iPhone Reviews

"Ghosts can't hurt you," say countless reality television ghost hunters. Perhaps not in the real world, that is. Tarver Games' Ghosts Attack transports you to an alternate reality, where paranormal entities are deadly ghouls aiming to make you one of them. Although this is not quite true, in this reality you can forget all about proton packs and ghost traps, all you need is your Rover Explorer and its array of ghost-killing weaponry. When invited into an alternate reality to take control of a ghouls and ghost killing machine, you can expect our itchy gaming thumbs to tingle and our iPhone to be in overdrive.

Ghosts Attack is not just a series of non-related first-person shooter missions, it comes with its very own story, which plays a big role in giving the game flow and character. When 13 scientists are accidentally transported to an alternate dimension, one too dangerous for humans, their employers dispatch remote controlled Rovers to explore the ghostly reality and find them. It's your job to control the Rover and carry out objectives, making sure the ghosts don't get you first. The story is primarily driven by your technician, Karl, who appears in the top corner of the screen to relay information throughout the game. Okay, so overall it's a little far-fetched, but that's exactly what this game needs. Ghostbusters wasn't exactly grounded either, and that was awesome.

Is there anything here?

You control the Rover in the usual iPhone manner: Move around by tilting in the direction you want to go, touch the fire button to shoot, and control your speed by sliding the dial on the left. The controls are very easy to get on with. You will be tempted to burn around at maximum speed, but it's wiser to move at a moderate pace, otherwise you could end up wall hugging or driving into ghosts. That said, top speed is not exactly fast, but there is a re-centre button if you do happen to lose your bearings in the soil, clouds or wall. That aside, it's great fun weaving around the pillars (buildings) and shooting everything you have at the ghosts. As you progress through the game you'll also acquire weapon upgrades, which adds variety to the ghost busting. This does more than enough to keep your attention and entertainment levels up.

There's a little more to it than simply shooting at ghosts though. As you explore the alternate reality, you'll need to carry out certain objectives to complete missions, from basic things like killing a set number of ghosts, to deploying beacons, taking out bigger boss type ghosts and simple survival. Sadly, it's not always clear which direction you need to go to fulfil objectives, something that could easily be fixed with a mini-map in the corner or a compass to guide you. Still, a little exploring and you'll soon head in the right direction.