All action assault with a touch of humour

Pick-up-and-play gaming has returned to the iPhone at last. While we’re always excited to see apps that push the boundaries of portable gaming, there’s still a lot to be said for games you can instantly get involved in. Minigore is one such game; simple, effective and great looking.

You take on the role of John Gore who has to defend himself from onrushing creatures named ‘Furries’ of which there are several different types. One bite from a Furry sees damage done to your character, allow a second and you’re Furry food.

Control-wise, Minigore provides two pads at the lower left and right of the screen when held horizontally. The left controls the character’s movement, while the right fires and aims your gun. As game controls go, this is the perfect method for the type of frantic survival tactics you’ll need when playing Minigore and the game reacts well and plays fluidly.

Concentration and a cool head are required as the Furries get bigger and more numerous. Four different enemies are ready to take a bite out of John Gore: the Minifurry, Furry, Giant Furry and the Firefurry. As you progress you’ll find four-leaf clovers, three of which will offer you a burst of invincibility. Aside from your machine gun, you can also collect a shotgun which does a decent amount of damage. Weapons appear as crates which you’ll find scattered around the landscape and they can also be used as a handy explosive device when repeatedly shot which can reduce the pressure as things get hectic.

This is a true pick-up-and-play game. Easy to get into, hard to put down. When you start playing, you may think you’ll tire of the same map, weapons and features but, just wait until you realise Minigore has taken so much of your time that you haven’t eaten in three days. Regardless, the game is due for an update anyway, with episode two already submitted to the App Store boasting new abilities and save/restore features and episodes three and four are on their way with multiplayer among other updates.

All this and the application is still only 69p ($0.99), which makes Minigore even easier to get hooked on. iPad owners can also get stuck into a     full–throttle HD version too, which is well worth the £1.49/$1.99 admission fee and naturally looks just as good on that gorgeous screen as this version does on an iPhone.

Rating 4 Star