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  • Having already found a home on the XBLA and PC, Supergiant Game's stunning title Bastion

  • has leapt (from almost nowhere) on to the App Store and in particular on to the iPad.

  • It's a welcome surprise as it doesn't simply demand players to stick with the control system

  • of the first two releases (though it is still available), opting instead for an intuitive

  • semi-auto fire tap and drag system instead. The only question that remains is, does it

  • still feel like Bastion?

  • For those unfamiliar with the title, you play the role of 'The Kid', a capable warrior adept

  • in the use of weapons ranging from hulking two-handed hammers to mines, grenades, samurai

  • swords, and akimbo-pistols. It's an eclectic range, but you'll appreciate the variety as

  • you encounter the mysterious floating-world's vicious inhabitants. Whether you're fighting

  • a gloop spewing Scumbag, a fire-spewing Pyth bull, or the always frustratingly armored

  • Lunkheads, you'll be able to dodge, hit, shoot and maybe even fire off a special attack or

  • two to keep ahead of the curve.

  • While you could play the game using a virtualized version of the original controls (stick-based

  • movement with an arrangement of buttons to dodge, shoot, and so on), the iPad version

  • boasts its own smart-control system. Tap or double tap and you'll respectively walk or

  • dodge in that direction. Hold down and drag and The Kid will chase after your finger.

  • In either case you'll start attacking hostiles automatically as soon as they're in range.

  • This may sound cheap, but as it is you still need to avoid attacks while positioning yourself

  • up for counter-strikes and power-shots, balancing things out.

  • Traveling through the world of Bastion is a unique experience all on its own as it forms

  • itself from broken fragments as you move about. As you do so your actions are narrated by

  • the friendly elder 'Rucks', giving the game an almost story-book like feel as new areas

  • are constructed before your very eyes.

  • This actually becomes a core aspect of the game as you attempt to recreate the world

  • by collecting crystals, granting access to stores that invite experimentation by changing

  • The Kid's weapon load-out; modifying passive boosts; reforging weapons for new effects;

  • and even remembering the fallen victims of the calamity that surrounds you.

  • Bastion for the iPad is a wonderful adaption of an outstanding action title and one that

  • feels at home on the App Store thanks to its control modifications. Purists may balk at

  • the reduction of challenge, but Bastion's beauty is not in the difficulty, but in unfolding

  • its delicate story, one skway at a time.

Having already found a home on the XBLA and PC, Supergiant Game's stunning title Bastion

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