I downloaded Smash Cops while it was free for a short period of time. It probably showed up in one of my mobile game feeds since it normally has a $5 price tag. What a great find this was for a free game! If you haven't played it or another game by Hutch the concept is exactly how it sounds from the title. You play a cop who's chasing bandits down. You smash into them in order to apprehend them. There are different types of missions with different objectives so it keeps the game feeling fresh. All-in-all the graphics are sweet, the game is challenging and it's action packed every step of the way.
The Downside
With an intro like this you might be thinking this game is a 10 out of 10 with no issues. While the game is great some have issues with the controls. I don't, but some do so it's worth noting. However, I think everyone can agree that the camera angles/functionality could be much better. If you pull a quick 180 degree turn just try and steer your car as the camera pans back around. It's very difficult to do accurately. Hutch tries to help this by providing an arrow to show you where your vehicle is going, but it just doesn't help out enough.
The larger problem with Smash Cops was the business model. It was released as a premium game with a few IAPs. F2P was popular in late 2011/early 2012 (when the game was being built/launched), but wasn't at the same level that it's at today so I can understand why the developer chose this route. It's also easy for me to criticize after the fact. To be fair, they reached top 10 grossing spot which is something that most developers can only dream of doing (regardless of business model or being featured by Apple). Hutch likely knew the limiting IAP/Premium design might hinder revenues and that's likely why they came out with...
Smash Cops Heat
In December of 2012 Hutch released Smash Cops Heat. From what I can tell it's mostly the same game, but with a few more IAP options. However, when a game doesn't have endless monetization possibilities or an evergreen game design then the developer needs to acquire players as fast as they're churning in order to maintain or grow their business. I don't know the churn rate in the Smash Cops (or SC Heat) but normally this is virtually impossible to do organically and very costly to do through advertising. I'm not sure how Hutch does it, but they've been able to maintain chart positions with the Smash Cops franchise which is amazing in itself. However, maintaining isn't growing. I think everyone knew Hutch was going to make another game. They're clearly successful, but what do you make? Smash Cops 2? Maybe, but fans would expect it to be mission based like the previous version, and you'd run into the same endless/evergreen issues. I believe this is why Hutch created Smash Bandits.
The Endless Running Smash Cops
Like the other titles the name really sums up what the game is about. This time players control the bandit car and are trying to escape police cars and traps. They also addressed the camera issue. It's always behind your vehicle which makes this game MUCH easier to play. The main objective is to drive as long as possible while smashing into as many cars, obstacles or cops as possible to drive up your score. In true endless runner fashion the game also has side missions to give players a sense of progression while they grind their way to better vehicles. Out of the 3 games I've spent the most time and money in Smash Bandits. I like endless runners and I like racing games... but I love Smash Bandits!
Why I Love It
- Stays true to previous Hutch games! I'm a fan of the game they put out. I don't want them to shift their direction to a game that they might not be great at.
- Not just another endless runner! Everyone is making endless runners now-a-days but almost all of them involve some character physically run from something while avoiding obstacles. Here you not some character, you're a car. You're not just avoiding obstacles, you're exploding through them.
- Its action packed! Not one minute of Smash Bandits is dull. There are always barricades to smash through, cars to explode and cops to evade.
- Beautiful graphics! Graphics aren't everything but it helps that the explosions look amazing. Even with all that's happening on the screen I rarely get any slowdown. I've experienced minor slowdowns but after killing background apps it went away.
- Boat scenes! As if smashing through everything with cars wasn't enough, there are areas in the map where you smash through a boat house and you're controlling a boat. How does that logistically work? Shut up and keep running from the cops.
- Challenging missions! You might start with a few easy missions, but some of the later ones are pretty hard to do. They had me trying and trying until admitting defeat and paying $15,000 to skip it.
- Nice monetization mechanics! There are reviews of people who hate the delay (wanted level) but this is what's making me play the game for so long. Without a delay I would've played the game HARDCORE for a week and would've been done. Want to skip a mission? You can by paying soft currency. There's certainly room for improvement/growth but this is a solid foundation.
Hutch if you're reading this, please release more cars or levels. :)
Word of Caution
Even though Smash Bandits is a great game Endless Runners generally don't typically monetize well. There are exceptions to the rule, but it takes more than pretty graphics to stand out in a sea of Endless Running games. This game works and I think it'll do well because it innovates and expands on the Endless Running genre while blending a racing theme in with it. It's not just another game where a character is running away from something and needs to avoid obstacles.
Mashing up genres/mechanics can be a risky move too. Many times when a developer takes two genres/mechanics they can turn off players from both genres and no one ends up liking it. If you're thinking about making an endless runner (or mashup) carefully study and consider great games like Smash Bandits while designing your game. Are you going to make an experience that fans of both genres will enjoy or are you just going to piss them off?
If you need help designing or fixing your F2P game you can find me here at my blog or on Twitter.
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