Appmodo

Speed Forge Extreme for iPhone and iPod Touch

Posted by Marne Cales on Jan 12, 2010 at 11:32 pm | View Comments • Digg story
Filed Under: Games • Reviews • iPhone

I know I made fun of the whole “Spaceships racing around a track” thing in a recent review, but I think I’m going to have to take it all back now that I’ve played Speed Forge Extreme, the new space age racing game from Chillingo. In an attempt to give the game some context, there’s a story in the game description, about the colonization of Mars in 2142, and bored miners looking for entertainment, so I guess it makes a little sense.

Review

Speed Forge is the kind of racing game that makes me re-think my indifference toward racing games. The smooth controls can be customized into many different configurations: tilt to steer, auto breaking and accelerating, steering controls on the screen, manual breaks, and so on, so you can make them just right for your playing style. I tried a few different options, and liked the tilt to steer/tap to break/auto accelerate combination, and even made it around some of the sharper turns without banging against the side rail the whole time.

The game starts with one available ship to race around the track against five other computer ships. You get to choose your difficulty level (Easy, Medium, or Hard). Unlock different ships and tracks by winning races. As you progress you also earn the ability to pick up missiles and other weapons, and earn repairs.

One thing that makes Speed Forge a little different than other racing games is the arena mode. When you get tired of going around and around the track, you can battle in the arena, picking up weapons and firing at other ships. The first ship to take out ten others wins the round. It’s a nice change of pace, and will keep you playing.

The graphics are not particularly imaginative, but have a gritty realism that I like. The motion blur effect is what makes them really special, though, recreating the feeling of speeding around the track. You can adjust the intensity, or turn off the effect altogether.

It’s unfortunate that there’s no multi-player option, or even Open Feint integration. You’re completely on your own here, which is a shame, because the racing format is made for competition. It would be great to see them address this issue in future updates.

Recommendation

Speed Forge Extreme is only $2.99 in the app store, which makes it a no-brainer. It’s well worth the download, and plays like a much more expensive console game.

Gameplay Video