I love the smell of napalm in the morning.  At least that is what Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore (played by Robert Duvall) memorably claimed in the 1979 hit movie, Apocalypse Now.  But really, there is no better quote to describe iDracula.  In fact that could almost have been the tagline for this game.  In the movie, that memorable line was used to describe the smell in the air after 12 hours of bombing the same nearby hill.  In iDracula, you will spend hours decimating wave upon wave of vampirish monsters all over the same hill.  By the time you are done, you will smell napalm in the morning.

One of the things I loved about iDracula is the complete lack of any effort to give this game a back story.  There is no explanation of the ruined temple that makes up the background of this game.  No explanation of the vampires, demons, witches, werewolves, and other monsters which populate the temple remains.  And certainly no explanation of what you are doing there (and why you cannot leave).  I truly believe this is one game in which a complicated story would have ruined the experience.  So, to set the stage, you find yourself in the ruins of a temple, with only a small pistol and your wits to protect you from the wave after wave of demonic hordes that are about to set upon you.  Better move fast or this will be one short adventure.

There are actually two modes of play.  In Survival Mode, things start slowly and build from there.  You have a pistol and will face only a few  demons at a time.  This quickly escalates, however, as the hordes swarm ever faster, leaving you better and more powerful weapons.

In Rush Mode, you start with the ultra powerful machine gun, but will find yourself more than surrounded and overwhelmed by the demon hordes.  Regardless of which mode you select, the goal of the game remains the same:  Survival.  That is all you need to remember.  The longer you survive, the better.  And, as you will find, survival is not going to be easy.  Especially in Survival Mode, where the demons will quickly be replaced by bigger, faster, and stronger enemies.

But don’t worry, because along the way, you will have some help.  First, some of the creatures of the night you destroy will leave some goodies behind.  This could be health potions, ammunition, or even a new weapon.  One thing I really liked was that you can carry as many weapons as you like, and switch between them at any time.  A lot of games in this genre only allow you to carry a single weapon, and I thought this was a great addition.

Additionally, as you obliterate these creatures, you will earn points, which can be used for power ups, called perks.  As you earn enough of them, your power-up button will light up.  When it does, you may choose from four of the many special perks.  These can be anything from telekinesis, which draws special items to you like magnets, to immortality, which gives you 20 seconds of invulnerability, before you flame out and die…ending the game.  As the creatures get faster and stronger, these perks become critical to the game.

Finally, periodically throughout the game, you will face a big boss – an lightning throwing wizard.  Kill him, and you will receive and omen.  Obtain ten omens and you will advance to a new skill level.  The good news is that you do not need to find all ten omens in a single game.  You can grab them in as many different games as necessary, they will be tallied at the end of each game.  The bad news is that other than bragging rights, I did not see any in-game significance to upgrading your skill level.

So, let’s take a look at how the game is played.  The controls, which took full advantage of the iPhone’s multi-touch screen were really fairly nice, although they did take some time and practice to really master.  Essentially, the controls consist of two wheels in the lower corners.  The left wheel moves you, just spin it so the arrow is pointing in the direction you want to go.  The right arrow controls your weapon.  Spin it to aim, hold it to fire.  You may also choose to hide these control wheels, but since you still will need to touch the screen in the same spot, it did not make much sense to do so.  Between the two wheels is your arsenal, just flip through it to switch weapons.  Like I said, I love the fact that it is one of the few games to really implement the full power of the iPhone’s multitouch screen.  But using it will take some practice.

iDracula was developed by Pocket More Games, who have developed some of the most visually impressive games around for Windows Mobile.  And this one did not disappoint.  I was thoroughly impressed by the quality of the graphics in this one.  Particularly after being so disappointed by the graphics in their previous offering, Orions: Legends of Wizards, which was fantastic on Windows Mobile and not great on the iPhone.  No such problems with iDracula, however.  The graphics are spectacularly vivid, and the animation is extremely smooth.  Really, it is just a visual masterpiece.

What can I say about iDracula?  This is a prime example of what happens when one of my favorite game developers decides to take on one of my favorite genres.  In short, it is now among my favorite games on my iPod Touch (even my four year old loved it).  Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go destroy a few hundred demon hordes.  I love the (digital) smell of napalm in the morning!

What I Liked:

• Pretty much everything!
• Graphics were fantastic
• Gameplay was smooth

What Needs improvement:

• It would be nice if you could start a game from a checkpoint rather than always starting at the beginning.
• Controls take some practice at first

Developer: Pocket More Games/Chillingo

Price: $0.99