GaleRider Review for iOS

First I will mention the few positive aspects of OrionArts’s new game, Galerider. I was impressed by the background graphics of the game. I thought that the development team did a nice job of making a scenery that had defined texture and excellent detail for the players to enjoy. Additionally, I thought that the overall lore that the game had going was quite promising with our protagonist, Bree, riding her dragon in defense of the central Bastion in the heart of the danger-filled land of Hyperia. The final thing that I liked about this game was the design of the overbeasts (the monsters for boss fights). These monsters looked truly intimidating and had a variety of interesting attacks that forced the player to strategically engage the beast and use the entirety of their arsenal to fell the beasts.

Now come the less enjoyable aspects of GaleRider. The thing about this game that bugged me the most was the fact that it felt like a botched rip-off of the universe of Game of Thrones and the gameplay of Subway Surfers while attaining the same level of quality as neither of the two. For example, Bree’s dragon is named “Reegal” (compared to GoT’s Rhaegal) and the entirety of the gameplay consists of swiping left and right to avoid rocks and enemies while collecting “essence,” in similar fashion to that of Subway Surfers. Originality aside, GaleRider just simply is not a good game in my opinion. The design of Bree and her dragon looked as if it was courtesy of the same team that did the CGI for the 1992 film, The Lawnmower Man. The graphics were generally blurry with dull edges and an overall look that seemed as if the game had yet to render.

The fighting mechanics were interesting as the player could use Bree to rapidly shoot energy bolts, Reegal to launch homing missile-esque energy orbs, and charged super attacks that allowed Reegal to unleash a barrage of missiles that cleared the screen of enemies. These cool-in-concept battle mechanics were, however, also ruined by poor game design. I found that I rarely had any control of what type of attack I was going to use and felt flustered as I struggled to swipe side to side in order to evade enemy attacks while simultaneously having to use both fingers in order to return attacks against my enemies.

            The overall quality of GaleRider was disappointingly lacking and I found myself frustrated and bored after about five minutes of gameplay. OrionArts will need to make some major updates if they want to make this game even remotely worthy of the status of a “paid” app in the store. The developer definitely has a good idea going with GaleRider, but in order for this gamer to buy the full version they will have to put a little more effort into their design and a lot more effort into keeping the fighting from becoming so monotonous.

Check Out the Galerider Trailer:

GaleRider is available via the App Store.

Hayden Vassey

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I've been playing video games since I got a Playstation 2 when I was about 5 or 6 years old. The original Star Wars: Battlefront series and the Spyro series initially ignited my interest in gaming, but it wasn't until I got older that I truly appreciated the subtle details that make video games such a unique form of entertainment. My favorite type of video game would have to be any lengthy and plot-driven open world game, with my favorite games of all time being Batman: Arkham City, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and Firewatch.

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