Beast Flyers! by indie developer Jiayi Chong is an interesting non-side scrolling, actiony, anti-platformer currently available in the App Store for just $0.99 cents. Think about that statement for a second! It's like Hook Champ, without the platforms, on extremely small levels, with weird flying creatures buzzing all around. Well sort of... check out the full review after the jump for a more in-depth run down of what it's all about.

‘Beast Flyers!’ Review

Phoenix Rising

Beast Flyers! by indie developer Jiayi Chong is an interesting non-side scrolling, actiony, anti-platformer currently available in the App Store for just $0.99 cents. Think about that statement for a second! It’s like Hook Champ, without the platforms, on extremely small levels, with weird flying creatures buzzing all around. Well sort of… check out the full review after the jump for a more in-depth run down of what it’s all about.

In Beast Flyers! you take up the role of a nameless cute emo-elf-looking chick tasked with saving the world from rampaging animal spirits of energy that have inadvertently emerged from “The Crystal of Eternal Aura” due to over-taxing the crystal’s energy out of greediness. Okay, it’s not the most intriguing introduction or plot-line in the world; but it’s certainly short, sweet, and right to the point.

This game takes a textbook arcade-approach, as the completion of each level subsequently unlocks the next one, and so on. Also upon completion you are brought back to a list of all the levels you have unlocked thus far, and therefore can spontaneously replay previously completed levels whenever you feel like it – although besides getting a better score there’s no real incentive to do so – or you can simply continue on to the next level.

The gameplay experience in Beast Flyers! revolves around objectives, which you must acheive within a certain time-limit, and of course do so without losing all of your health, in order to complete a given level. The objects of each level vary, but overall there isn’t that much variety to go around. On one level you might be tasked with collecting a certain amount of crystals, whereas in another you simply have to kill a certain amount of enemies. There’s even some levels that have you  facing off against bosses as well. Other then that, it’s simply lather, wash, rinse and repeat. The experience here is not all that compelling when you get right down to it. In fact, it’s rather shallow and lacking complexity (no power-ups!).

In Beast Flyers! you must complete objectives by lassoing flying creatures thus allowing you to control them and fly around the level. As you fly around you can either lasso other flying creatures, use throwing knives, or use a sword to help complete your objective(s).

Beast Flyers‘ presentation is more or less sub-par, with some really awkward animations that are straight up rag-doll physics. Even so it’s not a total loss, as some of the art content and animations are pretty and charming enough to infuse some much needed atmosphere into the overall experience.

Controls-wise, on the bottom-left there is a virtual joystick, and along the right-side of the screen there are icons representing the rope, the throwing knives, and the sword. To move you simply use the virtual joystick. To attack or lasso you simply tap anywhere on the screen.

I found the controls felt a bit poorly designed, but on the whole technically sound e.g. responsive and quite well implemented. However, some of the on-screen icons are placed in such a way that almost guarantees accidental taps (frequently) when trying to attack an enemy or target another flying creature to lasso onto. Which results in swapping out a weapon for the rope right when you want to attack a creature, or vice a versa, which I found a constant irritation.

iFanzine Verdict: All and all, Beast Flyers! is amateurish at best. Nevertheless it’s an honest effort and it really did seem like the developers tried their best, but unfortunately it’s just not all that compelling, therefore not that much fun to play. I’d recommend giving the lite a spin before jumping aboard the full version. If you do, make sure to chip in with some comments below.

[xrr rating=3/5]