Blackbeard's Assault & 5 Fingers Games Bundle -- Review

Blackbeard's Assult:
Category: action puzzle games, shooter
Price: $1.99 individually OR 4.99 in the 5 Fingers Games Bundle
App Store Link: [Full - individual] / [Free Lite Version] / [Full - 5 Fingers Games Bundle]

Review: Like it
Recommendation: Try it; if you like it, consider getting the bundle for 3 dollars more.
Replay Value: Medium

Blackbeard's Assault is a fast-paced puzzle shooter similar to Puzzloop (but at a much more reasonable price). Gameplay consists of removing cannon-balls as they travel down a track towards your goal--"X" marks the spot. Balls are removed when players match 3 or more by aiming & shooting cannon balls of matching colors. Several power-ups add an extra element of fun and strategy to the game (While the game is definitely easy enough to pick up and play, I suggest reading the rules as they will make you a better player). Additionally, adventure mode adds a brief storyline to the game. In every level, players are given 2 or more loaded cannons to alternate between (a fun variation from Puzzloop). Overall, Blackbeards Assault is a very enjoyable game.

Interestingly enough, Blackbeard's Assaut is not new to the iPhone, but what brought it back to our attention (and hopefully the attention of our readers) was its inclusion in the newly released 5 Fingers games Bundle [App Store Link]. The Bundle combines the full version of 5 different games from 5 different developers in one standalone app, and all at a decent savings from the purchase price of the originals. The included apps are Blackbeard's Assault, Burnball, Chopper, Sneezies, and Up There. Individually, these apps retail for a total of 9.95, but in the bundle, players pay only 4.99 for entire selection of games.

The concept of bundles like this are particularly interesting for several reasons; maybe most notably because not only do they offer significant savings to buyers, but they also help conserve on app space on the touch devices--a big bonus for those who constantly have all of their 9 pages filled. The bundle concept might also help smaller developers who have a hard time charging $0.99 for their app; combining several of these apps in a $0.99 package might encourage purchase.

There are some concerns that go along with bundling like this, however. One such concern is the handling of updates. Apple has made it simple for developers to add quick updates to their applications, but it would seem that these bundles might complicate that process. Developers would be forced to collaborate anytime they plan on releasing an update to anyone of the single apps... or possible risk foregoing updates all together. All-in-all, bundling apps has definite longer-term potential for the App Store.

5 Fingers Games Bundle:

Images of Blackbeard's Assault:
Blackbeard's Assault Gameplay Video:

What we'd like to see in future updates of Blackbeard's Assault: Some sort of endless/survival more for each map (to compete for high scores); potentially some kind of Wi-Fi versus/battle mode (alone the lines of Bust-a-Move); and of course more levels.

~M@