Nun Attack (PS VITA)

Being the horror fanatic that I am Frima Studio's "Nun Attack" has always captured my attention. Every time I saw it in the PSN store listings I thought to myself, "I wonder what that game's all about?". Anything dealing with church clergy, demons, and monsters is always intriguing to me, and the fact that "Nun Attack" had all that going for it made me curious as hell. The art itself reminded me of a certain type of Saturday morning cartoon that I used to love, and only made me want to play it even more. While the game has been out for quite a while I finally did get my grubby little hands on the beast. My playthrough which started off somewhat smoothly was delayed due to error codes, and crashes though. Once I figured out that the game is truly meant to be a touch screen only experience I was able to dodge any further setbacks. Now that I've spent enough time with it to understand what's what I can deliver the review that I promised. I hope you enjoy the review for what it's worth, and that it gives you the proper insight on the game, so that you can make an educated purchase oriented decision.

Nun Attack starts of like any Saturday morning cartoon should. You have a proper intro cinematic featuring the gun toting nun family who has seen one of their own turn to the dark side. Not only that, but this minutes worth of animation also gives a proper sneak peek at the actual visual presentation of the game. Everything you see in the intro comes to life onscreen as you play the game. The family of nuns look exactly like they do from the get go. As far as plot is concerned the four nuns who are still on the side of good are seeking revenge on their sister Morganna who has brought about the biblical apocalypse. As they search for their sister gone bad they must deal with hordes of the undead as well as demons, and other monstrous foes. Along the way the also have to destroy the various demon gates that Morganna has opened during her reign of terror.

Gameplay in "Nun Attack" is all about touch screen mechanics. In fact I'd go so far as to say it's full-on touch screen compatible. Everything you do from directing your group of nuns through the maze-like maps to taking on wave after wave of demonic adversaries in a tactical RPG style manner is done using the simple touch screen functions. By dragging your finger from the base of each nun to their intended new location you can move them about the map, and the various stages of the game. You can also direct the nuns in a similar manner to attack onscreen enemies by dragging your finger from the nuns' feet to the enemy target you desire to attack. Actual attacking is an automated thing though, and will continue until the enemy is dead, or your nun has been killed.

To thwart the offensive attacks of enemy creatures the nuns have a few different things going for them that they can use to deal damage, help each other, and evade incoming baddies. Each nun whether it be the dual pistol toting Eva, the assault rifle toting Rosy, the shotgun blasting Olga, or the revolver packing Mandy has a primary weapon. As just described each nun can only carry that type of weapon, but through in-game progress, and coin collecting can upgrade, and even unlock stronger weapons. Aside from their primary means of offense each nun has a special ability that can be reused after a certain time limit (as shown on the onscreen icon when the nun is highlighted). In the case of Eva she can call in a ghostly clone which will also deal damage to any enemy that she has targeted. Rosy being the more hardcore, and stealth nun that she is has the ability to turn invisible, and remain incognito to any onscreen enemy for a limited time. Olga being the brutish, and almost male-like nun that she is can up her defenses making her a towering force to be reckoned with. Lastly the meek, and petite nun known as Mandy can assist her teammates by healing any of them that stand within distance of the flashing blue crosses that surround her. Together the nuns can make a formidable team, but it isn't until later on in your playethrough that you'll be able to use them all at once. You have to unlock their spots in your party via specific tasks in the game.

Another ability of the nuns is something called a "Miracle". Like everything else that's unlockable in the game you can earn these miracles for future use. Things like health refills, and resurrections are a possibility if you do what needs to be done to gain them. While initially unlocking a miracle requires such things as defeating bosses, or finding golden arks on the in-game map screen you will have to pony up the dough to keep the miracle options available. This means picking up (tapping) the coin piles that are left when an enemy has been successfully killed, and spending it on miracle purchases via the main menu in the miracle shop section. One thing to keep in mind about miracles is that they run on a timer just as the icon based special abilities do. In order to perform a miracle though you'll need to tap the book icon at the lower left-hand side of the screen and apply the proper motions with your finger on the touch screen. The health refill miracle, for example will have you drawing a cross on the screen with your finger. Others such as the resurrection miracle will require something like a simple curve. The downside to miracles though is the fact that if you mess up in your finger drawing you will have to wait until the book icon timer fills back in with color before you can use it. This will leave your nuns at a huge disadvantage, especially if you needed to refill their health.

