当你快速浏览iPad 游戏应用程序销售排行榜清单的顶部时，你会发现属于Jet Set的高清版回合制策略游戏 Highborn排在第五位。这款相对较新的游戏在这个位置存在有它存在的充足理由，你可以肯定的说，iDevice游戏正变的更加优秀。

Highborn-HD

刚进入这个幻想游戏世界中的时候，Highborn将其表现得异常的简单，但是随着玩家深入执行游戏任务，这一简单的幻想世界将变得超乎想象的深刻。除了一些重复和使用限制的小问题外，Highborn确实值2.99美元。

玩家从控制Highborn里的英雄Archie开始，这是一位过于乐观，穿着搞笑花裤的骑士。他和他的骑士部队担任着为这个世界斩妖除魔的重任。一路上，会碰到一股由巫妖Floyd带领的腐化的力量企图阻止他们。

在每个等级里，玩家将被要求完成一定的任务。玩家可以通过以地图上的方格为单位来移动他的军队从而杀死敌人并夺取有用的装备。

根据记载，游戏中有很多的角色类型来源于幻想作品。但角色中的很大一部分由远程类、近战类和英雄类构成。远程类骑兵，比如弓箭手，可以从相隔很多方格的距离进行攻击，并能有效的避开近战类的敌人的回击。近战骑兵，他们一般较为强壮但必须与目标毗邻时才能进行攻击。游戏中还有很多其他类型的角色，比如飞行员飞到很离敌人很远的地方，这样他们就可以无视地形、医疗师和弹射器，甚至还有偷袭小分队。

对于游戏中的英雄们，情况稍微有些变化。因为他们太过强大了，通常只要一击就可以将敌人全灭。如你所料，他们在某些方面受到了限制。比如Archie的速度就比不上他队里的任何一个骑兵。然而，英雄们被赋予了一种可以每两个回合就可以施放的特殊魔法。这种魔法可以给敌人造成直接的伤害，可以医治盟国的队员，甚至可以将敌人石化以使他们无法反击。

地形的利用在战略上也发挥着作用，除了偶尔的墙壁或石头形成一个不能射击的范围外，某些网格的地形会产生不利的影响。例如，穿过森林就得冒着发现隐藏的敌人的危险（你也可以把自己的队伍隐藏起来）。而如果从岩石地上穿过就会产生每一个回合能移动多少距离的问题，而从沼泽中穿过又会对自己造成伤害。

捕捉建筑概念的出现使游戏变得更加的有趣。玩家一开始队伍并不大，用有的角色不多，如果玩家想夺取或赚取更多的地盘并壮大自己的队伍就必须与中立的或敌人的建筑毗邻建立自己的建筑。如果机构被敌方操纵的话，那么玩家就必须打败自动放置在那里的驻守部队来夺取它。例如，一个寺院可能会创造出一个不能攻击的僧侣，但是他可以远行或者医疗盟友。其他的结构，比如精灵塔，能加强防御并在攻击范围内以炮弹和弓箭攻击敌人。

Capture

只有防御设施卷入战斗，它才会对敌人发动攻击。每当一个对象近得可以攻击敌方的某些东西时，会有一个圆圈来突出显示，告诉玩家战斗将把敌我双方带到一个3D的战斗场地中，在那里，两股力量将进行回合制的战争，实行攻击的一方先动手。在3D的战斗场地里，玩家的控制权很有限，他们只能在他们发起的战争的开始通过一个选项设置来让游戏角色使用特殊的魔法或者在少数几个回合里更换魔法。说到魔法的来源，主要是从被称为“巨石”捕捉建筑物那里得到，它可以对敌人造成削弱到巨大伤害不等的打击。

不幸的是，这种战斗模式正是少数玩家抱怨Highborn的原因。视觉上，这些战斗不仅画面并不令人震撼，而且持续的时间非常的长。这些同样动的画场面看上几遍便会觉得没有新意（但至少刚开始的几遍会因为死亡的动画过于戏剧化而有点看头）。除此之外，取消动作的设置这一点非常恼人。一旦玩家哪怕是不小心移动了一个角色，也不能取消移动造成的影响。

