Gleam of Fire Review

Through the Fire and the Flames
By Richard Jewell
Reviewed on iOS
Released on July 13th, 2018 on iOS. Also available on Itunes
Developer: Snow Games    
Publisher: Snow Games

Gleam of Fire is a 2D sidescrolling action game with some light RPG mechanics thrown in to help keep things interesting. End review. Okay, okay, there's more to the review than that. You are the last warrior of light and it is your sworn duty to rekindle the torches and bring the light back to the souls of the undead. Gleam of Fire is not a f2p title with in-game purchases, which is the more common type of game you'll see on the mobile storefront. Instead, for a low one-time price, you unlock the game and all its content, including future content updates. It's well worth it, in my opinion. $2.99 unlocks the rest of this review, PayPal/Visa/Mastercard are all accepted. Aww, never mind. Just scroll down for the rest of the review, free of charge. I don't know how those other mobile game developers do it!
 
The game is made up of three worlds; Darkness, Nightmare, and Light. Each world has ten levels to complete and then a boss fight. Your main goal is to light the torches in the level and reach the portal at the end, all while fighting off monsters and dodging the many lethal obstacles populating the areas. You can leave the level as soon as you find the portal at the end, but finding all three of a level's torches and lighting them should be a top priority. You receive a star for each torch that you had lit during the course of a level. You can then spend stars on leveling up two of your stats, health, and MP. So unless you want to get absolutely smashed later on when the difficulty increases, you're better off powering up as much as possible. Luckily, you're able to track your progress and replay any level that you've previously unlocked.

There are other stats to level up other than health and mp, but it's done in a more traditional RPG way. Beating up monsters earns you experience that you can then spend as you see fit in between levels or anytime from the main menu. As for the actual beating of the monsters, you have a few options there. Your main weapon is a sword that can be swung up to three times in succession. You also have two secondary attacks that can be switched between at will and they both cost MP to use. The bow is handy not only because you can hit those trickier enemies from a distance, but it is also the only tool at your disposal for lighting the torches. The freeze spell is my personal favorite. It can be unleashed quickly to freeze quick enemies so you can go to town on them with your sword. Your sole defensive ability comes in the form of a dash that renders you invulnerable to all damage when used. This will be your best friend when navigating through all the trap-laden levels.
 
The controls are really good for a mobile title. I don’t play mobile action games often because I find the controls appalling, but after getting used to them I found that they were very responsive and tight. I never ran into any lag or frame drops either, which is essential for this type of game. Gleam of Fire also supports the use of a Bluetooth controller, but I don’t have access to one so I couldn’t try it out. The sound quality is decent as well. The soundtrack is made up of a handful of instrumentals that do well to set an ominous mood. It fits well with the dark, minimalist aesthetic that the graphics bring to the table. The foreground is mostly in black, aside from a few colorful special effects for extra punctuation. It works well for the most part. Sometimes I have issues distinguishing traps on the screen since everything is black, but not often enough where I feel that it is unfair. Are you looking for a challenging action game that you can play offline, contains no microtransactions, and is quick and easy to pick up and play? Gleam of Fire is a great choice.
 
Note: A copy of the game was provided for the purpose of the review.

Final Score: 8/10​

+Nice gloomy graphic style
+Good sound design
+Challenging but fun gameplay
+Tight controls
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