Infinity Blade 2 - Blades of Glory!

Infinity Blade may have been a testament of what iOS devices were technically capable of but it ended up getting stale real fast. You were on a quest to kill the God King and that was it. Every time you encountered him in-game, he would kill you effortlessly until you became strong enough to take him down. After that you could grind away to infinity (hence the name) but after snuffing him out, the game sort of lost its charm.

A fight for the ages

With Infinity Blade 2, mission structure still stays the same so you can experience all the game has to offer in under an hour but this time round, the game has a more cohesive feeling to it. A huge part of this can be attributed to the game’s plot and for the first time in this series, actual voice acting in English. You can now relate to your character instead of treating him as a nameless dude who mutters in an ancient tongue. Your quest will also take you across a bunch of diverse locales giving credence to the whole ‘epic adventure’ vibe this game has going for it.

Gameplay in Infinity Blade 2 remains unchanged so you still can’t freely explore the game world nor can you circle strafe around your opponents in combat. That’s completely fine by me because it is this linear approach that makes the entire series a pleasure to play and more importantly control. No matter how good a game is, I’ve always had an issue with controlling characters on-screen. Infinity Blade 2 never has that problem because like its predecessor, it follows the old-school, touch and point adventure system so all you have to do is tap a desired area on your screen once and your character makes his way to it. Even better is the fact that the camera angle isn’t fixed behind him, so you get cinematic shots of the gorgeous engine in action while he does so.

Managing your inventory has become simpler

Anyone who’s played the first game or the more recent Blood and Glory will be at home with the controls. However with Infinity Blade 2, developer Chair have added in some new mechanics for good measure. You can get by just fine with the default sword and shield system but if you prefer something that packs a punch, you can now purchase heavier, two-handed weapons. Of course, these make you slower and you can no longer wield a shield but they’re well worth it once you see the dent they make on your opponent’s health bar. If speed is your thing, you can go in for dual weapons that aren’t that devastating to use but greatly increase your attack speed. Weapons can now be enhanced by fusing them with certain gems you’ll come across either when you defeat bosses or open certain chests. Like any staple RPG, they add in some sort of elemental damage (fire, ice etc) to your weapons or allow you to pick up more loot.