You point. You shoot. You connect more than three. Its a simple and oft repeated game premise that you will most definitely have received numerous requests for from that shady, silent type who added you when you were both in the same school but now, 4 years later, its just peculiar and tiresome. Yet despite adopting the basic principles of a genre trodden in to the ground by annoying social networking requests from potential serial killers, Luxor Evolveds energy, soundtrack and slick visuals help keep a simple premise exciting and enjoyable whilst also overshadowing sporadic and half-thought out game features. Luxors speed and energy is what impresses, it spends little time dancing about with story and tutorials, throwing you straight into the deep end as you do the hefty, purpose-filled duty of stopping coloured balls getting to your pyramids, by shooting other balls at them to link the colours. Noble? Honourable? Definitely. Tired? Repetitive? Definitely; but this games slick design and no nonsense attitude towards getting you in the thick of the game play helps keep it playable and have an edge over similar opposition. These positives are compounded by the games impressive visuals, that look incredible on the 1080p resolution, which are vibrant, lively and adds to the experience. You dont just remove threatening blocks, you destroy them in a light show spectacle that makes Bonfire night look like urinal back spray. With energy behind it this game shakes off the nervous preconceptions you may have, its thundering, dance heavy soundtrack is tonal but off putting and headache inducing. If you want to stay on your train journey, I would advise playing this particular app on mute before you drive another passenger into a sub-psychotic rage. Its a shame however that the game doesnt quite live up to its early potential as it begins to underwhelm when it comes to the overall depth of quality. Whilst incorporating interesting features into its linear story, such as boss, unlockable shots and bonus missions it fails to back up any relevance of such things with a story or applicable explanation of the benefits of these unlockable shots. For example it wasnt until my third play through that I realised those were immediately incorporated as random occurrences within the mission-play, the boss were irrelevant and the bonus missions were almost identical to the main story ones. Evolved tries to raise itself above the simplicity of its nature but instead only undermines its own credibility due to failing to successfully build on these things. The unlockable shots could be treated as upgrades, the boss could be part of an all round sci-fi, Tron themed story. It wouldnt have been difficult to stylise the game in this way considering this is the only playable mode they give you, they pepper this with small alternatives throughout but then fail to build upon what has the potential to be a top quality, time eating application. As it stands its detachment and simple, repetitive nature means you will get about 40% of the way through before you start wondering what else the game offers you, sadly this is all there is. Gameplay: Detached and distant, this game plays out like a resentful step-child and doesnt give much connection to any form of story, yet its energy and smooth style help keep it entertaining. 3/5 Graphics: Slick, stylish and more colourful than a swearing contest with a Glaswegian, its visuals are its strongest feature and rarely fail to brighten up the games formulaic style. 5/5 Sound: Like Ibiza on Meth this is a thundering, upbeat whirlwind through a world of colours, explosions and misbegotten sexual endeavours which leaves you with a strong headache. 3/5 Replay Value: The one playable mode means you continue through the same missions over and over again, the game offers variety throughout but you need to go through the same things to get there. 2/5 Presentation: Clear and simple, the game tells you what you need to know whilst ignoring any riff-raff, the ability to adjust the control settings to your preference is helpful, but with a touch screen this is always going to complicate things and you will get progressively more annoyed when you shoot without intention. 3/5 Overall: The games electrifying energy and stunning visuals manage to overbear you in to submission and keep you playing much longer than the games dull premise would let you believe. 3.5/5
