iBomber 2 (iPhone) Game Review: Blows Everything Else Out of the Water

During my recent trip to Jakarta, I mean, well, just concluded trip (I just got back home like…an hour ago), I got pretty well acquainted with some of the games that have sitting for some time in my iPhone, but haven’t gotten about to playing them. The games’ low prices and frequent promos makes it hard not to purchase a game first, only to play it much later. One of those games that I’ve managed to play extensively during the past week overseas was iBomber 2.

From the title alone you probably would have guess that a. it’s a shmup, b. you drop bombs on stuff. While players will usually be dropping normal bombs, blown-up targets will sometimes yield power-ups, and some of these power-ups can be specific-use (in real life) bombs such as depth charges, torpedoes and even cluster bombs. However the game will not stop you from dropping a torpedo on a bunker; in fact, I feel that depth charges are well suited for bunker busting.

The graphics don’t disappoint as they convey those 2D explosions in a competent manner, you’ll get to see different kinds of explosions from different bombs, but that’s provided if you have enough time to focus in a target-rich environment. In addition to bunkers, you’ll be faced with fortified buildings with AA guns, ships (even the Birsmarck), planes, trucks, tanks and many more. There might just several theaters of war, but each are beautifully rendered regardless whether is it open sea, snow or the desert.

Players control the plane by tilting the iPhone left or right, causing the plane to bank. Tilting the phone forward and backwards will cause the plane to speed up and slow down respectively. The button on the lower right corner is used to drop bombs when targets are within sight. Each mission takes place in either North Africa or Europe during World War II. Some of these missions will have you destroying enemy forces, or blowing up their buildings. Some will require decisive strikes at the objective as the enemies’ anti-air defenses can be overwhelming at times.

Overwhelming can be used to described the opposition that you’ll face in the last 2 missions and even the power-up which gives you two wingmen (as in cannon fodder/decoys) wouldn’t help much if you can’t place your bombs accurately in the first place. Anyways, unless you are a total daft, it shouldn’t be hard to get into the game, the first few levels will warm you up for the later ones.

From the title alone you probably would have guess that a. it’s a shmup, b. you drop bombs on stuff. While players will usually be dropping normal bombs, blown-up targets will sometimes yield power-ups, and some of these power-ups can be specific-use (…