I don’t know what it has me by, but it’s not the body part that normally completes that expression since I’m a woman. I frankly can’t think of a female equivalent that has the same oomph without making me cringe, but I’m sure you get the picture so let’s just move on, shall we?
Eliminate Pro (link opens iTunes) is one of Ngmoco’s most recent game releases for the iPhone. It’s free to get from the App Store and, technically, you don’t have to spend any money to keep playing it either.
Ngmoco has an introductory video to show how the game works:
I just love the overly-enthusiastic tone of the narrator – it’s like an HR employee in chirpy robot mode that puts you in the perfect mood to shoot someone. (Apologies to any HR people reading this – I used to be one so I give myself a bit of license in this area.)
Noticed how she talked about “energized” suits? You can still play while your suit isn’t energized, but you won’t earn any credits playing like this. Credits are the currency used to buy new weapons and armor and upgrades, so you’ll want to earn credits at some point. To energize your suit, you can wait for a free recharge, which can take up to around 3 hours. Or, you can buy power cells from the App Store from within the app. It takes 15 power cells to give your suit a full charge. If you go to buy cells through an in-app purchase, you’ll only get 3 options and you may not get the package you want. If I were buying power cells, this would get on my nerves, but I understand that any app can only show up to 3 in-app purchase options at a time, so it’s not Ngmoco’s fault.
Power cells can also be converted to credits so you have another funding source (outside of picking up dropped credits while playing in an energized suit) to use if you want to buy new weapons and armor.
I am doing a little bit of an experiment by playing regularly (waiting for the free recharges) and not spending any money at all to purchase power cells to energize my suit. I only use credits I earn during matches to purchase my weapon and armor upgrades. And, I’m only using the standard armor and upgrading it when I can. I am using the standard-issue auto rifle as my main weapon, but I purchased a plasma cannon early on with some earned credits before I made my decision to play with only the standard-issue stuff, and I use it occasionally. I have stopped upgrading the plasma cannon, though, and any credits spent on weapons go to upgrading the auto rifle.
I have good matches where I spank everyone else and bad matches where I get my ass handed to me by players at lower levels with fewer skill points. As the Jeffersons would say, I’m movin’ on up slowly yet surely without spending a dime. I’d like to try to make it to the (previously) highest possible rank – 50 – without making use of the Amex card to which my iTunes account is linked. I’m at rank 18 now and usually make it to the next level every other day when playing daily. At this rate, it will take me just over 2 weeks to hit rank 50. If I keep playing at this pace and hold my own as I play better and better players, that is. I claim no extraordinary prowess at FPS games, but they are my favorite game genre and I’ve taken quite a shine to Eliminate Pro (it’s the first game I’ve ever put on the first page of my iPhone’s home screen).
If you are used to a mechanical controller to do your fragging and find the touch-only interface on the iPhone to be daunting, I feel your pain. I was very frustrated with the controls at first, but I got used to them so don’t give up.
If I can hit level 50 without spending any money, I will gladly make up for my cheapness at that time and buy lots of power cells to help compensate the developers for creating a fantastic and addictive game.
I’m usually online and playing around lunch time and in the evening though I don’t usually play unless I have energy (me need credits). If you want to add me as a friend so we can have private matches, my Plus+ ID is BadAngel. BRING IT ON.
P.S. I started writing this post before Eliminate Pro was updated to version 1.1. I want to note that I still enjoy the game, but I’m getting my ass kicked by other players who have paid money to upgrade their armor and weapons to the maximum amounts possible (it takes me longer since I have to wait to earn credits to make these purchases, and a recent change to the game made these upgrades more expensive). I will say that the matching engine isn’t all that great – it matches by rank and skill points but does not take equipment into consideration. Unfortunately, my skill points are taking a dive as I get beaten up by players in Tank armor with Rocket Launchers. I hate Rocket Launchers. My standard issue armor is no match for those. /me makes sad face.
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