‘Super Sniper’ Review (iPhone)

One nice thing about the iPhone App Store is that, thanks to a high
volume of new software and the frequent use of lower "introductory"
prices, mobile gamers can try a lot of interesting new titles for very
little money. Of course, on occasion, you get what you pay for, as is
the case with Coresoft's $0.99 "Super Sniper."


The idea seems like a good one: Using the iPhone's tilt controls,
you aim a sniper rifle to eliminate a group of hostage-taking
terrorists. Zooming closely in on the targets, the player must tilt
their quarry into the crosshairs, and tap an on-screen button to fire.
Headshots are worth more points, and at the end of a level, the player
is granted a bonus for any time remaining.
It sounds like a mobile version of "Silent Scope," and while it may
bear some cosmetic similarities, the experience feels more like a
developer's first experiment with tilt controls. Shoddy programming,
repetitive gameplay, and hasty design keep "Super Sniper" looking more
like just another iPhone toy than a fully realized game.

Rather than using the tilt sensors in a consistent manner, "Super
Sniper's" aim controls work by tilting the iPhone relative to its
starting position. This means that if you happen to lower the iPhone
while the game loads, it will reset its "normal" position to wherever
you happened to be holding it, often leading to the controls being
askew or even upside-down.
Typically,
the challenge of a good sniping game comes from simulating the precise
control and nerves of steel that a careful sniper must exercise, where
the slightest twitch or careless nudge will ruin a shot. "Super
Sniper," on the other hand, dumbs down the controls to the point where
the player can make spectacular headshots on the fly, without so much
as even stopping the movement of the rifle. Zooming in and out is
handled automatically, stripping out even the difficulty of searching
for one's target: When the radio calls out the next building, one need
only scan the crosshairs over the general area until the scope zooms in
-- at which point, the controls slow down so dramatically as to make
missing very difficult.
That is to say, missing would be difficult if not for "Super
Sniper's" wildly inconsistent hitboxes. Depending on the particular
pose adopted by a terrorist, shooting the low-res sprite may result in
a miss, shooting next to the sprite may result in a hit, and shooting a
terrorist's knife hand, far off to the side, may somehow kill the
hostage in front of him. Also, thanks to the game's random enemy
placement, sometimes a new terrorist will instantly pop into the window
you just cleared.
To top it off, with its repetitive soundtrack, visually identical
levels, and narrow sprite selection, "Super Sniper" is the kind of game
you can fully explore in a single playthrough. For 99 cents, you can
afford to be curious, but when "Super Sniper" returns to its full
price, one ought to steer clear.