Dropship by Ngmoco [Plus Video]

Posted on December 16th, 2008. Written by Arron.

About a week ago now, ifunded corporation Ngmoco released their 4th title onto the store. Dropship. With it’s intuitive controls, retro-styled 3D graphics and solid overall game play, it was definitely a title we thought we’d take a closer look at.

Although I think this is one of the most addicting game I’ve bought to date, there isn’t much to say about it.

When Ngmoco announced they’d be bringing a shooter to the iPhone back in late September, they knew they’d have to get it right, to have any chance at it succeeding. The first of these obstacles were the controls. Over the past couple of weeks we’ve seen just how important controls are on the touch platform. Get them wrong, and no-one buys your product. Get it right though, and you and your app will be flying.

Ngmoco got it right with Dropship [App Store]. Dead right.

Entering into a level you’ll be presented with an object meter in the bottom region of the screen. The yellow dots represent the current locations of fellow crew members which require rescuing, and the green dot represents the current location of the drop package. The locations of turrets, tanks and interceptors which you’ll have to defeat as you progress through each level, are not shown.

Currently on Sale to celebrate the release of upcoming title Rolando, Dropship offers two game play modes; Free Play and Campaign. Free play is just as it suggests, an arcade-styled mode which allows you to free play. In this mode you will battle through levels of increasingly difficulty. In order to progress to the next level, you’ll have to save several members of your crew stranded within various parts of the course, and on top of all this, each level you play will be played against the clock. Turrets, tanks and interceptors, your side cannons won’t get a rest on this mode. To make things even more interesting your ship will lose energy on impact. To revive yourself, collect the glowing debris created when you kill any obstruction.

See it in Action:

‘Alex on the Spot’ by Hans Zimmer. â„— 2008 Interscope Records

Campaign mode is quite a bit more involving than free play. In this mode you have a mission, collect the drop package and return it to base. Sound easy? Well your tractor beam is more fragile than you think. Hitting a obstacle or flying too fast will result in your package becoming dislodged and being lost. With 18 increasing difficult levels, you have to guide your ship through a treacherous course. Twisting and turning, you’ll have to squeeze your ship into small crevasses if your going to complete a level in time. Make sure you pickup the drop package at the right time in the level, because once you do you have just 40 seconds to escape the level with your drop package in hand.

On top of this all of this, extra levels are available to download within 3 of the levels currently available in Dropship.

Dropship combines elements from both Geometry Wars and Thrust creating a game which is both fun to play, and gripping. Boasting retro-type game play and achievable goals, we’re sure after you’ve tried Dropship for yourself, you’ll agree that it’s a true competitor for the best ‘shooter’ experience on iPhone.

Could this be the first true iPhone classic?

Reviewed at: v1.0
Reviewed on Firmware: 2.2
Download size: 8.7MB
Released on: 09th Nov 2008
Retails for: £0.59 / $0.99 [On Sale! Usually £1.79 / $1.99]

Compatible with: iPod touch Gen 1 & 2 / iPhone Classic / iPhone 3G