Reloading… Infinity Blade II

Remember the App Store classics that are sadly no longer with us; starting with a fantastic game from the guys behind Fortnite.

Once in a while a game comes along that greatly moves the bar of expectation for what can be achieved on the format. 2011’s Infinity Blade II was such a game. There are some impressive-looking titles available for iOS devices at the time, but none could challenge the home consoles – until this epic game from developers Epic Games. Infinity Blade II really did look that good.

The game builds on the ideas behind the original Infinity Blade, taking and distilling the good parts and addressing pretty-much all the issues players had with it. In many ways, the original 2010’s Infinity Blade was more of a tech demo. Infinity Blade II used Unreal Engine 3 to spectacular effect, creating a vibrant world of epic vistas. Fish flit beneath the surfaces of sparking streams, and plants sway gently in the breeze, giving a real sensation that this is a living, breathing world and not merely an artificially constructed backdrop against which to slice and dice a procession of monsters and beasties eager to taste your cold steel. This is, of course, what it was all about.

The control system was deftly crafted to ensure movement within the world is seamless, and combat quickly becomes intuitive. Many competitive iOS action games attempted to replicate a traditional game controller with a virtual stick and buttons on screen, and still do! The results, then and now, are fiddly and never afford the precision of a real joypad.