As with any RPG you'll find that your chosen team of nuns (yes you can choose who to take) will level up in health, and strength as you successfully defeat the waves of enemies in a battle scenario. If any of your nuns should die during a battle that nun will not level up though. Keep in mind though that the game only requires one nun to survive in order for you to win. After a battle engagement if at least one nun has survived the nuns that had died during that battle will rejoin you on the map with full life ready to assist you in your next task. Navigating the maps, and engaging in battles is a entirely different beast in itself though. You'll definitely have to mind your nuns' health stats if you hope to complete a level/stage to it's end.

Levels in "Nun Attack" are divided into three parts. Initially you'll find that the main map which usually contains images of the enemy's head setup at 10, or more different locations before a final boss area is a basic touch screen map that will gain you access to each individual level. The levels in turn are marked by the enemy head icons. By clicking on your preferred level you will be taken to another map filled with different types of demon gates, flags, and possibly even the coveted golden arks. These features each mean their own thing. The demon gates which will fire different skull projectiles at your onscreen group of nuns can only be defeated in a certain manner, and that method of disposal usually includes deflecting the projectile driven skulls back at the gates via the touch screen. The game will explain each new type of portal to you as they come into play. One very important thing to keep in mind while navigating your team of nuns through this secondary danger infested map is that demon gate projectiles can kill your nuns. Dodge the skull projectiles at all cost!

Secondly, the point of the secondary map is to clear the flag based battle areas. By moving your group of nuns up to a skull based flag you will be taken into a battle scenario where you must tactically manage your nuns as they face the threat of wave after wave of incoming enemies. Once you have cleared the flag area of it's threat you will be taken back to the secondary map screen where you can continue navigating your nuns toward other flag battles, or towards other areas of interest. You will notice that after a flag area has been beat the flag will turn from it's usual reddish color to a white flag with a golden set of stripes signifying the cleansing of that location. Within a given level there can be anywhere from a couple of flag battle areas to several of them. To fully complete a level you'll not only have to come out victorious on all of the flag battles, and destroy all of the colored projectile slinging demon gates, but you also have to face a final grey demon gate which is a combination of a flagged battle area, and a demon gate encounter. Once you have defeated all of the enemies in a grey demon gate area you'll then have to kill off a large red demon gate that appears, and shoots exploding skulls where your nuns stand. In total there are three main objectives to each level. They include killing off all of the enemies, killing off all of the demons gates, and beating the level.

Once you've cleared all of the levels on the initial map you will get the chance to face off against that map's boss. The bosses are usually larger than your previously encountered enemies, and look somewhat like the enemies that you've encountered during that set of level playthroughs. The first map's boss for example is a two-headed skeleton warrior who will freeze your nuns in place. Each boss requires a certain tactic to defeat. Be sure to purchase enough health refill, and resurrection miracles for the encounter otherwise you may not make it out alive.

Now on to the verdict ...

Visually "Nun Attack" is a nice game. It has an uncanny resemblance to the "Skulls of the Shogun" game that I reviewed last year (which I dig). In a slight way it also feels somewhat like that sort of gameplay style. As far as the tactical RPG side of the gameplay goes it is alright in theory, but in reality it is flawed due to the touch screen only mechanics. Things like getting your nuns the hell out of dodge when you need them to can be a daunting task. Even directing them to take on bad guys can become a sloppy mess at times resulting in the loss of one, or more nuns. I had actually expected button inputs to be a part of gameplay, but seeing as "Nun Attack" utilized none of those functions it felt more like a cheap tablet game than a proper PS Vita experience. Even with these significant downsides I did find myself getting lost in gameplay at some points though. It was an engaging experience at times, and when the screen wasn't filled with chaos I was actually enjoying playing it.

As I mentioned earlier on it definitely had that Saturday morning cartoon vibe about it which I loved, and looked good throughout. Even the comical "Charlies Angels" style soundtrack drew me in at times. Speaking of which, "Nun Attack" definitely had that grindhouse mixed with "Charlies Angels" appeal about it. It was kind of cool in that respect. If I'm going to be be honest about it I'm gonna have to say that this game is alright for a time waster, but it's not something as grand in scale as "Final Fantasy Tactics". If you have some coinage to spare, and don't mind ponying up some dough for an apocalyptic nun based fight for good then you might just like Frima Studio's "Nun Attack". Keep in mind that this game is also available on iOS, and other mobile formats!