Infinity Blade Review

Let’s get one thing straight. While your blades in this 3D sword-fighting epic may at times be very large (as well as very detailed and very dripping in goblin gore), they are never infinite. Just think how long they would take to sharpen! That’s right, forever! Which is approximately how long the God King has been waiting for a mortal challenger to face up to him.

First, of course, your plucky character must battle a succession of Titans, over-muscled mythical creatures with little in the way of conversation beyond ‘Come, taste the edge of my vorpal steel!’

The hack-and-slash mechanics of Infinity Blade are excellent, introducing you slowly to a range of moves to master – swipes, blocks and parries. Combat feels realistic (well, as realistic as battling a troll on a fantastical drawbridge ever can) and there’s a genuine sense of pace as you deliver the final flurry of death blows.

Graphics, courtesy of the Unreal Engine 3, are never short of superb and cut scenes are either brief and to the point or actually worth sitting through.

Despite the RPG visuals, there isn’t much brain strain demanded here: if there’s a chest, it has money in it. If there’s a door, it needs kicking down. And if there’s a giant slobbering lizard beast with a sword in its hand, well, you can probably figure that out. Levelling up, acquiring and mastering new weapons and magical powers happens gratifyingly quickly.

There has been grumbling at how much real gold (ie pounds sterling) is needed to power up and complete the game, but there’s plenty of play to be had for your initial £3.49.

Not just a hi-def graphics showcase then, but one of the iPad’s few classic games.