A new game called Eliminate Pro surfaced in the iPhone’s App Store yesterday, and it finally delivers everything the iPhone’s OS 3.0 update and faster 3GS model were supposed to provide.
Eliminate Pro is a free-to-play first-person shooter. The plot is minimal — you’re a test subject at a weapons development company — and the play is basic, pitting you against a few other players in simple deathmatch arenas. You need at least an iPhone 3G to play, but you get better map rendering on the iPhone 3GS. Graphically speaking, the game has a solid presentation and looks a bit like Quake 2 in terms of detail.
But what’s most interesting about Eliminate Pro is the business model, made possible with OS 3.0. There aren’t any ads, and it never costs you anything to play, but if you want to gain experience points and in-game currency for buying and upgrading gear, you’ll need “energy.” You only get enough energy for roughly a half dozen rounds, after which you’ll either need to buy more with real money or wait for about four real-world hours. A basic unit of energy costs $1 and lasts you for another half dozen rounds or so, though you can buy the stuff in increments of $10 or even $40.
So this is the iPhone’s new free app with in-game purchases model, but does it work? Sort of. I’m happy to keep the game on my iPhone, but I’m not tempted to buy more energy. The cost to keep earning experience and credits is simply too high — games go fast, so you could easily burn through $10 in a day — and there’s no option to pay once for all-you-can-play. The controls also need more customization, as I couldn’t quite get comfortable enough to achieve the lightning-quick response needed to feel like I’m playing a legitimate first-person shooter.
But for now, this is as good as it gets on the iPhone (disregarding Doom Classic and Wolfenstein 3D, which get special classic status). Eliminate Pro uses a business model that’s in line with the iPhone’s dirt-cheap economy, and it’s perfectly serviceable for a few minutes of fun. It may not be a great game, but it’s a good snapshot of where iPhone gaming stands right now.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I don’t care what you say! This app is the best Evah! I don’t buy energy yet it is still great. You upgrade and buy new armor and weapons. You can also tailor your guns for higher damage, clip size, etc. I love the charge. I am addicted to it and since I don’t want to buy more energy, I am not playing it nonstop.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:57 am
Pay As You Go? Forget that!
November 4th, 2009 at 7:02 am
This game is amazing. Great gameplay, fun, quick matches and death and destruction of noobs. The issue is the pay as you go energy charges. I think there should at most be a monthly/weekly fee to play, not a recharge fee. I mean like a dollar for a week, because anything else is too much. I would have even paid a one time fee of something in the neighborhood of 9.99. Great game, just what i was hoping for on the Iphone platform.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Yeah I agree they shoulda just charged ten. Because I won’t buy more energy at that price. I’ll just play a little at a time or against bots.
They should add online for only energy-less people
add me justinsean Im leval 5
November 5th, 2009 at 11:48 am
You can play online even if you dont have energy the only difference is you dont gain credits for upgrades. Its continous play, they also give you 30 cells each day to recharge your energy.. a full charge from empty is about 12, its not bad al all.. try it before you knock it.. You can also just pay $8 get a 210 cells and ration it.. thats what I did.. between recharge and free 30 cells per day.. it will go a long way..
November 6th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Damian, you do NOT get 30 cells for free each day. where on earth did you get that idea? that would destroy ngmoco’s cash flow entirely!
you get 30 free cells ONE time when you first sign up. after that, gotta pony up for wimpy upgrades and lame guns. I’m waiting for real quake3arena to invest my dollars.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
So I love this game but have only ever played with bots. When I tried to play online it told me to signin I forgot my info so just went to make a new acount but it won’t let me pick anything for a gamername. It’s not just because they are taken either iv tried jfubkcfubv and it didn’t work. It said internal error. It doesn’t recognize my email adress and I even deleted it and reinstaled it but it’s still not working. I’d really like to play can anyone help??? Thanks
November 7th, 2009 at 10:34 am
im trying to log into game45 but it wont work it only says invalid and im doing the right name and password and i do forget and i did the correct email and it wouldnt work my name is game45 in the game please help me
November 7th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I you guys actually downloaded (free!) and tried the game, it says very clearly in the weird intro movie that you can still play online without energy!!!!!!! You jut dont ‘win’ anything like you would with an energized suit
November 7th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
add me basenurface2013
November 7th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
you guys should add me so we can play some private matches sometime
Krabkid
see you guys on eliminate
November 8th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Great game pretty addicting but once you run out of energy to play for credits really takes the fun of upgrading your character. Hey EGMOCO why dont you have a monthly fee or something like that to make the game better. And listen to the what players feedback. Love the game tho’ good job. But if any of you out there want me to hand your butt to you just hit me up i’m Soto187 and you’ll get what the Charger’s did to the Giants this weekend, wee!
November 10th, 2009 at 10:18 am
I love this game. though i have difficulties in controlling the game. i will expect that coz im a beginner. please add me up.
aljedkeane
lets play Eliminate then….
November 11th, 2009 at 9:19 am
This game is wonderful. The energy recharge isn’t bad personally, as I only play it during my down time at campus. 15 minutes until my next class? I hop on and play, get my three games in, then usually after my next 2-3 classes (on a long day) I’m ready to go again. Awesome game for people on the go.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:10 am
This game is sweet, by far the best game I’ve played on the ipone. I was wondering if you can sell your upgrades back? But anyways I love this game and I also agree with everyone else that the poweer cell thing is kinda a drag,, they should sell it for a 1 time fee of somewhere in the range of $9.99-$14.99 Id actually pay it if I had unlimited access. I thought it was realy cool that they made the energy refill wait 1 hour instead of 3 and half hours for a limited time? Thats cool
November 13th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Anyone can help with which weapon is the deadliest. As in which one should i keep upgrading and using?
November 14th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
making a clan called eliminate hoes if interested go to
http://eh-t4b.webs.com/
become a member and tell me your epro username, ill add you.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:17 am
ultimateshotta I really like The shotgun. I just keep making it more deadly.
Also I was wondering how you shield bash sombody?? I was just shield bashed and they killed me first hit. Thx