Smash Cops iOS Review

Smash Cops iOS Screenshot

When I moved to Southern California 14 years ago one of the first things I was struck by was the abundance of car chases on television. For a variety of reasons this state has more than it’s share of crazy chases involving some lunatic and the police. For awhile it was regular Friday night programming, you could make dinner, grab a drink and wait for the car chase, inevitably ending with the driver face down on the pavement. Smash Cops by London’s Hutch Games aims to bring that vehicular chaos to mobile devices.

You play as the police with your primary goal being to take out one or more criminal vehicles before they cross the state line. At the beginning of the game you only have a standard police patrol car, but that’s all that’s required to start running crooks off the road. You drive along steering with your finger (no separate gas or braking needed) and attempt to ram the offending car until it’s health bar empties. Once their bar is fully depleted the criminal is arrested and off the streets.

Visually everything is presented like a ‘Breaking News’ TV broadcast of a police chase, right down to the aerial helicopter view and news channel logo. The graphics are impressive showcasing a sunshine-drenched city littered with palm trees, bridges, and landmarks. It’s obvious that a lot of effort was put into the little details here.

Smash Cops iPhone Screenshot

There are two choices for controls: push controls by sliding your finger behind the car or a virtual joypad. I spent the first couple of missions using the default push option and obtained mixed results. While it’s better for quick-turning 180 degrees, I found myself over-steering and losing control too often. Maybe that’s just me. I eventually gave the virtual joypad a try and immediately my skills improved. Possibly it’s because I’ve been a console gamer my entire life and the joypad works the way my brain is wired. Whatever the reason it’s great that there’s a choice, try them both out and see what works best for you.

Besides steering you can tap the screen to ram a car and smash it which momentarily slows it down. A rechargeable ram meter turns blue letting you know when ramming is available. It automatically refills fairly quickly and is also useful for speed boosts if you find yourself too far behind your target.

A variety of mission types keep things interesting as you progress through the game. Besides just taking out bad guys, some missions require collecting scattered evidence in a certain amount of time or transporting a suspect across town while dodging enemies. Successfully completing missions earns you a star rating and accumulated stars will unlock better vehicles and new missions. Besides two tutorial levels there are 20 missions in total each offering five stars to collect. You likely won’t get a five star rating on your first try so you can replay earlier levels with a more powerful car if you need to earn more stars. Hopefully future updates will add even crazier missions as I can see near limitless opportunities in this virtual city.

On the downside I spent way too much time trying pass the sixth mission, a unforgiving cone challenge full of razor sharp turns and time penalties. Eventually I passed it but man was it tough. If you find yourself stuck on a mission you have the option of driving a one-time use Super Cop car which is ultra-fast and powerful. These can be earned in-game or purchased on iTunes at three for $0.99. Buying assistance isn’t my style but the option exists for those who choose it. My only other gripe is that the rotating camera can sometimes be disorienting when taking corners too fast which caused me to lose perspective. After playing the game for awhile I learned to anticipate this and it became less of a problem.

Smash Cops is an entertaining game with a clever premise and fantastic presentation. It’s challenging but in the good way. If you’re looking for short bursts of frantic arcade gameplay then Smash Cops is ready to roll.