Like jokes, there are only so many basic formats for games, so there is little point in thinking ‘Oh! Another side scrolling science fiction shooter’ because, let’s face it it’s been a popular format for the past twenty years.

Echo Prime is a new game for the iOS, from Robot Entertainment. The game uses the usual economic model and there is the opportunity for you to buy stuff with the in-game currency, which you can also acquire via cash. Looking around the game I didn’t see anything which you couldn’t get by grinding, so there are no hidden penalties when getting the game.

You’re given a background story of an alien incursion, which only you can stop. To help you along the way a handy rift has opened up in the universe through which more benign aliens, the Echoes appear. They can bestow their specialist abilities to you. Cue lots of running and shooting.

The game provides a wide variety of enemies to combat and to progress you’re going to need to upgrade. The two main ways are through your borrowed Echo abilities, but the game also has an enormous amount of weapons and armour to beef your hero up. You can also use your friends Echoes during combat and combine them to create different combat combinations.

The interface is controlled via the touchscreen where you control the direction by touching the screen to move forwards or backwards, two fingers to block and swipe to evade your enemies. You start the game with some armour, a blaster and a rather tasty sword, all of which has you tapping and swiping like mad.

At first your thinking, well it is slick with nicely detailed backgrounds, intuitive controls, but, and it may be that I have unnaturally big fingers, the fact you tap to shoot at distant objects also means you miss the animation of them blowing up. You can get your finger out of the way in time, but it feels a bit like a game of slapsies.

The first couple of levels are there to entice you in. The difficulty level is minimal, but that soon changes and the game starts to present you with a real challenge. At first you can just rush through the levels creating digital mayhem, but as the enemies increase, you are forced back into considering your battle tactics. Not to worry if you die you can respawn, a useful addition for the boss fights.

The game is a slow burner, initially easy and nothing special, but as you progress the game's complexities and combinations kick in to make for a satisfying experience.

7

Charles Packer