The GU iOS Game of the Week -- iBomber Defense Pacific

-- Anit-Air: Anti-Aircraft Artillery weapon. Used to defend against attacks from air units.

The strategic placement of the defenses is required to obtain the sort of higher scores that will lead to the quick advancement in rank that results in unlocking more weapon types, and in the overall improvement of your existing weapons in order to improve carrying out your assigned missions and defend against the multiple waves of enemy that make up each mission.

Each of the waves are made up of troops, vehicles, armor, or a mixture of each -- for a total of eight waves in the first mission, with the last wave being entirely made up of tanks (armor) that in addition to being more difficult to defeat than the enemy types for the previous waves can (and will) do significant damage to your weapons and -- if you allow them to overrun your position -- to the warehouse and main building as well.

When you survive your first mission -- which also serves as part of the tutorial for new players -- the results are a fairly complicated mixture of scoring and performance as well as judging the success of the stated objectives for the mission -- with the overall score being used to determine the players advancement in Rank, while the Victory Points column adds up the stated and the unstated goals which include bonus points for not dying (the extra lives that are left), success in protecting the secondary objective, and completing the level as well as others.

If your advancement in rank has reached the point at which a new Perk has been unlocked, this is indicated in this screen -- as is the total score and total Victory Points that are now available -- and which you will soon spend in the screens that follow to improve your lot in life as well as your military prowess and potential. Meeting all of the requirements for a mission -- including the secondary objective -- is celebrated by a colorful set of icons in the score summary and the awarding of various medals (and who does not like and enjoy winning medals?!) which helps to boost the sense of accomplishment and serves as an easy to see and feel reward for being good, and getting better, at game play.

The upgrade and improvement process is well-marked by the meters which continue to fill next to each Perk as you advance in rank, which as long as the player pays attention to the objectives and makes an effort to complete the secondary objectives for each mission, is a rather rapid process that nearly (but not quite) feels like instant gratification.

A not-so-obvious feature of the game is the "Crystal Social Gaming Network" (the social and community interface for mobile apps and games created by Chillingo and parent company Electronic Arts) which is accessed by tapping the glowing crystal icon on the lower right corner of the Start Screen -- which opens an icon-based interface on the left side of the screen that displays your Player ID Number (PID) below which are icons for Player (My Profile), Medals (Achievements), a Group of Players (Leaderboards), and Network (News Board).

The Network News selection includes housekeeping information for the network and its games such as security update announcements and patch notices, new game announcements, notices from the EA Daily Deals program, and an assortment of other related news articles published by Chillingo and its partners and EA. The Leaderboards selection is pretty much what it sounds like -- a Leaderboard in which the Top 22 players worldwide are featured, followed by selections in the 24th and 25th slot to access the Bonus Leaderboards under each.

There are a total of 25 Achievements in iBomber Defense that span actions like reaching each of the significant Ranks in the game, unlocking all of the different features (such as the Perks, the Secondary Objectives, Hidden Targets, and special features like Turret Guard), and general Achievement actions such as completing the campaign, obtaining the Veteran Medals or secondary Objectives on every level, and completing special levels like the two Bonus Levels or the Tutorial Level. About what you expect in modern games these days in other words. Most of the game's Achievements will be unlocked through regular casual play, with only a handful requiring special or unusual actions.

Finally there is the Crystal Network My Profile section which is just what it sounds like -- the interface through which you log into Crystal Social Gaming Network (CSGN) and agree to the terms and conditions in order to create an account for yourself. The primary focus for the CSGN in addition to keeping track of your own scores and accomplishments in the various member games is to facilitate sharing those accomplishments via other social networks (in much the same way that the regular Game Center does for most other iOS gaming apps) such as Twitter and Facebook.

Once you create your account on CSGN you can access your own stats as well as search for friends who are already part of the network, recommend games, see a list of all of the games that you have installed on your device that are CSGN-aware, and edito your account settings and profile -- pretty much the standard stuff you would expect. Other than make it easier for you to find your mates who are also playing CSGN-aware games perhaps the most useful task that Crystal performs is tracking the percentage of Achievements that you have completed for your games -- and specifically which you have left to unlock in your current game.

After spending some intense play time with iBomber Defense Pacific, we ended up easily arriving at the rating of a solid TWO THUMBS UP, finding that the game also earns a very high Replay Score, making this one a likely addition to the average gamers' game play rotation list and an easy to select mobile game for most gamers. The version that we used for review, iBomber Defense Pacific, can be downloaded from the Apple App Store from within your iOS device, or via this link to the iTunes App Store for just .99 cents.

A Note to Parents: if you are considering this game as a gift / download for younger gamers bear in mind that it is by its nature violent to the extent that cartoon weapons are used to kill cartoon characters and vehicles, but there is no graphic violence in it, or any of the other concerns that often accompany war games (such as drugs or alcohol, blood and gore, or language). Other than being something of a noisy title to play what with the sounds of battle and all (which is easily addressed by using earphones or turning down the volume) it is not a title that we would have reservations about allowing gamers as young as 8 play it.