AbleGamers iPhone Game of the Week: Epic Citadel

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Published on Sunday, 11 November 2012 03:59

Written by Jesse Lifshitz

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat; Epic Citadel is just a tech demo of the Unreal Engine 3 running on iOS. There is no plot, missions, or actions besides walking and gazing around. Don’t be fooled though by the lack of gameplay, Epic Citadel is a must play game.

You start within the castle walls, and are set loose on the city. You wander around gasping at the beauty of the castle. From the photo realistic clouds to the birds flying around the keep, the castle is full of life while eerily deserted. The game gives you a blank world without any other characters and you fill in the gaps. Imagine your own history for this castle as you explore it.

There are no interactions with the environment, so you cannot open doors, but there are some buildings with an open door. The temple has a beautiful marble floor reflecting the statue standing across from you and chandeliers to showcase lighting effect.

Eventually I found my way outdoors into the country, and I saw a breathtaking view. The castle is perched atop a mountain, and the winding road down offers beautiful views of the ocean on one side and a stream on the other.

From a distance, the castle looks just as beautiful as it looks from the inside, and you’d never guess it was empty. The sun shines through the clouds and creates beautiful picturesque moments. The moment is so beautiful that I want to take out my camera to capture it, and then I remember it’s only a game.

Epic Citadel is truly a work of art that everyone can enjoy. There are two ways to move about the world. The easiest way to move is tapping where you want to go on the screen and you will automatically walk there. You can drag your finger around the screen to look around while stopped or while walking. The second way is to use the on-screen joysticks to move and look, but it does not work as well, or you can use a combination of the two forms. Epic Citadel also has beautiful sound effects, from the pitter patter of your boots, to the running stream, but there are still heavenly sights to see if the sound is off.