In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.
However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason. You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.
And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time. I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.
Today's review is on a game that I've had on my phones for a while, Plague Inc. The premise of Plague Inc. is simple; you take control of a pathogen in an attempt to eradicate humanity, though it's far tamer than the premise makes it, I promise. You play as one of 7 plagues, plus 4 additional plagues that modify the premise of the game. It is your job to modify your plague to protect itself from humanity's efforts to eradicate you, create means of infection, and finally, use symptoms in order to kill your targets. You win by eradicating humanity (or achieving another objective, if you're playing as one of the special plagues), and you lose if there are any humans left alive or otherwise not under your control.
Control: Plague Inc is perfect for touchscreen controls. It is built around taping the screen to pop bubbles in order to gain currency to spend on upgrades. Sometimes, you need to tap and drag, and that can be iffy, but thankfully, Plague Inc now has the ability to zoom in on the map, giving you precision to get to small countries easier.
Graphical Fidelity: Plague Inc is basic; they use a basic Equirectangular projection of a map, without any real detail, but they don't need any. The bubbles are easy to easily what they are; whether it's a cure bubble or currency bubble, and which type of currency bubble, it's easy to see and know right from the bad. All text is legible, and all symbols are easy to recognize.
Sound: Plague Inc has an appropriately depressing sound design; the music is depressing, cries of the people, which are done for comedic effect, are depressing, and the sounds of the popping bubbles are appropriate for what they are; a breaking glass sound for a cure bubble and a pop for a currency bubble. Everything works.
Ads: There are no ads in Plague Inc. All money they make are from micro-transactions, none of which are necessary to progress.
Fun Factor: Plague Inc offers a lot of content. It is the full PC game, complete with scenerios and special plagues. You can download custom scenerios from fans, too. There's a lot of fun to be had with Plague Inc.
Final Analysis: Plague Inc is a near perfect mobile game. There's a lot there for a low price, and it is well suited for the mobile market.
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