Dangerous offers the player both touch controls and tilt for orienting the hero’s space ship in free flight, but the cluttered UI makes the touch method nigh impossible to work with on smaller iDevices for now. If you happen to swipe over the buttons devoted to weapon activation or automated combat maneuvers while trying to change direction, functions are frequently triggered because their virtual buttons respond to a finger lifted from their positions just as they would react to a tap. In my case, this amounted to a jarring camera switch and being thrown off course every other time I swiped around the screen to keep a ship in the crosshairs. Players had better go in with an appreciation for tilt controls until an update can fix this, but tilt works satisfactorily here thanks to generous hit detection on enemies. It’s also entirely possible that touch controls fare much better on the iPad’s greater touchscreen area.
With the exception of near-microscopic virtual buttons used in the faction menu at space stations, Dangerous’ interface handles surprisingly well despite the number of buttons onscreen at any given time. Dangerous will earn no small amount of infamy for the volume of information that flows through its HUD during flight segments, and yet I find it difficult to argue that much of it is extraneous. The long-stretching target list parked next to the speed slider at screen left is something of an acquired taste to say the least, but it’s consistently useful as a quick reference of what’s shooting at you. The text lines that gobble up so much space at screen top actually hold critical information like your remaining cargo capacity and distance from the nearest space station or warp gate. An option to switch these displays off or relegate them to a pause menu is worth considering in the short run, but a complete overhaul of the HUD with smaller devices in mind may be what it takes before the average iPhone or iPod Touch player becomes truly comfortable.
Dangerous does not put its best 3D assets forward, sporting a jerky docking sequence and allowing a choppily textured planet to serve as backdrop for the tutorial area; the new player will find its 2D portraits and space station scenes much more enticing. Give it some time, however, and you’ll find that some really gorgeous nebulas and more natural-looking planets await further in. Once again Sean Beeson delivers a thoroughly compelling score, this time running the gamut from thudding techno to soft orchestral tracks that invoke the wonders of space travel. There’s just one problem: some of the tracks aren’t looped in-game, leaving conversations to take place in silence if the player doesn’t finish them quickly enough.
iFanzine Verdict: An astounding level of depth takes Dangerous where few space sims have gone before on iOS, offering factional allegiance and NPC partner systems that are sure to whet the genre fan’s appetite. That said, it does take a strong love of the genre to pull you through the interface quirks, technical flubs, and downright head-scratching complexity that lie on top of the gem buried within. The release version still needs lots of polishing to whip its presentation and accessibility into shape.
Given how cramped the interface is on smaller iDevices, it’s worth noting that this is a case where playing on an iPad could make a significant difference in the player’s experience. The game is universal, so if you have a choice of device, definitely go for the big one.
Addendum: Updated with options for minimizing screen clutter, interface customization, and a complete star map from the beginning. Graphical enhancements and miscellaneous improvements included!