
I frequently ran into control issues with the small iPod touch 5 screen and its tiny virtual buttons. The controls are, like many other first-person shooters on touch screens, much better on bigger devices. The iOS version 1.0 crashes frequently too – a fix is supposedly in the works but this seems like something that should have been sorted out sooner.

While cross-platform multiplayer and user accounts work fine, the matchmaking server tends to go down or be otherwise unavailable on a regular basis. Now, Shadowgun: Deadzone is incredibly unstable, especially on iOS. While this isn’t quite an inventive game, there’s still fun to be had in taking out opponents or interrupting a firefight with a grenade and getting a double kill. Grenades are death-dealers in this game she (or he) who uses grenades well kills many. The combat is largely identical to the original Shadowgun: there’s the ability to get behind cover and sprint, though the player’s avatar can be customized (there’s hats to buy too!), along with the loadout of three weapons, a special ability, and three items like grenades. This takes the cover-based shooting established in the 2011 title and pits up to 12 players against each other in one of two modes: free-for-all Deathmatch, and team-based Ground Control, where players fight for control of spawn points, with the goal being to either outlast the other team as they run out of lives or to conquer all 5 spots.


Madfinger Games returns to its visually-impressive shooter Shadowgun with the new free-to-play Deadzone version.
