Burgerman is a game that tells the story of an innocent fast food customer that orders a burger. Somehow, he doesn't notice the burger is glowing green. After consumption, this ordinary guy turns into Burgerman, a superhero flying through the towns of Burgerville fueled entirely on burgers (and especially glowing green burgers) protecting citizens from the robotic burger thief. Avoid obstacles, eat burgers, serve justice - that is the life of Burgerman. The game is free with in-app purchases for iPhone and iPad.
The game is accompanied by a humorous storyline describing events as they unravel in Burgerville with a splash of comedy. It does have some very mild language, but it should be passable for almost all ages except the youngest. The storyline and dialogue are extremely lengthy - to a bit of a fault, I might add. You should get a few laughs out of the writing as I did, but drags on even after the game starts. The second chapter in, I finally hit the handy "Skip" button just so I can play the game.
Also, while I'm being picky, what kind of superhero steals food from the same people he's trying to protect?
Burgerman's controls are very simple and should sound familiar to an iOS gamer: press the screen to fly up, release your finger to fall. As you fly around the town, try to avoid large options like trees and swing sets. Crashing into these objects destroys them at the expense of some if not all of Burgerman's energy.
To regain energy, swoop past kids carrying burgers and eat them. Glowing green burgers in particular really drive up the meter. Watch out for bullies though, for they retaliate when you steal their food by throwing something at you as you fly away, affecting fatigue. The more fatigue you have, the more energy decreases with each time you crash into an object.
The graphics leave much to be desired. The animation in particular feels like something I could have churned out of my introductory graphic design course back in high school. It's very childish for a game that has a not-so-childish sense of humor in its dialogue.
The controls for maneuvering Burgerman, albeit easy to understand, lack polish and overall feel very unnatural. Even after a bit of gameplay, I still couldn't fully get accustomed to the way the game responds to my touch. Obstacles also feel a bit too big, while the burgers necessary for energy feel a bit too small.
One feature I am fond of is profiles, which lets you put in your name and saves game progress just for that name so multiple people can play Burgerman at their own pace on one device.
The app description says it offers in-app purchases but - and this is a first for me - not only did I fail to see how they would ever be necessary, I couldn't find anything to purchase and where in the game to purchase it. Odd. In my experience, no part of the game requires any mandatory extension so you won't even need to worry about it.
Burgerman is certainly entertaining and the storyline is fun to follow along, if excessive, but the game itself is lacking in several key areas. Improved graphics and controls would do this title more justice than Burgerman does for the hungry townspeople. It's free for iOS in the App Store.
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