DHrox
08-25-2009, 02:39 PM
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=310981938&mt=8
If the name doesn't give you fair warning, then I will; this is not a family-friendly game. Now to get to the point of why I'm here; Pools of Blood is a simple top-down tap defense game where you defend a lone tower from an orc invasion. It's nothing new, and at $1, it wouldn't be worth it. However, it has something that few games are allowed to have (at the time of publication); endless bounts of red gore. In fact, Pools of Blood had to fight Apple in order to get approved which should tell you that there is a lot. It even puts games like CoD 5 and Gears of War to shame. Admittedly, there isn't much else to the game.
In the sound department, everything is basic at best. Little orc grunts and screams are amusing but begin to bore/annoy after a while, although the wet squishing noise never gets old. The sound that is there is somewhat underpowered and I wish there was some sort of accompanying music or ambient noise. It simply made the game feel empty at points when the orcs were far away.
The visuals in this game are decent and serve the job. Orcs turn into unfading pools of red goo. It's amazing how much blood can come from a squished orc. Multiply that by hundreds of squashed orcs, and you can imagine what it looks like.
The controls are nicely down. Everything is clean and crisp. Nothing is unclear at all. It is nice that the player can turn the camera around the tower to view other orcs coming from different directions. It helps when things begin to get cluttered. A neat feature is that the player can tap in front of the orcs to group them together for squash combos. It adds a somewhat strategic element to the game.
All in all, the redeeming feature of this game is the insane amount of blood. For a buck, you can't go wrong.
If the name doesn't give you fair warning, then I will; this is not a family-friendly game. Now to get to the point of why I'm here; Pools of Blood is a simple top-down tap defense game where you defend a lone tower from an orc invasion. It's nothing new, and at $1, it wouldn't be worth it. However, it has something that few games are allowed to have (at the time of publication); endless bounts of red gore. In fact, Pools of Blood had to fight Apple in order to get approved which should tell you that there is a lot. It even puts games like CoD 5 and Gears of War to shame. Admittedly, there isn't much else to the game.
In the sound department, everything is basic at best. Little orc grunts and screams are amusing but begin to bore/annoy after a while, although the wet squishing noise never gets old. The sound that is there is somewhat underpowered and I wish there was some sort of accompanying music or ambient noise. It simply made the game feel empty at points when the orcs were far away.
The visuals in this game are decent and serve the job. Orcs turn into unfading pools of red goo. It's amazing how much blood can come from a squished orc. Multiply that by hundreds of squashed orcs, and you can imagine what it looks like.
The controls are nicely down. Everything is clean and crisp. Nothing is unclear at all. It is nice that the player can turn the camera around the tower to view other orcs coming from different directions. It helps when things begin to get cluttered. A neat feature is that the player can tap in front of the orcs to group them together for squash combos. It adds a somewhat strategic element to the game.
All in all, the redeeming feature of this game is the insane amount of blood. For a buck, you can't go wrong.