Vector Pong (+1st post)

Hello. As there are enough games out there now that its easy to get lost in the vast sea of app's, I figured that maybe it was time for a few reviews. So here I am. And now: To business.

"The classic game of Pong, revitalized in stunning 3-D! Vector pong features a full openGL engine, tilt controls, and best of all... wifi-enabled network play. Use the iPhones accelerometer to serve, deflect and spike your way to Glory."

Quite a glamorous description for a game of pong, isn't it? And for a low-price game (1.99), it looks beautiful. Open it up and you will instantly see Gyrocade's hours of work making this openGL were quite worth it. It is a pretty game. You are floating glass paddles in, presumably, a futuristic shoebox.

Now, while it is pretty, upon opening single player, you will face a few hours of frustration while you figure out the controls. First you calibrate, then you tap, then you play. Seems simple enough, doesn't it. But it will only allow certain angles of calibration, meaning that you are pretty much stuck playing either in the "Monkey Ball angle" (Strait down) or at a slightly less painful Movie angle. After you have it calibrated, then you will be confronted with a paddle and your accelerometer.

While at first clunky, the accelerometer is quite agile, and in a few hours you'll be playing the game like a pro.

So we move on to:
Multiplayer. I grabbed my assistant and had him open it on his iPhone. Now, at home, this worked beautifully, on high-speed wifi we felt no lag at all and it was quite fun. Then we moved to a slower house. Instantly, the game was un-playable. The lag made it little more then watching the ball appear and disappear, us helplessly in able to effect it. We, shortly, moved back to high-speed.

So is this worth the money? If you like pong or have a fast internet connection and a friend, then you'll doubtless enjoy it. But otherwise, this game failed to impress me spectacularly in any way, and I don't think it is likely it had more then an hour or two of gameplay for me.

So for 1.99 and an innovative system, I give it a somewhat reluctant 3 out of 5.



Subtract two if you don't like pong and one more if your internet is slow, though.