After a few months of screenshots, information, and game play videos ngmoco has finally release their iPhone first person shooter titled Eliminate Pro (fka LiveFire) on the App Store.
Eliminate Pro is an online enabled FPS game, with players able to connect online against each other in arena style death matches across 5 unique maps. Each player can customize their characters through armor, weapon, and item purchases, which each being upgradable as well.
Besides this being one of the first games of it’s kind on the iPhone there is one main thing that makes this a very different title from what is available on the App Store: micro-transactions. Basically the game is downloadable for free (and I have NO idea why it’s called “Pro”). You can also play for free, but there is a catch. When you play online your character as an energy level that is not related to health or other stats. As you play matches online you earn credits to purchase upgrades but you run out of energy. Once you’re out of energy you have a few options: A) continue playing but gain nothing for doing so, B) play offline with bots, C) wait a certain period of time (i.e. a few hours) for your energy to recharge automatically, or finally D) purchase energy cells using real world cash to instantly recharge.
While my thoughts on this are a bit mixed it certainly is an interesting revenue model, although it’s one that can lead to a lot of nickel-and-diming you to death as a consumer. The energy cells range from $0.99 upwards of $29.99 (and even more), but technically speaking you will always need energy to continue playing. The energy cells can be swapped for credits though which is nice if you just want to purchase gear, but this type system can be very risky for the developer.
As for the game itself it is pretty fun to play on your iPhone, with the exception of the controls. The aiming feels like it drifts away far too often, and it isn’t as responsive as it should be for a player-vs-player type of FPS game. Also the game suffers from some stability issues currently, with frequent crashes and lockups (at least on the iPhone 3G).
That said, technically you could play this thing for free as long as ngmoco supports it since it is free to download and play, although you’ll need a bit of patience and well timed gaming sessions to maximize your experience if you intend on spending $0 on energy cells. It’s free so I’d say give it a shot since you don’t have anything to loose up front besides a few minutes of your time.
