Review: Star Wars: Trench Run Blows Away The Dark Side — And Any Other iPhone Shooter I’ve Played So Far

8:49 pm, November 19th, 2009, Eli Milchman

This is what you’re about to ask: Is Star Wars: Trench Run so good that it’ll have you wondering how magically your iPhone becomes an X-wing fighter? Answer: No. It’s better — it’s actually so good, you’ll be trying to figure out why your X-wing looks suspiciously like an iPhone.

Hit the game’s icon and you’re zoomed to the battle of Yavin, where Luke and company fought to destroy the Death Star. Fly straight into a dogfight, the trench run, or fight through the whole sequence of events, eventually blasting Vader’s ship of into space and launching photon torpedoes at the exhaust vent (which I haven’t gotten to yet).

There’s not a lot of thought going on here: just fly and blast; marvel in awe at how completely the game puts you in the movie, from the screeching TIE fighter sound effects to the way the targeting reticule glows when you should fire to John Williams’ stirring theme in the background.

Switch between third-person and cockpit views, try the slow-motion mode if you get into a bit of a pinch and upload your achievements to the great galactic scoreboard.

This is a prime example of a simple, addictive, well-crafted game. THQ has produced an instant classic, and a game every bit worthy as a Star Wars title. The only thing lacking is a multi-player mode. What’s up with that, THQ?

If you’re a casual fan of Star Wars (and who isn’t) and you don’t mind becoming so addicted to an app on your iPhone that you’ll forget what day it is, you should get this game. But if you’re someone like my brother, who has a life-size poster of Luke Skywalker at his place, buying this $5 game should be the very next thing you do.

Red Leader, this is Gold Leader; we’re starting our attack run…

Posted by Eli Milchman in Gaming, Reviews, iPhone, iPhone Apps, iPod Touch | Comment on this article

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About the author

When he was eight, Eli Milchman came home from frolicking in the Veld one day and was given an Atari 400. Since then, his fascination with technology has made him an intrepid early adopter of whatever charming new contraption crosses his path. He calls San Francisco home, where he works as a journalist and photographer. Eli has contributed to the pages of Wired.com and BIKE Magazine, among others.

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7 comments

five bucks. ugh. Lite version?

Steve, on November 19th, 2009 at 10:20 pm

Game is riddled with bugs. Many reviews commented on such, and I was able to get the game to require a force quit fairly quickly. The game really is just a basic dog fight, and a basic trench navigation. Very makeshift, with a brief polish.

After playing around with it for a good 45 minutes, I’d rate it a 4/10.

Blue, on November 20th, 2009 at 2:07 am

I’ve been hooked! It seems to run smoother on my iPod Touch v2 than on my 3G.

Shane, on November 20th, 2009 at 9:27 am

Hey Thanks for the GREAT review!! I just wanted to let everyone know that v1.1 is coming out (hopefully in 24hrs) to fix the 3G issues. In fact, the the fixes were so good, the game plays extremely well on my 1st Gen iPhone!!

Read about the fixes, and the easter egg: http://rockonflash.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/star-wars-trench-run-fixed-for-2g3g-iphones/

I decided to give one of the easter eggs out as a feebie for causing people some grief over the game not doing well on a 3G initially. That’s all been fixed in v1.1

Thanks guys!

John

John Grden, on November 20th, 2009 at 11:05 am

Blue, I was a little puzzled by your comment, as I didn’t experience anything other than silky smooth performance on my 3GS. John — who I take it is from Infrared5 — has cleared things up for us.

Thanks to both for the comments.

Eli Milchman, on November 20th, 2009 at 1:45 pm

How much did they pay you to endorse this game? I am a loving StarWars fan, so after I read your review I immediately plunked down the $4.99 to buy this game. Have you actually played this game? IT’S F-ING TERRIBLE. You can’t even turn the X-Wing on its side. Thanks for wasting my money.

Todd, on November 21st, 2009 at 3:43 pm

Todd: To each his own, I suppose. Even after a week, it’s one of two games on my iPhone I always catch myself going back to.

As far as paying me to endorse the game, they did Fedex me a broken-down R2 unit, but I’d hardly call that payment. More of a curse, really. All it does it beep all day. And it smells of axle grease.

Eli Milchman, on November 25th, 2009 at 11:13 pm