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Review: Last Horizon – The Space Age has never been so much fun

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Pixeljam’s latest iPhone game is out of this world. Literally.

Price: $2.99 (£2.29)
Version: 1.1
Size: 65.9MB
Developer: Pixeljam

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Last Horizon is a new game for Apple’s iPhone that puts a realistic spin on the space survival genre. Using smart physics, gravity fields, fuel meters, and more, the game really does let iPhone owners feel like they’re captaining an outer-space vessel charged with an important mission.

The aim of the game in Last Horizon is to terraform planets in order to help the human race survive.

The aim of the game in Last Horizon is to terraform planets in order to help the human race survive

At the start of the game, players find out that this important mission is the terraforming of foreign planets in order to make them habitable for the human race. Your vessel is a small ship that uses a combination of thrusters and gravity fields in order to maneuver in outer space.

You'll need to use the gravity fields of planets in order to land safely on the surface.

You’ll need to use the gravity fields of planets in order to land safely on the surface

Borrowing from the control system of games like Wonky Ship, Last Horizon lets gamers control their ship using forward and side thrusters. To begin with, when blasting off from your home planet these thrusters will be enough to steer your vessel through the darkness of deep space. But when it comes to landing on a planet in order to harvest supplies, or even to begin the terraforming process, you’ll need to use its gravity field carefully in order to avoid crashing.

That's not all, however. Because gamers will also need to replenish their fuel and oxygen levels through making well-timed pit stops in the app, too.

That’s not all, however. Because gamers will also need to replenish their fuel and oxygen levels through making well-timed pit stops in the app, too

Once you’re within a planet’s gravity field, it’ll begin drawing your ship towards its surface. As such, you can slingshot around planets using their field, or you can hover on the very periphery of a planet’s gravity field in order to gently drift towards the surface.

Last Horizon is crisp and colorful. The graphics are beautifully designed, and the soundtrack is lovely.

Last Horizon is crisp and colorful. The graphics are beautifully designed, and the soundtrack is lovely

To challenge players, Last Horizon only gives space cadets a limited supply of fuel and oxygen. Both will need to be refilled when landing on suitable, resource-rich planets. As you might expect, then, Last Horizon is all about seeing how far gamers can explore before either running out of resources, or crashing to their doom.

Our only complaint: couldn't the text be a little bigger in the game? I struggled to read this, even with my glasses on!

Our only complaint: couldn’t the text be a little bigger in the game? I struggled to read this, even with my glasses on!

The animations in Last Horizon are really quite beautiful, and the game’s ambient soundtrack is a treat. Because different planets feature different combinations of colors, gamers aren’t drifting through infinite black in Last Horizon; instead, there’s a comic canvas of shape and color on offer in the game, and as such the app will be best suited to the 5.5-inch screens of Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus.

There are four different flights (A, B, C, and X) that gamers can set off on in Last Horizon, and each one is more difficult than the last (you’ll need to unlock the more advanced flights as you go in the game). There’s also Game Center support in the app in the form of leaderboards, and this will give many gamers an extra push when it comes to securing their highest scores possible in the application.

The app's four different flights: the latter three will need to be unlocked by gamers.

The app’s four different flights: the latter three will need to be unlocked by gamers

The bottom line with Last Horizon, then, is that this is a stylish, likable mobile game that iPhone owners will love. It’s been carefully crafted, is well thought-out, and, most importantly, the game is immensely enjoyable, too.