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Paper Wars - Tanks on paper
Tested version: 1.17b
Latest version: 1.22
Requires Android: from 1.6
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Summary
Do you remember Worms? The cult game in which worms battle it out using all sorts of weapons… not many people seem to play it much anymore – despite an adaption for handhelds – which is why it’s nice to come across a game the reminds me of Worms! The difference between Paper Wars and Worms is that you’re in constant battle. Read on to find out if a permanent state of war between tanks is just as much fun as worm battles broken into rounds.
Features & Use
As mentioned in the teaser, Paper Wars has a lot in common with Worms, so if you weren’t a Worms fan chances are you won’t enjoy Paper Wars much either. Or will this review manage to change your mind about war games? The game’s principle is pretty basic: the player navigates a tank along a hilly surface (and it gets hillier the higher up you get in the levels), and the enemy tanks have to be blasted to oblivion. There’s a highscore list on the left and four menu points on the right of the display:
• Start: (before you begin a game you can select the degree of difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert)
• Continue
• Controls
• Quit
The HiFi option can be accessed via the highscore list—I’m not quite sure where the logic in this setup lies. To add insult to injury, the sound effects always sound the same, whether HiFi is switched on or off. Speaking of sound effects: there’s not much to choose from but what is there sounds great: explosions, metallic crunches, and shotgun sounds and co.
The game is played in landscape format (portrait format wouldn’t make any sense). Controls run via arrows pointing to the left and right or by tipping your Android device in whatever direction you’re looking to navigate the tank towards. Both control modes have advantages and drawbacks: controls are more precise when you use the touchscreen, but the speed is better when you tip the phone.
The big Switch! button lets you peruse through the app’s arsenal which becomes larger as you progress after certain levels have been cleared. Weapons are fired by pressing on the appropriate button for specific weapons (located beneath the Switch! button).
The interesting thing about Paper Wars is the option to change the look of the game surroundings. Exploding weapons (i.e. weapons other than machine guns, shot guns, and lasers) will damage the surroundings and deep craters will become visible. Check out the difference between screenshots 4 and 5: the ground was badly damaged. The tank is very robust, however, and no matter how deep the craters it always manages to forge ahead.
The dotted line next to the tank indicates the line of fire; the longer the line, the more powerful the shot will be. Take aim by tapping on the oval and pulling it up or down (line of fire) or left/right (shot impact). The further you pull the oval left or right, the more powerful your shot will be.
Here’s a brief overview of the available weapons:
• Machine Gun (available as of the first level): has a salvo of 5 seconds; shot frequency becomes higher after the first few shots
• Shotgun:(available as of the first level): its aim is lower than that of the machine gun
• Bouncing Missile (Level 2) : bounces on the ground twice before exploding after the third bounce
• Missile Launcher (Level 3): explodes on impact
• Mortar (Level 6): similar to missile launcher but with a higher shot frequency and steeper line of fire
• Roller (Level 7): rolls on the ground before exploding
• Laser (Level 10): a single laser shot which has a far reach and causes a lot of damage
The fact that players are awarded life-points makes the game even more interesting. Every tank is equipped with shield and life points; the latter only kicks in after the shield is gone. Every time you finish a level you’re awarded life and shield points; you also get life points if you hit your opponents. 15 hits equals 15 life points, 30 hits equals 30 life points, 50 hits equals 50 life points, you get the picture. These hits add up throughout the level, but the score goes back to 0 when you start a new level. So keep in mind that even though the machine gun and shotgun may be less havoc-wreaking than the explosive weapons you’re still awarded a point for every hit. This means that if you strike your enemy with one rocket you’re awarded one point; blast a round of machine gun bullets his way and you get a lot more points. Explosive weapons can cause more damage, but the guns are good for collecting life points!
The shields also help intensify the game: the higher the level, the more shields your opponents will be donning… and the shields are more effective. If you hit a tank with explosives you’ll manage to damage the shield, but it might also bounce off the shield and come hurtling back at you! You can crack the shields by using the guns or laser, or try to hit the opponent by aiming an explosive weapon at the bottom of the tank or the ground directly in front of the tank.
All in all this game is great fun. The varying degrees of difficulty and different levels make for a diversified experience and the shields and bonus points make the game tactically appealing.
So why not award this game a five star rating? The roller: its explosion is contingent on the how powerfully the detonation was, and it explodes following the “sooner or later” principle or else of it hits another tank. If you set the detonation very high the roller will just keep rolling until it hits another tank, even if you can’t see the tank yet. This means that your opponent has the opportunity to switch the roller off so that in the end it doesn’t do any damage whatsoever. No fair!
Another drawback is that tip controls can’t be deactivated, so that if you decide to go for touchscreen controls the tank will still respond if you happen to move your device. That being said, the sensor controls aren’t very sensitive, so that unless you’re purposely moving your phone to influence the navigation you won’t experience many disruptions.
Screen & Controls
The game’s design is pretty neat and it was aptly named Paper Wars: it really looks as though the graphics were drawn/scribbled by hand on to a sheet of paper. Tanks, weapons, and explosions all look hand-drawn: awesome!
Controls are easy to learn and well thought-out, but a quintessential controls element (for this type of game) is missing: multi touch. Seeing as the game isn’t divided into rounds it relies on fast action. This means aiming and firing have to happen very fast… but that can be difficult to pull of, seeing as you have to stop first, then aim, then shoot. Multitouch would be very useful and even though it’s a great game it would be an even better one with this extra controls element.
The Android status bar can’t be faded out which means it’s always visible.
Speed & Stability
Paper Wars‘ performance was stellar on all fronts and run very well on my Milestone.
Price/Performance Ratio
Paper Wars is free of charge but comes with an ad banner which is visible in the main menu as well as in the overview at the end of each level.
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lee pryer
love this game