iPhone/iPod Touch Review: ISUD

ISUD follows a very straight forward set of rules: It shoots, you dodge! In this bullet hell shooter stuck in reverse players focus on avoiding impossible furies of raining bullets. The ship is engaged in auto-fire so your main objective is to navigate through the storm of bullets for long enough to drain the enemy’s defenses. The closer you get, the quicker their shields drop and the higher your points skyrocket. So buckle up for safety and enter bullet hell.

Bullet hell shooters are classic staples of arcade gameplay. This means one thing and one thing only, they are frustratingly difficult. It is not a flaw in their design or necessarily a bad thing, it is just a fact. Half the fun of gaming is accomplishing something that seemed impossible an hour ago. I think this is an element of gaming that is getting a bit lost in the shuffle of HD graphics and frames per second. My point being, expect to test your gaming abilities to their limits in ISUD.

Controlling your ship works well, wherever you drag your finger the ship follows. The developers cut you a little slack and made only the very center of the ship vulnerable to enemy fire. So you’re not going to explode every time a bullet nicks your wing, it literally has to hit you dead on. The problem with this is that your finger completely covers the ship while playing, making navigating through the storm of bullets a guessing game of sorts.

The enemy ships are massive and the colorful reign of fire that fills the screen is a spectacle to watch. The back glow applied to everything gives the game a psychedelic feel, which can be entrancing while playing. However, it doesn’t support custom soundtracks, which would have been a nice touch.

ISUD is a decent bullet hell shooter. It is great for pick up and play gameplay experiences. The visual effects are nice and I never did not enjoy myself while playing. With its limited amount of levels, lack of additional gameplay modes, and nothing to separate it from the hundreds of similar experiences found in the App Store it is nothing above average.

For fans of: Icarus-X, ESPGALUDA II, Air Attack HD
Check it out in the App Store here.