Bloodstroke

From The Killer to Face/Off to Red Cliff and (almost) everything in-between, it's fair to say that John Woo is a titan of action movies. But the director might be even better suited to videogames. Woo's strengths lie in action choreography and shot composition, while his occasional weaknesses are in storytelling and dialogue. He's dabbled in games before, with the chaotically enjoyable Stranglehold. Bloodstroke is his mobile game.

This bloody saga is awash in Woo trademarks: super-cool killers who use two guns at once; sombre dialogue about honour and justice; and of course, slow-motion birds. It’s an unusually beautiful mobile game – mostly monochrome water colours with big splashes of red.

You play a private security expert, “Code name, Lotus”, who must protect her client from a veritable army of killers. The tiniest tweak can set a game apart. In this case, the lead character is virtually indestructible, but her client is the one whose energy gets sapped. Escort missions are nothing new, but they are rarely this weighted. It’s a third-person, twin-stick shooter that essentially consists of controlled carnage (another Woo trademark).

Bloodstroke is a simple, possibly even one-note game, but the need for tactics do emerge. For example, in the heat of the moment, do you run to your enemies and stab them, or take the time to reload? Tiny, split-second dilemmas are constantly fired in your direction.

It’s not a freemium game, but the micro-transactions are well managed. You can pay for more weapons or upgrades, or even to skip levels. You can also play side-missions in “Arena Mode” for extra in-game cash – a welcome alternative to paying real money.

The gameplay is inevitably limited, but Bloodstroke is a violent, simple, addictive little number.