Horn – Full Review – A Mystical Adventure For The Ages [iOS,Android]

Overview

Developer: Phosphor Games

Release Date: 2012, August

Genre: Action/Adventure

Graphics

9.75

Controls

7.0

Story/Premise

Replay Value

Total Score

9.2

9.2/ 10

User Rating

5 total ratings

5.0
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Positives

The lush environments masterfully created with the engaging storyline and puzzles create for an awesome gaming experience that should be on everyones mobile device

Negatives

The Controls were a bit frustrating at first but you will eventually figure them out and they are a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.

Posted August 21, 2012 by DJ

Full Article

Have you ever had a moment where you totally forgot your were playing a video game because you were so immersed in the experience? Horn definitely gave us lots of those moments so read on to find out the skinny as to why…

Graphics/Visuals:

The visuals in Horn are stunning and show how rich experiences can be had on mobile devices. We found ourselves panning around the environment many times to admire our surroundings as they have been beautifully crafted. Each monster you encounter has their own unique design and attacks differently.

Throughout the game there are special effects and animations that make the game truly come to life. We really enjoyed the “boss” battles as the effects were awesome enough to get our hearts pumping. One minor annoyance with the visuals was the pre-game menus looked blurry and a few in battle glitches. If you are a sucker for great graphics like us then this game is definitely for you.

Controls/Gameplay:

With all the praise we had for the visuals in this game the controls were definitely not Horn’s strong suite. Horn does not use the standard joystick method of navigating as it uses more of a “point and click” method of moving your character throughout the level. At times there are objects in between you and where you want to go that do get frustrating when you get stuck on a little object. The battle controls were for the most part pretty solid as you swipe the screen to attack and hit left and right arrows to strafe in a 360 degree fashion. While the controls are not horrible in Horn they do leave much to be desired.

The gameplay in Horn is full of exploring new environments, figuring out puzzles and fighting monsters. Most puzzles in Horn are pretty easy to crack as you must explore the environments to find levers, switches, fire pits, and more. Phosphor Games was kind enough to make blinking shinny objects that point you in the right direction so never did we feel lost in a level. Throughout the gameplay you will have to jump across large drop offs and you have to time your click to grab the ledge that was a little tricky at first. If you do fall you only loose some of your health and are not forced to replay the level.

There are checkpoints in the longer levels making it nice if the a big monster destroys you it is possible to return to the checkpoint versus having to start all over again. While games such as Infinity Blade are solely combat based Horn differentiates itself by having a great mix of story telling, puzzle solving, and battles.

Story/Premise:

In the game you play as Horn who wakes up in a world where everything has been taken over by strange creatures and he must make some sense of the matter. Here is the story line by Phosphor Games:

Based loosely on the Old English tales of King Horn, you play as a young blacksmith’s apprentice, Horn, who wakes up to find his village overrun by fantastic, and sometimes humorous, monsters. It is revealed that these creatures are actually the people and animals from your village that have been transformed by a curse, and you alone have the power to free them. On your incredible adventure, you carry the loud-mouthed head of one such creature with you – a somewhat uncooperative, ill-tempered, grudgingly helpful sidekick. Along with the help of this new companion, you must use your sword, crossbow, trusty musical horn, and wits to explore the lands, defeat the enemies, and solve puzzles in your quest to undo the curse that engulfs your homeland.

We really enjoyed the rich storyline in Horn as many mobile games skimp in this category. You learn more of the story through in game dialogue , cut scenes, and scrolls with added story tidbits if you choose to read them. It is quite humorous to listen to Horn and his sidekick to diss each other throughout the levels. We have no gripes with the story as it had us immersed in the game and wanting to play and learn more of Horn’s quest.

Replay Value:

Horn is a rather large game compared to most mobile standards. At the time of writing this review we are barely 40 percent into the game with more than 10 hours of gameplay behind us. The monster battles are getting increasingly harder so we imagine having to replay a few battles on our way to completing this game.

I am going to take a guess that we will complete the game with 25+ hours of gameplay which is a feat for a mobile game. The great thing with our 10 hours+ so far with the game we are just as exited to complete the remaining levels as the environments and storyline are every changing alluring you to play more and more. The replay value of Horn is excellent and will in no doubt give you your moneys worth on a 7 dollar mobile game which is not something you encounter everyday.

Conclusion:

Horn and the few games like it is the reason mobile gaming is not going anywhere but up. The controls were a bit of a detractor but overall just a minor complaint of the scale of things. The lush environments masterfully created with the engaging storyline and puzzles create for an awesome gaming experience that should be on everyones mobile device.