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The prospect of iPhone sniper games really, really interests me. Part of this interest, I think, comes from my total inability to be a reliable sniper in first person shooters. It’s a story I know all too well: a match starts, I choose a sniper rifle, and thirty minutes later I turn off the console in frustration.
The iPhone, in comparison, seems like it might have the stuff to remedy my sniping woes: The iPhone school of sniping involves tilting the device and engaging with a level of accelerometer precision that’s both challenging and compelling.
I say “school†because—between Metal Gear Solid and iSniper and all the titles between them—iPhone sniper games are a growing force. And it’s between this array of titles that Shadowland: Shades of Black arrives, bringing a lot of potential and a mixed bag of gameplay to your iDevice.
As you can see in the screen shots, a fair deal of Shadowland’s screen space is devoted to a trigger, and the controls center heavily on that trigger-driven interface. This is probably Shadowland’s greatest asset: Using the trigger is much more immersive and natural than tapping the screen or pressing a button, and the player can control and adjust trigger pressure between shots. The large trigger also presents a much greater challenge than any other mode of shooter interaction I’ve seen.
So, with the prominent trigger in mind, Shadowland’s gameplay involves using the accelerometer to lock in on a target that is called out by an audio spotter. This spotter then narrates a series of events to which the player must swiftly respond. There’s a small story embedded here, but the core gameplay involves eliminating the requested targets as quickly as possible. The accelerometer works well for this function, and it’s incredibly sensitive—rendering a scope that feels authentic and provides a significant challenge.
Beyond the control scheme, however, Shadowland is fairly thin. There’s no way to zoom out of the scope, so finding a target often involves manically moving the sight around the screen, searching for a small object.
In addition, there’s not much motion to the objects within the game, as targets pop in and disappear from the background in connection with a pre-programmed timeline. Aside from making the landscapes feel a bit too static, this isn’t a huge problem—with the exception of moments when your spotter says that a target is “on the move,†when it appears that, in your scope, the target is standing totally still.
Perhaps the most problematic part of Shadowland, however, is the short and pre-defined order of the targets. While hunting down the static images can be frustrating, the order in which they arrive remains the same across multiple game sessions.
As such, the key to defeating a level is simply learning the locations of the targets. Once you’ve figured out the order of operations, the shots become simple and routine. There isn’t a random algorithm or element of chance involved; rather, memorization—not skill—is the secret to Shadowland success.
With its static targets and routine order of operations, Shadowland feels more like a shooting gallery game than a deep sniper title. This isn’t, of course, all bad, and for its cheap asking price it still offers a fun (if short lived) shooting title.
More problematic, I think, is the fact that the game appears to be part of an ongoing series of apps, divided into chapters. Should that be the case, I’m not sure if my recommendation can remain intact across many chapters—without a significant improvement to the game mechanics.
In its current state, Shadowland is a quick and fun sniper-fix, buoyed by some well-designed controls. To have any sort of longevity, however, the title needs a stronger gameplay mechanic, one that includes random, moving targets and the ability to look beyond the rifle’s scope.
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