What Bug Assault lacks in on backgrounds is made up for with the different types of bugs. Although the plain wooden background isn’t much to look at, the colorful bugs make up for it.

Bug Assault (Universal: $0.99) 

“Addictive gameplay, an all new mechanic, upgradeable weapons, boss fights, collectibles and much more await you on the battlefield! Can you handle the Bug Assault?”

Presentation

There are over 30 different varieties of bugs, each with it’s own strength and weakness. They are 3D-ish, bright, colorful, and even somewhat cute (yes, I’ve been playing this game too much) which makes you think twice later on before you zap them to death. The beauty of it is that the game will throw these bugs at random sequence so you’ll never have the exact play through.

Controls

The controls are pretty straight forward for most of the game. You use two fingers for the game, each acting as an endpoint for the bolt of electricity. It’ll strike from one finger to another, killing anything in its way. As you can already imagine combos play a huge part when you line up your pointers to kill multiple bugs at once.Certain bugs are different though, and will require you tap on them for a special bonus. By the same token boss fights are a bit different from the regular gameplay, and you’ll have to figure out how to make your way through them.

Gameplay

The game revolves around zapping the bugs before they make it across. You start off with 20 health points, of which one is deducted each time a bug gets across. Additionally every time you zap a lady bug, five points are deducted. Here’s where it becomes a bittersweet deal: the game is challenging. This is a good thing, you’ll play through the first and second stage, no problem. Third stage comes up, you start to sweat it. But as it gets harder you’re bound to lose eventually, and when you do, you’ll need to start over at stage one.

Of course, there’s a bit more to just the normal zapping. You can unlock weapons like tesla coils, fly swatters, and bug spray. You can unlock all this with the game currency or with IAP. The disadvantage of this is that the perks cost, and the in game currency is difficult to get on your own. If there is but one suggestion I would make to the game would be more game modes. Currently the game only has one, as mentioned above, that has you progress through stages until you die, and then you start over. Something like an arcade mode or a timed mode would put extra pressure on the player, perhaps just take away the ladybugs.

Conclusion

Although there are some games like it on the AppStore, Bug Assault stands out for its unique control method. The design is great and stands out from the crowd, and the game is non-stop action, almost too much. If Bug Assault needs anything is more modes to make the gameplay easier for the average player. I’d say try it, but beware you’re in for a challenge.