Everyone has been eagerly awaiting Infinity Blade's introduction to the App Store, and with it, a promised new era of iOS gaming. Listening to the hype around this game, one would think you would stop playing other games altogether. Does Infinity Blade live up to the hype? Let's take a look at this game a little more in-depth to find out.

Infinity Blade is the first game for iOS that used the Unreal Engine 3 to bring to life the story of a lonesome hero bent on destroying the God King (for reason's unknown other than, presumably, the God King is a bad dude); alas, your story begins.

You start off the game as our hero and his approach to the castle where the God King resides. To reach the God King, you will need to destroy many of his minions. They range in shape and size. After you defeat several minions, you reach the God King. If you defeat him, you have won. If you fail, you die and the journey or "bloodline" begins again with your son, avenging your death.

The time of this game is set in a castle with magic and knight folklore which will appeal to many people. The story for this game is not very deep, but with this game it is all about the gameplay and overall mechanics that make the title shine. Before you enter a battle you have an opportunity to scope the environment. This is a good thing as often you will find health, chests (they may contain an item) and bags of money. You can also see the properties of an enemy before you face them. This is useful because some enemies, especially once you get further in the game, are immune to certain attacks. So, prior to battle you can adjust your armor and weapons to the maximum benefit.

Once the battle begins, you have essentially three things you can do: block an attack, dodge an enemy attack by tapping the left or right corners of the screen or you can parry an attack by swiping in the same direction on screen as an incoming attack with your preferred weapon (sword, mace, axe, etc.) You can also use a special skill such as magic to perform a special attack. That's it folks (well, occasionally you get an opening where you can stab your enemy).

So, though this may not seem incredibly deep on the surface, the controls are very satisfying; it is not simple to just arbitrarily parry and block, there is some skill and technique involved. If you block attacks, your shield becomes weaker and will eventually break, adding even more challenge since you can't just block every incoming attack. There is a fair amount of variety in enemies too. They attack from different angles and are not standardized. Using magic strategically helps as well (heal your self, add additional hits to your shield, use an elemental attack against a weaker enemy) adding even more depth to the game. Some items even have magical endowments, a fire branded sword or a shield immune to ice attacks.

Overall, I enjoyed this game. Is it the most amazing game ever? Of course not, but it does offer a fun diversion and foretells the possibilities of gaming on iOS. There is currently enough content to keep you coming back for more. Dozens of weapons, helmets, shields, armor,etc. all have different attributes and is worth your time to master them. The most recent update added a max level for the player, a new enemy and additional items to buy and collect. Future updates will unlock even more of the castle, new monsters, multiplayer and more. If you have not downloaded this game yet, go do it now.

[$5.99- iTunes Link]