The end app is a fun arcade running game, similar with Temple Run. The running takes place in a post apocalyptic city, filled with burning cars, school buses and crushed airplanes. Your character simply runs on the streets with you controlling his direction, jumping and ducking to avoid obstacles or collect bonuses. There are also certain power ups you can unlock as the game makes progress and other goodies (most cost real money though).
To keep the game interesting, apart from the free run where you have no goals there is a campaign mode, spread out through 14 days, each with 5 different challenges. The challenges range from having to collect a certain amount of duct tape (DT), to reaching a certain distance or buying stuff using your DT.
Graphics and quality
Overall, the game is quite nice and responsive. The 3D graphics and effects look great and the level of detail is enough to create the illusion of a real city. You can find anything from taxis, police cars, lava lakes to airplane engines, pipes, roadblocks and bridges. The soundtrack and fx are decent, but nothing spectacular. Each day has a different theme so you will witness sunny days, thunderstorms or sunrises.
However, after a few played games you start to recognize certain patterns of obstacles that keep repeating themselves. This is not necessarily a bad thing and it will help you down the line.
Gameplay and tips
The End App strikes a good balance between gameplay elements. Good graphics combined with a responsive interface and a simple, but decent storyline will get you hooked up fast.
- When a lot of obstacles appear and you don’t know which way to go, simply follow the duct tape trail. It always follows the correct path, be it through jumping, ducking under a truck or cutting corners.
- Be careful with the Movie Mode power-up. While flying you are invincible, but when the counter reaches zero you will fall down. There are times where you simply fall in lava pits that span the entire width of the road. No use tilting the device left/right here. Get used to it.
- Keep the Lucky Coin for the challenges. There is no use for it in the Free Run.
Downsides
Throughout the whole game you are invited to buy the PRO version ($2.99 at the moment) to unlock new options. Starting from the 13th day in the campaign, you are forced to skip the challenges using DT because they require the purchase of locked items. You might say that the free game ends on day 12.
A huge problem that happens far too often is that the environment renders too slow. This leaves you running without seeing anything for a few seconds. But rest assured that the obstacles and turns are still there. Your only hope is to keep jumping and pray you don’t hit anything and the road doesn’t make a 90 degree turn. This might be a problem encountered solely on older devices though.
Conclusion
The end app is a fun game with enough features and gameplay tricks to satisfy the average player’s entertainment needs. It is however a bit modest in terms of free features and very generous in terms of here’s all you could enjoy if you only pay for it.
Summary
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| Reviewed Version | 2.18 |
| Device used for testing | HTC Nexus One |
| Price | Free |
| Size | 49 MB |
| Advertising | Yes |
| Developer | Goroid |