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Review: Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes

Jul. 21 9:24 AM by Will Herring

Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes is a tactical role-playing game for the iPod from the minds behind the prestigious Final Fantasy series that features a fantastic story, deep gameplay, and utterly addictive combat. Song Summoner chronicles the ongoing war between humans and machines, with music the deciding factor in their conflict. When the silver haired youth Ziggy witnesses the kidnapping of his brother at the hands of the Mechanical Militia, he's taken in by a kind Conductor that teaches him the ways of applying music to the battlefield. Five years later, Ziggy takes the mantle of Conductor himself, and sets off on a quest to save his brother from the mechanized evil.

The majority of Song Summoner takes place on the battlefield, where you control Ziggy, along with a set number of soldiers, or Tune Troopers. Tune Troopers are randomly generated from select songs that you keep on your iPod. In the "Hip-O-Drome", you choose which song you think would make the best combatant, and out comes a Tune Trooper - each with their own unique properties, ranks, classes and skill levels. So you have your "Hard Day's Night" Archer, your "Feel Good Inc." Monk, and your "Harder, Better, Faster" Mage - now what? You take your melodic creations and hit the battlefield.

Song Summoner's battles play very similarly to those from Square Enix's Final Fantasy: Tactics series. You select your units from your Tune Troopers roster, place them on an isometric map, and take turns with the enemy troops to navigate through, strategize against and out-wit the enemy. Each Trooper has Skills that they can use during the fights, from special shots for the Archers to unique spells for the Mages - or simply melee it up with your Monks and Soldiers. After every battle, your troops are awarded a number of Pitch Pearls based on the how many baddies were beaten, the amount of damage taken, and the number of turns used. The Pitch Pearls can be applied to your troopers to improve their rank - from Bronze to Platinum - and ultimately, their abilities. With each trooper only allowed a set number of deployments, it's up to you and your music library to keep your ranks fresh at all times.

The game really only faults in a few minor situations, such as the click-wheel acting a bit overly responsive to your commands, or the amount of squinting you'll have to endure throughout the duration of the game. It should also be noted that Song Summoner can suck your battery dry relatively quickly, but when you take all of these complaints and stack them next to the fact that this extraordinary title is only five bucks at the iTunes Store? Water under the bridge, if anything.

All in all, Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes is a fantastic title more than worth the price of admission, and I can guarantee it'll keep both casual and jaded gamers alike entertained for hours upon end.

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