If you are a fan of racing games, you should check out the latest mobile high speed instalment of the Asphalt range. Step up Asphault 8 Airborne.
I am not a huge gamer and certainly don’t have many games installed on my iPhone. I used to be a huge FPS and racing fan, but as I have gotten older, gaming has lost the appeal it did in my teens.
However, I do still enjoy a blast on the Burnout or Need For Speed series. For mobile or portable devices the Asphalt range has been very successful. I enjoyed Asphalt Urban GT on Nintendo DS and Asphalt 3D on Nintendo 3DS.
After seeing a TV advert for Asphalt 8 Airborne, I thought I would give it a try. It looked very impressive and is also available for free – with in-game purchases available.
Requirements
You can get it from the iOS App Store and Android Play Store. [Editor’s note: A coworker also plays it on his Microsoft Surface RT.]
For Apple devices, it requires iOS 5 but says iPhone 4 upwards (despite iOS 5 running on the iPhone 3GS). I think this is due to processor power. The iPhone 4 has 800 MHz and 512 MB RAM vs. 600 MHz and 256 MB RAM in the 3GS.
For Android, it says “varies by device”.
What Do I Think
My iPhone 4s is still being sold as Apple’s lowest device. With such a high powered new game, I wondered how it would perform and how my 4s would handle it.
I downloaded the whopping 1.48 GB game and gave it a whirl. Loading up the game it was fairly quick. After a few selections, I was off racing.
The graphics are absolutely stunning with highly detailed backgrounds and perfectly rendered vehicles on the iPhone’s Retina Display. The speed even – on my iPhone 4s – was amazing, really giving you the impression you were travelling at 200km/h +.
Gameplay is superb. High speed racing mixed with knockdowns, fantastically simulated crashes, and plenty of ramps and jumps.
With regards to controls, steering is done by twisting the iPhone, as you expect. Perhaps I’m just too old, but I did find this not as responsive as a standard control pad. Acceleration is automatic, so you only have to worry about steering and boosting, which is done by touching the screen.
I had no issues with the game. I experienced the occasional judder for a split second, but nothing that would interrupt your racing – and this is probably hardware related.
It would be interesting how it runs on the iPhone 4 with its single-core processor and lower graphics chip. It would also be fun to see how an iPhone 5/5c handles it.
Conclusion
Any fans of racing games I highly recommend you give Asphalt 8 Airborne a look. Its free (with in game purchases available), excellent and highly addictive. For all those glued to the likes of Candy Crush Saga… grab this proper game and experience it.
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