iPad Review: Backstab

Have you ever had friends whom you thought were your friends but they ended up betraying you? Well, that is what happened to Captain Henry Blake, who was betrayed by Eric Kane, a man whom Blake thought to be his friend. Ooh, that’s got to sting. And that begins Blake’s journey of vengeance in the action game, Backstab.

Backstab is your typical one-player action games where you complete different missions, do battle with nefarious soldiers, and protect the civilians from harm. I suppose you could call this an RPG (but probably more along the lines of those shooter games). As Blake, you must escape from prison, go back to the town where it all started, and join the rebellion against Kane, whose treachery lies deep and has taken control of New Bristol. Those under his rule have suffered greatly and some have decided to rebel against the tyrant. Blake vows to get his revenge on Kane, who imprisoned him and killed Blake’s fiancee, leaving Blake to be a broken man, bent on seeking justice.

Typical action games normally have a joystick controller to help you maneuver around. Here on the iPad, you use your fingers to tap the screen, which is totally inconvenient. Even moreso, actually moving Blake around proved to be quite difficult. It took me a while to realize that I needed to press the left side of Blake in order to move him around, regardless of which way he was facing me. The user interface itself is somewhat buggy and sensitive. You go near a wall and just try to keep moving and all of a sudden, you’re climbing the wall. Yes, you can climb walls and run on roofs in this game.

Speaking of climbing walls, you can jump to the higher ledge so that you may reach the top, but often more times than not, whenever I tried to jump to the higher ledge, I somehow always moved to my left or my right. I was thinking, “That’s not where I wanted to go!” And if I wanted to adjust the camera angle while running, I would have to use my left hand to keep running and my right hand to adjust and it was a total disaster. There should be an interactive control pad on the screen or something that would allow me to move with more ease.

I also had the tendency to click on the map while running, which was strange indeed because the map is in the left-hand corner and my hand would never hit the area where the map was on my screen. The graphics were ok at best. The characters’ actions and words never seemed to match together. It was kinda awkward watching them talk and move because it just wouldn’t go together. And while I’m still on the topic of graphics, I want to say that there was this part of the game (at the prison fort) where I couldn’t move for a while because the graphics glitched on me. You know in video games, you sometimes see yourself looking through a transparent wall as if you walked into it? I had that - I was just floating in midair, not knowing where or hot to get out of that predicament until I decided restart that level. Luckily, I had my progressed saved a bit beforehand, so I didn’t have to start back far.

Lastly, this is what I found to be amusing: the game is rated 12+ for the following:
- Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
- Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
- Frequent/Intense Realistic Violence
- Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor
- Frequent/Intense Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
- Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes

I think it should be rated higher. Why? Let’s see:
A) There is quite a bit of blood and gore.
B) You can slice the enemies’ heads off. That surprised me.
C) You can kill enemies through the throat. I’m seeing The Patriot here.
D) When Blake is back in New Bristol, there are several ladies who want to have a good time. Awkward to the max.
E) Did I mention the killing?

I don’t think this game is at all suitable for kids that are 12 years old. Especially when they’re hitting puberty and maturing a little. Not the greatest. I don’t really recommend this game - the graphics were buggy, movement is difficult, and the elements in the game aren’t age appropriate for those at 12 years of age. And I got so bored after around 5, 10 minutes in. But if you think you’ll enjoy this game, you should get it while it’s on sale this week.

Interested in the game or want to purchase it? Head here.