M0B1US Review - Mental Universe - iOS (2014)

From a world filled with Flappy Bird and Temple Run comes M0B1US from Glaswegian developer Mental Ultimate. It's an endless running released for iOS. It has a bit of a unique spin, where the screen will not move at all during the game, instead, the player will run along the ground, then onto the other three walls in a lap around the screen. It’s a bit disorientating at first but after a while it becomes natural.

It makes good use of the mechanics of iOS titles with a simple tap gesture allowing the runner to jump over boxes and a swipe of the finger will slide you under any oncoming obstacles. It's responsive, which is just as well as the window of opportunity to make your action is very small. The obstacles themselves aren't very varied. You either have the box to jump over or the box to slide under. I can't really argue that other games of the genre have hugely varied obstacle sets. Temple Run has its holes and trees, Flappy Bird just has tubes. It just feels pretty repetitive. There's no real reason for running, again looking at other games: Temple Run has you escaping dark creatures of a tomb, Jetpack Joyride has you blasting at high speed through a science lab with goodness knows how much horsepower on your back. M0B1US feels like a cyber-gym, I don't know why this guy is running and jumping around the corners of the room, I don't think he knows either, ignorance is bliss I suppose.

Not only that, most running games will give you the sense of progression. Collecting coins or rings or shiny stones to unlock customisation options for your experience. None of these games would be as entertaining without the customisation, the genre runs thin without it and M0B1US is lacking in this regard. Likewise with its gameplay. Being given set tasks and goals help extend these experiences. It gives you a goal within a main goal and can sometimes alter the way you play the same game. It keeps it fresh and interesting. Again, M0B1US doesn't have any of this, it's just running with no real structured reason or set goal.

What it does do well though is its theme. A lot of these endless runner games make use of a varied and bright colour pallet whereas M0B1US’s charm lies with its futuristic blue hues and glowing orange obstacles. It's a change of pace for a genre that is mainly aimed at kids and the music keeps the whole game tied together nicely.

For 69p you can't really argue. It's entertaining enough to keep you busy on travelling to work or waiting on a train, but you won't go back to it over and over again, which is what these types of games rely on. I'm usually a non-believer of free to play models, but when you look at running games, their strength is in the customisation. M0B1US has none which is unfortunate as may have kept me playing a little longer. It's built well and has been bold enough to go for its own theme, disappointingly, it's not enough to stand out in an already saturated genre. 

Written and Published for CalmDownTom