Note Wars is an action game based on the premise that "gameplay is more important than graphics," according to the app's description. That's because the game's design is meant to mimic a piece of notebook paper and pencil. There's not much of a storyline other than you're in charge of machinery in the center of each round and must defeat every threatening stick figure coming to attack. It includes multiple rounds and fighting methods. Note Wars is US$1.99 for iPhone and iPad.
Other than on a piece of graph paper, the setting for this game appears to be in some sort of rocky area of the forecast with clusters of trees next to gaping holes in the ground next to small houses. It's weird, but for all intents and purposes, it works well enough.
The game doesn't offer much of a tutorial to boot but that's mostly because most of what you need to learn is apparent within the first couple of levels. You have your five tanks positioned at the center of the scene, each accompanied by health status bars underneath. In every level there are multiple waves of attacks, so starting off you should get prepared for wave one. The stick figures march in from all angles. Tap them to set your target and when they come close enough, the tanks fire away.
Your enemies have health status bars as well and defeating them is just a matter of draining theirs before they drain you. At the start, you only face off with a couple of enemies, but eventually as you progress through the game you find yourself in combat with swarms of miniature stick figures trying to manage targeting them all.
When two enemies are charging from the same area, tapping in between them targets the both of them at once. Eventually they'll arrive in clusters of three and so on. Seeing as they're small tap targets particularly on an iPhone, this is helpful although it might actually make the game unnecessarily easier.
I guess that's a bit of my problem with Note Wars. Don't get me wrong, the game gets fun and each level is a bit more difficult than the last, but it's not really all that challenging. It doesn't require you to work that hard for your winnings.
Furthermore, there are five aids at the bottom that increase your power even more including mines, barbed wire and slow-downs. They aren't in-app purchases - in fact, the game doesn't have any - so you use them as much as you want. The buttons turn red when activated and then clear up again when ready for another use.
The bottom line is this: the graphics (or perhaps lack thereof) are intriguing as is the satisfaction level of defeating your opponents, but something inside me wants Note Wars to bring more to the table. It caps off at 30 levels and even somewhat far into the game, I find myself asking "Is that all you got?" Crank up the stamina on those stick figures and I don't doubt I'd be more engaged.
Note Wars is available universally for $1.99 in the App Store.
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