By Ned Jordan
Burn The City is an Angry Birds clone in which the slingshot and birds have been replaced with a cute Godzilla-like lizard that spits fireballs. The object of the game is contained in the title ' to complete a level you must burn down all of the buildings it contains. To launch fireballs you drag a crosshair from the monster and then release it; the farther you drag the crosshair, the more momentum you put behind the fireball. The cities are all as fanciful as the giant lizard, with skyscrapers rising from elevated ledges, embedded in caves, or sitting under gigantic wrecking balls suspended high above them. Burn The City is more a puzzle game than a way to release your inner monster as leveling every building on a level is going to require some planning on your part, especially on the later levels where a wrong move can make it impossible for you to finish a level. Once you complete a level you're scored on the time it took you to complete it as well as on how effective you were in causing damage, so there's some incentive to return and try to beat your previous best score.
Burn The City has some of the same appeal as Angry Birds, but lining up the shots is trickier in this game because you'll need to aim for gaps and take advantage of ricochets to get to all of the buildings. On the other hand, you've got an unlimited number of fireballs so a miss isn't as disastrous as it can be on an Angry Birds level. While Burn the City has its appeal I doubt it will approach the popularity of Angry Birds, primarily because the physics of its collapsing buildings isn't as complex or interesting to watch as that of the structures in Angry Birds. A little of the fun is also tempered by the fact that the firing mechanism isn't as responsive and easy to control as it is in Angry Birds. Lastly, there are far fewer levels in Burn the City, although there is a 'Coming Soon' screen that implies that more are on the way. No mention if they'll be free or not, though.
Burn The City is a nice addition to the catapult game fanatic's library, but there are more enjoyable games of this type out there for the casual or occasional gamer.
Final Rating: 78%
