Wraithborne Review

Wraithborne Review

Is Wraithborne the latest winning iOS dungeon crawler, or just another pretty face with shallow gameplay?

The iPhone dungeon crawler is a delicate thing, meshing the hopes and dreams of how fun the tap-and-slash concept seems versus the reality of how limiting a touchscreen interface can be when you actually get down to it. Wraithborne straddles the line, with moments of fun freckling the otherwise frustrating exploration and combat.

Wraithborne is a post-apocalyptic journey starring the titular Wraithborne, a human born from... wraiths (what else?). Magic has returned to the world, ending the age of man… I can keep going but it’s all pretty slapped together, honestly. The vibes Wraithborne give off when battling werewolves and goblins on dilapidated asphalt roads are at least the beginnings of a unique and cool setting but I never felt invested in the ho-hum storyline.

Don't cross the double-yellow.

Outside the setting, Wraithborne is standard hack-and-slash fare. Virtual controls allow you to block, dodge and string combos between standard and heavy attacks. Each block depletes a gauge, so using savvy tactics is necessary. Although the combat can fun, more often it just feels bland and frustrating . Switching the controls to touch-to-navigate and attack can help if you jive with that setup, which is a welcome option.

Outside combat, understanding where to go next is the Wraithborne's single biggest issue. Objectives and direction are obscenely lacking. It's a delicate balance between holding a player's hand and providing no guidance at all, and Wraithborne errs too far towards the latter.

The combination of frustrating controls met with shallow design means there just isn't much to be excited about in Wraithborne. The only character progression is an upgradeable rune system, in which you unlock and trace characters on the screen for special attacks and temporary buffs. The game is lacking basic elements familiar to most dungeon crawlers like items, equipment, dialogue and more. While you can get away with one or two omissions, the rest of the package usually needs to pick up the slack. Sadly, in this case, it doesn’t.

THE VERDICT

Wraithborne is yet another in the growing field of iOS dungeon crawlers, and another still in the smaller batch of highly visual iPhone and iPad games powered by Epic's Unreal Engine. It’s a great looking game, but that doesn’t make up for its run-of-the-mill gameplay. WhileWraithborne might fill your hack-and-slash void for now, don’t expect an endless abyss of fun. This wraith is borne of mediocrity.