Allied Star Police for iPhone

CNET Editors' review

by: Paul Hughes on January 13, 2012

Allied Star Police is a fun little game with a touching backstory: developer PopCap Games helped create this simple, side-scrolling castle-defense-style game through the Make-a-Wish Foundation, for a 9-year-old with leukemia whose wish was to make a video game.

Befitting a game co-created by a 9-year-old, Allied Star Police is action-packed, quick to play, and not too complicated--with cool graphics and animation (even cooler on the iPad) and a loud, rock-out soundtrack. The game pits you (the Allied Star Police, of course) against the evil Flamions, as you send competing waves of well-armed vehicles toward each other's bases.

Your base is on the left end of a long 2D battlefield, with the Flamions' base on the far right, and combat occurs in four horizontal lanes between the two bases. You tap the vehicle you want to build with buttons along the bottom of the screen, and then tap the lane you want it to roll into from your base--from nimble, fast-to-build ATVs and Snipers up to bigger Tanks and the hulking WCSV. The deadlier the vehicle, the more it costs to build and the longer the cooldown before you can build another. You earn money by destroying Flamions, and each game is a steady arms race until you can build up enough momentum to reach and destroy the Flamion base. You can also tap other offensive options, such as bombs, an orbital laser, and a temporary power-up boost for one vehicle.

For a game that's so slight, Allied Star Police shows off PopCap's expertise in its well-done details, from the radar and number cues for each lane (so you can better plan your advances) to the small strategic choices that'll have you thinking on your feet as you replay the game's three difficulty levels to try and beat your best time (like, for example, hiding your powerful but fragile snipers behind your beefier units, or making optimal use of the temporary turbo and bombs). Young kids can play--and beat!--the game's novice setting, but even experienced players will have fun tackling the "insanified" setting. Allied Star Police may not have a ton of depth, but it's a fun, free download for fans of fast-paced, pick-up-and-play shooters.

 

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Publisher's Description

From PopCap Games:

A.S.P., or "Allied Star Police" is a fast-paced push-of-war combat sim. Players assume the role of the A.S.P. base commander, rapidly deploying a variety of automated battle vehicles and targeted ballistic ordinance to thwart an alien Flamion invasion.The player deploys their forces quickly by selecting from a list of increasingly-powerful vehicles and then choosing one of four battle lanes in which to deploy. The vehicles launch from the A.S.P. HQ and charge towards the invading enemy forces and the Flamion base ship itself. The battle and vehicle AI are fully automated from this point forward and battles clash all along the battle lanes between the two bases. Players will also unlock and employ devastating special powers, such as the "Bomb Call" which allows the player to tap rapidly on the screen to drop massive A.S.P. bombs, or the "Global Satellite Laser Cannon" which puts a burning torrent of destruction at the player's fingertips!A.S.P. is the brainchild of the incredibly talented and energetic 9-year-old game designer, Owain Weinert. Owain came to us by way of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and developed A.S.P. in partnership with a small team at 4th & Battery (PopCap Games).We offer A.S.P. free of charge and hope you enjoy A.S.P. as much as we enjoyed making Owain's wish come true.

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