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2079 - 48-Hour Freebie

by Eric March on November 27, 2008 at 8:39 pm

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(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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App Name:	2079
Developer:	Eric Tong	Version:	1.0.0
Publisher:	Eric Tong	Size:	2.8 MB
Category:	Shmup

Duuu-hu-huud. Now this here is some absolutely fine shmup action. Eric Tong has taken the classic Robotron style of gameplay and made a most excellent omnidirectional OpenGL-ES-based futuristic shooter that must be played to be truly appreciated.

As with any proper shmup, the object is to shoot anything that moves. Or doesn’t move, for that matter. Enemies will materialize out of the grid in batches so you’ve gotta shoot ‘em right quick — or evade. Powerups and bonuses will appear on the grid with fair frequency too, and you must shoot their boxes to release the bonus within.

Movement is controled with the accelerometer, while shooting is handed with an 8-way soft D-Pad in the lower-right. Movement is tight and responsive — just the right amount of dead zone coupled with the right amount of speed and inertia. Firing is of the repeating rapid fire variety that’ll tent any shmup fan’s pants. Action getting too intense? Shake to release a blast that’ll destroy all enemies — but you only have 3 to start with and must find more in powerup boxes, so use it sparingly.

The action in 2079 is fast and furious, the sound effects are right on the money, the graphics are excellent, and the frame rate is kept high.

If you haven’t got it already, you should. Like, now, because this is a 48-hour freebie that ends at midnight (time zone unspecified) on November 29th. Grab it while you can, because it goes back up to a buck afterward — which is still a steal and a half, really.

This one get 5 stars and a big ol’ can o’ whoop-ass.

BONUS EASTER EGG
TouchArcade member rhcpdrummer has uncovered a rather cool easter egg. If you tap the help button off the main menu (which reacts to gravity, by the way), then tap the credit screen to bring up the acknowledgements screen, then tap the “BABYV ON BOARD” sign (which also reacts to gravity), you’ll enter the secret cube level, which is played on a slowly rotating cube. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s rather cool. You can wrap around the edges.