Ice Rage Review

Developer: Mountain Sheep
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4S

Graphics / Sound Rating:
Game Controls Rating:
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Rating:

Ice Rage is a two-on-two hockey game, with each player having a goalie and an attacker. Players can choose to play by themselves or challenge a friend to a face off using the same device, either on an iPhone or iPad. The gameplay and objectives of the game are pretty self-explanatory (it’s a simple hockey game after all) and there are three difficulty modes. Easy and Medium modes give the control of the goalie to the CPU and Hard mode gives control of the goalie to the players for an added degree of difficulty.

The controls are very basic and easy to handle. All there is to it is an on-screen joystick and one button that is used to shoot and check. It took me a few games to get the hang of the physics of skating around on the ice. I would recommend playing a few rounds on easy mode just to get a feel for the physics before moving on to the other difficulty settings. The graphics and lovable characters are great and are consistent with the beautiful artwork that comes out of Mountain Sheep.

Now for a few criticisms. I don’t like that there isn’t much variety to the game. There is no career mode or any other mode to spice things up. As a result, the single player mode can get a little repetitive and this takes down the replay value of the game a bit. I also didn’t like that there was no multiplayer via WiFi option. I think it would be fun to play against other using our own devices instead of both trying to finagle our hands on the same iPhone. As one can imagine, playing with two players holding the same iPhone can be a little tricky since the screen is so small. But playing with two people on an iPad is fun and definitely the best aspect of the game for iPad owners.

Despite these drawbacks (I’m sure Mountain Sheep is aware of them), I’d say this is a solid attempt at an iOS hockey game. I’d recommend it for any hockey fan or anyone wanting something new and addictive. It may not have all the features that I would like to see but it’s still very fun to play, and a good deal at $0.99 for a universal game.