![]() Pinching the screen will also create a selection box to highlight multiple units that can subsequently be stored in one of three 'quick selection' buttons, reducing the time required to jump around the screen and back to your army. Speaking of which, controlling your army is also a snap thanks to intuitive controls that allow you to select individual units, tapping to force them to attack while moving or holding down to move without attacking. For those familiar with the Starcraft universe, this is not unlike playing as the Zerg and using up Drones, however once a resource node is captured it will automatically distribute minerals or energy back to your base, freeing up your time to manage your army. Starfront: Collision by Gameloft may have a passing resemblance to the Starcraft series, but at its core is an RTS bred for iOS devices with a surprising amount of complexity to its competitive gameplay.Įach of the three available races feature the same basic setup for their base management, with workers being produced from a home-base structure and subsequently consumed when used to build additional structures or placed in resource gathering facilities. The current release price is US$6.99 - please adjust accordingly for your region and be aware that sales/updates could affect this pricing regularly.Īs a genre, the Real-Time Strategy (RTS) has matured and found its niche on desktop PCs mostly due to the complexity of the controls required to efficiently manage multiple elements in the game at any one time. This does require an internet connection of some kind for your device, however given that this requires 3rd Gen or higher iOS device, this should be available in one form or another. Important note: StarFront only works on the iPhone 4 or 3GS, and iPod Touches third-gen or above.Please Note: Due to Gameloft's new release system, the title is only free as a 'demo' with an in-app purchase unlocking the rest of the content. Or maybe you'll be so blown away by having a StarCraft experience on iPhone, you can totally overlook any fussiness. Perhaps you won't find them as cluttered. This is great for StarFront, because you can test out the controls without risk. StarFront also adopts Gameloft's new freemium model, so you can download the game for free and try out a sample mission before purchasing the entire game for $6.99. I cannot necessarily imagine it being done better, but if you have the option to play on the iPad, I urge you to hold out. But these issues stress the limitations of the iPhone in handling a full-scale RTS. Now, much of this will be solved (theoretically) when Gameloft brings this to the iPad, where I think StarFront rightfully belongs. Menus, when expanded, obscure almost the entire battlefield. Pinch-selecting units is a little clumsy on the smaller screen. Even with the ability to shrink the minimap and the saved unit groups, there's too much happening on-screen. As much as I really like Gameloft's effort to give you great control over your forces, such as the ability to draw a rectangle over units and "bind" them into a single fighting force which can then be assigned to one of three saved factions (the same StarCraft fan referenced above lamented the inability to un-bind units), StarFront on the iPhone is simply cluttered. However, I have to circle back to the controls now. But there are escorts and rescues, too, as well as resource and relic runs that require you to think defensively instead of purely offensively, and these are a good change of pace. Many campaign missions are fairly straightforward, tasking you with asserting dominance over the map with brute force, clever strategy, or a combination of both. As for the missions themselves, they will not feel unfamiliar to any RTS fan. Of course, if you want to increase production, you have to sacrifice some workers to the cause. All you need to do to generate these resources is drop specific buildings on rich veins, such as the meteor craters loaded with Xenodium. There's so much happening with upgrades that I'm grateful Gameloft dialed back on the number of resources: Xenodium and Energy. You can upgrade individual units through tech and weapon boosts, increase production through application of worker units (however, workers are "consumed" when doing so – they are not recycled, which gave a hardcore StarCraft fan in the office pause). Units span from basic infantry to airships, each with strengths and weaknesses, and every race has unique troops and vehicles. You don't just have a handful of unit types and building/tech upgrades – these number in the dozens.
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