iOS developers deserve a lot of credit, generally speaking. Ignoring the particulars of Apple’s policies and App Store shenanigans, they’ve still got one hell of a finicky audience to pander to. If it’s “not worth the price,” they hate it. If the file size is “too big,” they hate it. If it’s not in “retina display,” they hate the shit out of it. If it’s a demo, they hate it because it’s too short. You see what these poor folks have to work with?
The one universal aspect to all of the most popular iOS games is addiction. Specifically referring to how hard it is to stop playing once you start. Now, I may not be a huge fan of racing games and I wasn’t exactly fond of the very similar Scrap Metal, but damned if it’s not impossible to stop playing Death Rally.
Death Rally, for the ever-growing army of (soon to be autonomous) iDevices, is a remake of a re-release of an almost 15 year-old game. It’s kind of a long story. The short version is that Remedy made the original Death Rally in 1996, it was eventually updated and re-released as freeware in 2009 and was just remade and released for iOS this month. Having never played the original I’m not completely sure what’s been changed or updated here, if anything. Aside from the graphics (which are glorious), controls and various boss cameos, anyway. Even so, I’m fairly certain that if you loved the original then you’re going to adore this version.
After failing to elude law enforcement, your character is tasked with entering the Death Rally and taking down “The Adversary” in order to with their freedom. Aside from a brief comic book-style introduction featuring the world’s largest neck, there’s really not much else to the story. The rest is all about racing and killing. Earning cash, upgrading your ride and climbing your way to the top so you can finally earn a shot at The Adversary.
The races are what make Death Rally such a great fit for iOS devices. The tracks (of which there are a handful, with reversed and different viewing angle variants) are relatively small, so it won’t take you forever to finish a lap. Races are limited to 3 laps, unless they include special rules, so a single race can typically be finished in a couple of minutes. They fit perfectly into the pick-up-and-play mentality most iOS gamers have grown accustomed to. It also controls incredibly well, with the virtual stick moving the car in the direction you push it rather than having to turn right and left normally. It’s a little odd at first, but it works really well, even if your car has crappy handling.
The addiction I mentioned earlier comes into play through the cash you earn after each race. Coming in first typically yields the best rewards, but you can also do fairly well by focusing on blowing up your opponents, grabbing cash drops on the track and a variety of other tasks. This cash, represented by filling up a large reward bar, can then be used to repair and upgrade your car, upgrade your equipped weapon or buy more fame, which gets you closer to facing The Adversary. Watching that bar representing your earnings fill up with orange triggers some kind of Pavlovian response, compelling you to spend it all and then immediately start another race so you can watch it fill up again. The fact that you’re still earning cash, even through failure so long as you don’t get blown up, is what keeps Death Rally from getting frustrating. That and the fact that you can find weapon and car parts scattered throughout the race, which will unlock new vehicles and ordinance when you’ve gathered enough pieces.
Each race also features a “boss” character, although they’re not so much bosses as special characters that yield extra cash if you can beat or destroy them. You can spot them by way of the big floating portrait window that follows their car around the track. Assuming you can actually catch them in the first place, that is. Which is really my one and only gripe about Death Rally: the bosses race too perfectly. It’s possible to run them off course or blow them up, but if left to their own devices they always seem to take each and every turn perfectly. They also seem to go too fast, even if they’re using a car you know is slower than yours. I get that they’re bosses and shouldn’t be pushovers, and the various cameos from Duke Nukem, John Gore and so on are a neat touch, but they can still be annoying to chase down.
Whether or not Death Rally is worth the $5 largely depends on whether or not you’re a finicky App Store snob. It’s certainly a fun game, constantly lures you back with its “just one more race” siren song and has plenty of cars and weapons to unlock. Then, once you’ve unlocked everything, you can focus on fully upgrading it all as you claw your way to the top and to The Adversary. Supposing even that’s not enough, there’s also been a recent update that’s added a new car, a new challenge and two new weapons. Honestly, unless you absolutely hate racing games in any form or are one of those weird “I never” or “I always” kind of App Store shoppers, I can’t think of a single reason why you shouldn’t download Death Rally immediately.
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Things We Liked: Just one more race… Great looking game with pretty explosions. Silky smooth controls. Fun and ridiculously addicting. Special cameos for some bosses are neat. Watching your car reconstruct itself (a la Carmageddon) when you repair it. No really, just one more race…
Things We Disliked: Boss drivers are almost impossible to catch in tougher races. Sometimes the last little sliver of their health never seems to go away, either. Coming in first usually requires nothing less than computer-like precision or luck. $5 might seem a bit steep to all those whiny babies that are used to paying $1 for everything.
Target Audience: Fans of various racing games or anything featuring car combat. iOS users who only bother with “addicting” games. Anyone who likes fun. You do like fun, don’t you?
(Death Rally – Developer: Remedy. Publisher: Remedy. Available for iOS devices via the iTunes App Store. A copy of the game was provided by the publishers for review purposes. Unfamiliar with CFD!’s review system? Read our newly revised explanation here.)
