iAppLover

The economic crisis has had very little to do with the realm of flash gaming, though it has appeared to have forced people into examining entertainment that is, for the most part, free. Bowman is one of those simple yet elegantly entertaining games that first made the splash in the pools of flash gaming. For those who’ve always fancied a quick game while on the subway or on breaks, now there’s an iPhone version.

If you bring your phone with you, now you can have it cart with it Bowman. With four game modes presented to you, it promises enough variety to make it appealing. If you’re familiar with the games Scorched Earth or Worms then you’ve got a pretty good idea of how the game goes. You play the part of – you guessed it – a bowman who’s trying to shoot their opponent before they poke holes with you with a bunch of arrows. You don’t move, you just stand still and battle the wind for the accuracy of your shot.

The various modes determine what or who you’ll be knocking the arrow against. You can pit your bowman avatar against the computer, another person or even some birds that are flying about, minding your own business. The last one, aptly titled bird hunt, gives you three minutes to play the part of a hunter, decimating entire flocks and flights of birds.

The controls are very, very simple. You touch the screen and slide your finger along it – the direction and distance that your arrow will go is determined by how you do that. It seems fairly simple until obstacles get in the way and when the wind’s just not going the way you want it to. Like Worms and Scorched Earth, the game is based on a very, very simple premise but is very, very fun.

For those who enjoy bragging, the games keeps a high score list, both of the highest number poor fowl you’ve destroyed in a single round and the least number of shots it took you to assassinate an opponent. The options available to the game directly correlate to the game play itself – you could change the amount of health that each participant has, or you can turn on the idea of critical hits in Bowman. Bowman, without it, doesn’t care where you hit your opponent, only that you do. With critical hits, a headshot means that you win, period – no questions asked.

For ninety-nine cents, this simple game is definitely worth a buy. The game play is simple is easy to understand and has graphics that are clear and clean. It’s a fun game to play with a friend or even against yourself and a worthy addition to any iPhone.