Playing Through: ‘Infinity Blade’

A long, long time ago, in December 2010 in fact, Chair Entertainment released “Infinity Blade” out into the wild, and using the Unreal Engine 3 set a new standard for elaborate graphics in games on iOS platforms. It turned out to be more than just another pretty game, too, as Chair’s updates and trickled-out weapons and upgrades to the game went on to show. “Infinity Blade” checks off a number of boxes that you would imagine to be on production, marketing, and sales professionals’ checklists; it’s got in-games purchases. there’s now Facebook character sharing, etc. etc.

The menu screen always had a “Coming Soon” message, however, promising arena and multiplayer options that recently arrived, and those implementations make “Infinity Blade” as ripe as it ever has been for a review.

The game mashes up third-person, “Punch-Out!!”-style fighting with sword-and-mace weapons combat set in dark, fantasy realm that could have been swiped straight out of a Frank Frazetta painting, the real story behind everything gets heavily glossed over in order to provide a few shock moments when you beat the God King or come face to face with history down in the castle’s basement. I won’t spoil the endings if you haven’t seen them yourselves, but they’re filled with extra doses of Medieval gibberish, and employ plot twists that ensure you will keep fighting forever (as long as you keep the game installed on your i-device).

Despite numerous updates, “Infinity Blade” has seen more than its fair share of single player mode bugs. Although a recent fix mended a problem I experienced on my first-gen iPad where my character would constantly open up empty chests, the game still suffers from constant crashing and subsequent crashes upon restarting from the iOS home screen. Additionally, the last update introduced a problem I’d never experienced before where after earning points from a weapon mastery nothing on the upgrade screen is selectable and the only option is close the app and restart. This occurs regularly and still routinely cuts my play sessions short. (Maybe its a product feature urging me to use my time more productively.)

Read morePlaying Through: ‘Infinity Blade’

Link Sausage: 6/17/2011

• I would like to use this Link Sausage installment to express solidarity with YouTube commenter jasonportizo and appreciation for the good old fashioned Muppet special effects being used in this Muppets “Green Lantern” parody trailer. • Goodness knows I’ve enjoyed the performances and plot twists in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” TV adaptation thus far. … Read moreLink Sausage: 6/17/2011

Review: ‘X-Men: First Class’ (2011)

“X-Men: First Class” seemed like it could be the odd one out as 20th Century Fox’s entry on an ambitious slate of Marvel Comics-based movies this year. Director Matthew Vaughn turned the clock back to 1962 make an origin story/period piece, that may or may not be in continuity with previous X-films. (Indeed, I’ll be … Read moreReview: ‘X-Men: First Class’ (2011)

TV Reception: ‘Doctor Who’ Season 6, Episodes 1-7

Doctor Who Season 6’s mid-season finale closed with quite the emotional moment a few nights ago. Not to spoil anything here, but every time a TV show hinges its plot on a pregnancy in jeopardy, I’m wired to think that it is about to be cancelled. (Thanks, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.) Nevertheless, the … Read moreTV Reception: ‘Doctor Who’ Season 6, Episodes 1-7

‘Infinity Blade’: The ‘How’d you do that’ Achievement

“Infinity Blade” on the iPhone and iPad recently received an update from Chair Entertainment containing multiplayer features and upping its full achievement count to 64. After snagging 54 of those, I noticed the ominous “How’d you do that” achievement sitting unfulfilled at the bottom of the list. A lot of the FAQs and Q&A posts … Read more‘Infinity Blade’: The ‘How’d you do that’ Achievement