Surely you’ve heard of Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP by now. We’ve talked about this exquisite graphical adventure for many moons. But as of right now, thankfully, the point and touch adventure experience, rich in wondrous sights and sounds, is available for a wider audience.
Already released on the iPad, Sword & Sworcery EP has completed its journey to iPhone and iPod touch (newer versions of those platforms, anyway), the smaller sized iOS device for which it was originally designed.
If you’re an owner of one of those platforms, consider yourself lucky. This is a rare must-have game for the iPhone and may change your mind about the quality and capability of gaming apps.
For those without foreknowledge, Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP is the adventure of the Scythian, on a quest to acquire mystical artifacts, dispel evil and so on and so forth. To tell too much of what this game is about would be a disservice. But it is a relatively straightforward tale, Zelda-esque, told beautifully with stunningly detailed graphics, an impeccable score by musician Jim Guthrie and amusingly obtuse prose.
(That prose, should it strike you funny, can easily be tweeted out at any time thanks to the game’s ties to Twitter. Go on, annoy your friends!)
Players will adventure through Sword & Sworcery’s detailed lands with taps of the touchscreen, walking to and fro, studying the environment for clues, gazing upon its scenery, moving briskly through detailed forests and temples.
There’s a smattering of action here too, mostly in the form of Punch-Out!! style fights that require light timing and strategic thinking. Players will need to rotate their iPhones from landscape to portrait orientation, then tap icons for shield and sword to battle wolves, swordsmen and otherworldly creatures.
Along the way, you’ll solve puzzles, learn magic and treat your ears to one of the grandest sounding iPhone games in the App Store. Seriously, put on some headphones – good ones – if you plan on playing Sword & Sworcery. You won’t want to miss out on this game’s ambient sounds or its brilliant soundtrack.
One consideration for those who may prefer to blow through their iPhone content: Sword & Sworcery EP ties some of its game events to the real-world cycle of the moon. You may find that exceedingly cool or slightly bothersome.
Unlike the forgettable and disposable games for which the iPhone is better known, Sword & Sworcery is smart, funny, beautifully layered and worth the hours you may invest in its world. Its unique pixelated art style and robust music easily make it worth the download.
I spent all of my time with the iPhone version and found it a highly enjoyable experience, seemingly more conducive to the needed rotation of the device to play the game’s action and adventure portions. My only complaint with the smaller screen was obscuring more of the game’s scenery with my portly fingers.
To mark the occasion of Sword & Sworcery EPs transition to iPhone and iPod touch, Superbrothers and Capy have assembled a new trailer, which they warn is spoiler-laden. If you’d like to tread those dangerous spoiled waters for a new look at Sword & Sworcery, click play.
Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP, developed by Capybara Games and Superbrothers, is now available at the iTunes App Store. The iPhone and iPod touch version will set you back $US2.99 USD. A universal app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is $US5.99 USD.
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