The Lost War is a Windows Phone game where you control an advanced robot/spaceship and battle the evil empire.
The game includes two gaming modes, campaign and survival, each with tons of enemies to blow up. The 3D graphics helps give The Lost War a bit of appeal but slow load times can be frustrating. Available for low-memory Windows Phones, the game is a popular title in the Windows Phone Store and after a few recent tips, we took The Lost War out for a test drive to see what all the excitement is about.
The Lost War's main menu presents you with straightforward options to jump into game play, access the game's settings and visit the game's store for in-app purchases.
Settings cover turning on or off the sound and vibrations, choosing a graphics level, setting the orientation of the joysticks and setting the movement sensitivity. Your graphics quality options are your basic high, medium and low with the low setting being recommended for low-memory devices. In-app purchases include unlocking gaming levels ($.99), unlocking all the levels in the game ($2.99) and unlocking all the weapons in the game ($1.99).
Game play includes two gaming modes, campaign and survival. The survival mode includes three levels, which provides three different environments to battle enemy droids and see how long you can last. The Campaign Mode has twelve stages that are progressively unlocked where you have to conquer planets and battle enemy droids, vehicles and star ships.
The game screen layout has your vital statistics in the upper left corner, the level goal in the top center and a pause button in the upper right corner. Just below your vital statistics is a radar that shows where your enemies are lurking.
Movement is done with the left joystick to control your forward, backwards and side to side movements. Your point of view or orientation is adjusted by swiping at the screen. You control the robot's weapons with the right joystick, which sets aim and tapped to fire. The third on-screen button will let you change out your weapons.
For the most part, controls are responsive but moving around and changing your orientation can be trying at times, especially during combat engagements. Two joysticks for movement would have been better but that would mean you have to manage three sticks, which could be tough. As is, the controls are probably laid out the best way possible. It just may take a little time to get used to balancing your movement and point of view changes.
The Lost War's goal is simple. Destroy your enemies before they destroy you. You roam the countryside and space seeking out enemy droids, star ships and other enemies.
The enemy rate of fire is somewhat on the slow side but so is your robots'. It's not impossible to duck and weave between the enemy shots but you will need to be careful and not get surrounded by the enemy droids, which will make dodging the shots all the more difficult. For the most part, The Lost War is a seek and destroy type game but just keep in mind that the enemy droids are doing the same with you. They have the tendency to sneak up on you from your blind side with the only warning you have being a shot across your brow. Before you know it you are getting blasted into dust.
Overall Impression
The Lost War is a nice Windows Phone game full of challenges. The 3D graphics are nice but I've always seen this graphics style as more of an acquired taste. I did find that the more I played The Lost War, the more it grew on me. You do have to stay on your toes as you hunt down enemy droids, with all the ninja styled droids that appear out of no where.
While game play has its appeal, some of the environments are very dark, making it difficult to pick out your targets. You also have incredibly long load times with The Lost War. Even with the graphics dialed down to low, you will find yourself facing a black screen for about thirty seconds before the cinematic trailer appears. This delay only gets longer as you bump up the graphics settings. I'm not sure load times can be shorten while maintaining the level of graphics The Lost War offers.
All in all, The Lost War is an entertaining Windows Phone game and at last check The Lost War is pulling down a five star rating in the Windows Phone Store. I might dial the rating down a half a star but I can see the attraction the game has garnered so far.
Download The Lost War for Windows Phone (Trial / $1.99)
