Robbery Bob review (iOS / Universal)

May 3, 2012

♫ “I fought the law and the law won”

10 word description: Top-down stealth/theft game. Sneak, hide, loot, escape. Game Center.

One of the early missions is rather ironically titled Super Villain

10 word review: Clever, fun, polished and an encouragingly different iOS gaming experience.

In Metal Gear style, you can hide in a box. Toilets, plant pots and holes in the carpet are also available

You will like this if you enjoy: Games where you are avoiding detection from stationary and roaming guards. Although not exactly the same, there are elements that reminded me of Metal Gear, Commandos (old PC game series), Thief, etc.

Often, you need to find keys to open interior doors

The good news: Good graphics, decent sound effects, very good concept and game elements, controls are ok (despite the big virtual pad). It’s quite different from the majority of popular iOS games & genres. Very enjoyable, plenty of levels.

While waiting for a guard to move, you can tap the fast forward button to accelerate time

The bad news: As expected these days, there are a couple of IAPs that feel like an insult rather than an optional extra. Luckily, they are entirely optional.

No thanks. Yawn

Arcadelife verdict: Feeling like an old classic from the SNES days, this game is great fun on an iPad. Initially, you’re just sneaking around inside houses trying to grab everything without being seen. Later, you will be dodging surveillance cameras and using a variety of tricks to lure guards away from their posts.

Dodging the camera

I generally dislike time limits, but the ones in Robbery Bob are quite generous and don’t affect your ability to complete a level, just your final rating. The IAPs are present, of course, because why miss an opportunity to wring another 69p out of your customers? In this case, you can buy a cheat mode and unlock levels that you haven’t reached yet, so good luck with that.