If you’ve ever played Nectaris (a.k.a. Military Madness) before and you liked it, then you’re in for a treat. UniWar for the iPhone is a brilliant little game that elegantly captures the style and feel of the above-mentioned game, but with beautiful graphics, and excellent touch-screen controls. The premise is simple. Using your base and a handful of units, conquer all of the enemies bases and destroy all of their units before they do the same to you. First you move, then they move, then you, etc., etc.
Sounds simple right? It is. Until, of course the enemies start coming faster than you can destroy them and because you made a mistake here and a miscalculation there, suddenly they’ve got the high ground and are devestating your troops.
Of course, that’s what makes the game fun. There are so many different tactics you can use and if you’re already familiar with Nectaris, then you already know all of them. The touch-screen controls make the game quick and easy to play: tap unit to select, tap to move, tap again to confirm or, if you like, tap enemy to open fire. While a contextual menu pops up any time you tap on an enemy and updates once you’ve moved it, you rarely have to use it, instead tapping on the appropriate hex on the battlefield will accomplish exactly what you want, and it’s very intuitive. Another nice feature is the ability to speed through an opponent’s turn (when playing the computer) yet still see what’s going on as it happens.
As a brilliant bonus, the devs have made available four different gameplay types: online multiplayer, you vs. iPhone, Hot Seat multiplayer, and Campaign mode. The best part about the online multiplayer is that you can also play against bots and against opponents that have the game on a different phone (i.e. Palm OS or Microsoft Windows Mobile).
Perhaps the most important reason you should be buying this game right now is because it is currently available for only $0.99. It’s just an introductory price. Once the sale is over, it’ll cost $8, so you better buy now if you’re interested. And if you are, be sure to leave a comment on the post, or use the form on the About Me/Contact page so that we can play against each other.
