Hands on: Apple Arcade Review

At the same event where Apple unveiled its iPhone 11 Series, the company finally announced the price of Apple Arcade: $ 4.99 a month after a free trial of a month. It was one of the last pieces of the game subscription service puzzle, which is operational from September 19 on iOS 13 (sorry, friends of other platforms: you will have to wait for the launch of the iPadOS September 24 and MacOS Catalina and probably tvOS 13 will be launched on September 30.)

The other element, of course, is what distinguishes its game library – what Apple Arcade has to offer – that can convince consumers to sign up. After spending time with a handful of titles, we have a much better idea of ​​what Apple Arcade is: a service allowing people to play games that might not have been created in other circumstances.

This is an ambitious ambition and we will see if Apple's conditions for developers – including professional expertise, marketing, and blurry financial assistance during development – will actually produce experiences that consumers will not be able to live elsewhere.

What we do know is that the half-dozen titles we played were varied, new and woven alive, just the kind of charming sample that makes us recommend the service.

(Image credit: Future)

So … what is Apple Arcade, really?

Here's what Apple Arcade is not: an alternative to the Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Now or any other subscription to a game or streaming service. You probably will not see an AAA title appear, especially graphics-hungry games that have trouble running smoothly in the Apple device ecosystem.

Apple Arcade is rather an argument for enjoyable, rich and undemanding games that give priority to the ease of reading and reading in a complete set: it is the philosophy of Apple that is to use a garden without stress.

After hours of work and a lower subscription fee than expected, we are more convinced that many consumer budgets have room for this type of no-frills, all-inclusive service with no advertising or monetization. .

Of course, Apple has a lot of work to do, especially with many entertainment subscriptions that tire consumers. But there is demographic data that will please, parents (thanks to the range explicitly friendly for families) to people who just want an interesting list of games every month, they know that they will work on every new device Apple that they own.

Some things are still confusing. Apple Arcade is not a stand-alone repository for accessing service games. This is a tab of the App Store that allows subscribers to download titles on the home screen of their device. Yes, you will need to download each game to play it, which means you can only store the available space, but there is no limit.

But the service is really easy to use – just like reading the same title on different devices. During the short period with half a dozen games, we loaded the shinsekai side underwater on Apple TV (with a PS4 DualShock 4) and on an iPhone 11 Pro Max, which had been adapted with built-in buttons to l & # 39; screen. It was of course a little harder to control on mobile than a traditional gamepad, but the performance did not suffer.

We did the same with Skate City and found that both titles worked smoothly, although we did not have the chance to switch from one platform to another. In theory, the service allows you to continue playing on a device different from the last backup of the cloud state. .

Games and features

Apple has been very shy about its criteria for adding new titles to Apple Arcade, but adheres to these basic rules: game candidates must be in development (no titles already published), they must be compatible with families and operate from end to end. Apple devices ecosystem.

It is clear that Apple is preparing a list of selected readers, adding an uncertain number of titles each month to its first catalog, which will reach 100 titles in the weeks following its launch.

Apple Arcade games have somewhat confusing degrees of exclusivity – some only be available to play on the service, while others (like Overland) will simultaneously launch on other platforms, such as console or PC – but they would apparently not be available on Google Play or Android phones, at least for the time being.

That's availability, but what kinds of experiences does Apple want people to have with Apple Arcade games? Among the titles we tried, what sets them apart from classic games is how shaggy they were.

Shaggy, like in non-skinny – like in, including features that would probably have been cut in order to bring out the game.

Sneaky Sasquatch, an Apple Arcade launch title from studio RAC7, is a good example: you play the titular cryptid, crawling around campgrounds stealing food and getting tired of hijinks (a foolish title: Metal Gear Sasquatch). But if you pass a poster with a slice of pizza, the "squatch" will fix it with envy while you walk.

This is a quirk that would probably have been abandoned before a classic launch, but this feature has been integrated into the game thanks, in part, to the security of Apple Arcade. In theory, if developers are less congested than they rely on buying mechanisms in the game or advertisements, and that they were no longer forced to conclude commercial development contracts, they could focus on their games.

Without the monetization schemes that are commonly used in games, Sneaky Sasquatch feels more free to offer his strange and fun style of play. Players are not forced to buy anything at regular intervals; instead, they wander to discover new map areas, accepting mischievous foxing quests, submitting to a driver's license test to be allowed to participate in track races … all the unusual activities that that the game seems to have the freedom to expand on its own territory rather than rigorously adhere to the convention.

You can also see it in other Apple Arcade titles – such as Klei's Hot Lava Studio, which takes up the childhood game title and adds a ton of fun fun (like a long Saturday Morning style cartoon). ) to what is essentially linear. obstacle course. It's overproduction in the best way.

That's the dream of Apple Arcade – games you do not get elsewhere, in a family-friendly catalog (which can be played by up to six family members), which includes all standard content and downloadable content for a single monthly fee.

(Image credit: Future)

Early verdict

It's hard not to consider Apple Arcade as a refined mobile gaming experience, especially since its range of introductory titles includes many products with this "gaming" look: stylistic art, singular gameplay, and slowness (often thoughtful and puzzling). action).

On the one hand, this perspective reduces the potential of the service. On the other hand, it's not wrong: one of the launch titles of the service, Where Cards Fall of the Snowman studio, was designed as a game of smartphones and tablets before the opportunity to release it in Apple Arcade does happen by chance. Make Games to Chase Consumers iPhone and iPad feeds perfectly with the potential base of Apple Arcade subscriptions, which looks like a game design feedback loop.

Of course, we only see the first generation of Apple Arcade games, including those who were already building mobile games. It is quite possible that the next game offers games designed specifically for the service that are out of the mold of mobile gaming. That Apple Arcade keeps its promises after the honeymoon phase will only be clear in the weeks and months following the launch.