Developer: Float Hybrid Entertainment
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: 001.01
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4S & iPad 2
Anyone who has played the likes of Portal or Myst will immediately know just what to expect from Subject 7. The game effectively boils down to a 3D adventure where players will need to follow instructions, solve puzzles – some stupendously simple, some mind-bendingly difficult – and generally follow the path from A to B without getting stuck.
Puzzles such as entering codes that need to be discovered and matching patterns using objects provided in-world are the usual fare in a game like this, and will come as no surprise to any seasoned gamer.
Subject 7 starts players out with absolutely no information at all, and certainly no story set-up. That may put some people off, but the sense of discovery right off the bat will appeal to others.
Without a doubt, the big plus to come out of Subject 7 is its gorgeous graphics, which explain the unusual hardware requirements. To play Subject 7 you will need an iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, or an iPad 2. Clearly no earlier model of iDevice is capable of pushing the pixels around as quickly as the developers wanted, and even on an iPhone 4S we found things could become a little choppy at times.
It is easy to forgive the odd hiccup, though, because the environment is just so lovely to look at. Infinity Blade 2 is receiving all the plaudits right now, but there is a case to be made for Subject 7 being the better looking of the two games.
The game’s ‘Window Mode’ is an interesting concept, allowing players to do away with on-screen controls and use the iPad or iPhone’s built-in gyroscope to move around the environment. Granted, it may not be the best way to play the game in the long term, but it is something everyone will want to at least try.
Subject 7 is a universal app, and playing on the iPad is most definitely the way to go. The larger screen and easier handling make the iPad a better proposition compared to the iPhone, where the smaller screen just does not do those graphics justice.
Overall Subject 7 is a fun game if players have the patience to figure out some of its more ‘interesting’ puzzles, though at around two-hours long players probably won’t want to revisit the world once they have seen all there is to see.