Review: Alpine Crawler World

Alpine Crawler World from 3D Magic Box is an off road simulation with real time physics and weather effects with different cars/tracks to choose from.  With three different game modes, 4 different cars, and 3 terrains, this game is a great addition to the Apple App store.

The game is simple and to the point.  In time trial mode, the objective is to get to the end of the map before time runs out and of course without damaging your vehicle too much.  Each terrain has a total of ten levels, which all have a different difficulty level, weather, and grade of terrain.  Challenge mode is very close to Time Trial but instead of having unlimited lives you must complete each level (10) in time and complete each level with only ten lives.  Most of these tracks or not for the faint of heart as some can be quite difficult but doesn't detract from the overall fun.  There is also a Free Ride mode that allows you to traverse each level to better familarize yourself without the pressure of the clock. Graphics are very smooth on both the iPhone 3G and 3GS and never stutter.  Sound effects are pretty simple, Vrooom!  Two subtle effects that caught my attention was the different sounds that came off the tires based on the terrain, IE rocks or mud sound.  The second subtle effect was the dirt buildup on the vehicles which I thought was a very nice touch from the developer and great attention to detail.

Couple of complaints that I have about Alpine Crawler World is that there are no achievements and there are too few levels.  While the game has given me hours of fun and the replay value is there, I really would like to see some new cars and new levels added which can be easily added with an update.  The lack of achievements isn't a dealbreaker but would be a nice inclusion.  Apline Crawler World does have Open Feint support for leaderboards.  The biggest overall problem that I had with ACW was when a phone call came in in the middle of the game you would lose your progress, would love for it to save it's state information, sometimes you just can't ignore the call coming in.

Overall Alpine Crawler World is a great game for those that like off-road driving and should be downloaded.  You can purchase Alpine Crawler World on iTunes.  There is also a free lite version available for download.