Game Mechanic Studios gives “falling in style” a new meaning.
High Flyer Death Defyer is a very aptly named action title for the iPad from from Game Mechanic Studios. You tilt your iPad to control your rocket-strapped hero as he falls thousands of feet, over, under, and through various obstacles, enemies, and power ups. It may sound like a fairly boring concept, but the world contained within High Flyer is filled with colorful obstacles and enemies that are rendered with a gorgeous cell-shaded engine. In fact, my initial impressions of the game’s visuals reminded me a lot of Sega’s Jet Set Radio franchise.
There are multiple challenges with each jump, which can last anywhere from one to fifteen minutes depending on what your personal goals are for your current run. However, there is an overarching factor that you need to keep an eye on as you fall, and that is the satellite laser. Essentially, there is a timer on the bottom right of the screen that is always ticking down. When it reaches 0, you get literally fried in mid-air by a giant laser beam. It’s awesome. To keep from an untimely midair death, you must occasionally pass through “stealth rings” which will reset the timer to give you more.
An aspect of High Flyer that was stressed by the developers is exploration. As you float, plunge, and barrel roll through the air, you will come across floating islands that you can land on. When you land on this (which can be tricky if you don’t have landing assist turned on), you will get an exploration bonus. Each world has several islands to find – the one we played had nine.
You can check out my hands-on in the video below, but keep in mind that this is a very early build that’s 2-3 months from launch. I’m generally not to fond of games that force motion control, but this one felt OK. There certainly will be more to tweak and polish in the months to come, but so far what we saw looked fantastic, and should turn out to be an entertaining free-falling experience.
