Disinfest-action

First work of the Awfully Nice Studios team, the name behind which the two former Blizzard employees Till Aschwanden and Rainer Zoettl are hidden, The Bug Butcher has already been the protagonist on these pages with the review of the original PC version released earlier this year. : on that occasion we had underlined its undoubted qualities, linked in particular to a fun and frenetic gameplay capable of paying homage to the formula of a classic like Pang without forgetting to add new elements and above all your own personal touch. Now that the title has also landed on the main mobile sales channels, let's see if it can also confirm itself in this sector.



Even with some limitations, The Bug Butcher proves its worth even in the mobile version

Bounce off the fucking walls!

Small history review for all those to whom the name of Pang says nothing: this is an arcade released at the beginning of the 90s which saw the player hitting balloons that, at each impact, split into two copies of larger dimensions. reduced, with the aim of continuing the process until the screen is completely cleared.



Disinfest-action

The Bug Butcher adopts this identical structure, but placing it in a completely different context: the protagonist is Harry, a professional exterminator called to clean a space science station of a serious problem of insect-like aliens with the bad habit of bouncing off the walls. All this translates into an action game with simple but decidedly winning mechanics, which require the user to move Harry left and right and fire upwards in order to hit the creatures that progressively invade the display: just like balloons. of Pang, these split into smaller parts after taking damage, so you have to keep shooting at them until they are completely gone. There are many variants that support gameplay that is already very exciting in itself: there are different types of enemies with specific characteristics, stages with dynamic obstacles, a wide range of bonuses that briefly increase Harry's offensive skills, a point multiplier that advances until you are hit and coins to be collected to increase the score and enhance the protagonist. In fact, a special screen allows you to spend the accumulated money to improve Harry's equipment and skills, an aspect that together with others helps to infuse a splash of strategy to the product. Shooting at random is not enough, and especially in the more advanced levels you have to make the most of all the moves at your disposal (including a short sprint that Harry can perform and an upgrade that becomes available after accumulating kills that makes him temporarily invincible) in order to exterminate. the aliens within the allotted time limit.


Disinfest-action

The Bug Butcher can be very demanding, especially towards those who aim for the highest scores: it is necessary to be as fast, methodical and precise as possible in one's disinfestation work, with the support of a sufficiently reactive control system which is inevitably inferior to the equivalent via joypad. It is not the only area in which the title of Awfully Nice Studios gives the impression of losing something on its way from the original for PC to this mobile version: beyond the clean cut of the local multiplayer mode, it is evident how the menus have been adapted in a rather lazy way, resulting in buttons, writings and indicators that are far too minute for the standards of portable devices. However, these are venial sins, amply compensated by a very attractive price especially in relation to the absolute goodness of the contents of The Bug Butcher: in addition to the quality of the gameplay we talked about above, worthy of note is also the more than valid longevity of the main campaign, which is accompanied by a survival mode capable of constituting a great challenge. Final mention for the delightful audiovisual component of the product, which has remained unchanged from the original and further embellished by the definition of the high-profile smartphone and tablet screens: a cartoon-like graphics characterized by excellent animations is therefore accompanied by a refined sound both in the effects both in the background music.


Comment

Tested version iPhone (1.0.2) Digital Delivery App Store, Google Play Price 3,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

8.5


Readers (1)

3.1


Your vote

Compared to the PC version, The Bug Butcher in a mobile guise is orphaned of the multiplayer mode and loses something in terms of precision in the controls, but overall it is an even more focused product, thanks to a playful structure that adapts perfectly to the game on smartphones. and tablets and a price that makes it even more attractive. Pang nostalgics will find here a worthy heir to the historic 90s arcade, but for everyone else, The Bug Butcher is a great choice too.

PRO

  • Fast-paced and addicting gameplay
  • Delightful audiovisual department
  • Good level of challenge
AGAINST
  • Functional but not perfect controls
  • The menus are not adapted very well
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