to take the bridge versus when to shoot the bridge and take the low road which can help determine whether you finish fourth rather than first. In this regard, the race aspect isn’t completely lost. Some of the upgrades make sense and some are just for fun (you can change the color of your vehicle).

Only one word of caution for the parent types – there is a vehicle in the lineup that refers to a particular truck from the Kill Bill movies. If you don’t want awkward questions from your five year old, you may not want to hand this game over too quickly.

Category: Stunt racing game
Developer: MobJoy
Cost: Free
Download: Road Warrior