Highborn另外一个最值得注意的地方是它是一种非常有趣的半开玩笑的喜剧式游戏,这些喜剧效果多来自游戏的对话和英雄间的合作。但游戏中也有一些细节没什么意义，也许这其中让人记忆最深的是选项单里的一个贴有“不要按”的破裂的按钮。别担心，我们不会告诉你按下它会发生什么的。

谈到该游戏的社交部分，Highborn因为它的多人操作系统而明显地在Facebook发布过。但最近，它在Facebook的位置被OpenFeint所替代了。作为补偿，它在游戏分享上取得了不错的成绩。但作为一种社会的基本特征，它很容易被异步多人操作的游戏超越。

不用说，多人游戏一直是一个受欢迎的选择。只要社交游戏发展得够成熟，异步模式将会比同步多人模式更加吸引玩家。同在其他的社交游戏中碰到的挑战一样，同异步模式的问题在Highborn中也同样起作用，并且玩家也能访问多个游戏并进行比较。不幸的是，这些游戏必须和玩OpenFeint的朋友共同创建，这就没有什么明显的方法来挑战随机玩家。

总的来说，这些只是高清Highborn的冰山一角。游戏的每一关都要花上30分钟以上的时间来完成，所以完成该游戏要花上一定的时间。与其他在战斗系统不断重复和在可用性方面有疑虑的小游戏不同，该游戏被玩家极力推荐。不仅如此，即使你没有属于自己的iPad，该游戏也可以在iPhone上玩。(译者：唐统权)

Highborn HD on the iPad Shows That War Can Be Fun

It’s safe to say that iDevice games are getting better, as a quick perusal through the iPad App Store’s top paid games list reveals the turn-based strategy title Highborn HD from Jet Set Games. At #5 when we found it, the relatively new game is certainly there for good reason.

Set in a satirical fantasy world, Highborn comes off as deceptively simple, but as players delve deeper into single player missions, that simplicity evolves into a rather surprising amount of depth. Other than a few minor problems with repetition and usability, it’s certainly a game worth the $2.99 price tag.

Players start off controlling the Highborn hero “Archie” — an overly cheerful, “fancy-pants” paladin — and his troops as they set out to rid the world of evil. Along the way, the forces of Decay, lead by the arch lich Floyd, will attempt to stop them.

For each level, users are given some sort of objective to complete and move their squads of units about a grid in order to kill enemy soldiers and capture useful structures.

For the record, there are a metric ton of unit types in Highborn stemming from fantasy lore, but for the most part they consist of ranged, melee, and hero types. Ranged classes, such as archers, can attack from multiple grid spaces away, which will prevent melee units from attacking back. Melee, on the other hand tend to be stronger, but must be adjacent to a target to do anything. There are many variations of these, such as flyers that travel very far and ignore terrain, healers, catapults with, and even stealth units.

Heroes are where things change up a bit as they are extremely powerful, generally killing an enemy unit in one strike. Typically, however, they are limited in some way, such as Archie, who cannot move as far per turn as one of his knights. However, heroes are granted a special spell that can be cast every couple of turns. Such spells can do direct damage to enemies, heal allies, or even turn them to stone so they can’t fight back.

Terrain also plays a role in strategy. Aside from the occasional wall or rock formation a ranged unit can shoot over, certain grid tiles can have adverse effects. Moving through forests, for example, runs the risk of revealing hidden enemies (you can hide there as well), while moving through rock will reduce how far a unit can move in one turn and moving through swamp can actually do damage.

The battle gets more interesting with the concept of capturing buildings. Players don’t start out with many units, and must stand adjacent to a neutral or enemy structure in order to capture it and earn more. If the structure is controlled by the opponent, then players must defeat the automatically placed garrison there in order to take it. Different types of structures will spawn different types of units. For example, a monastery will produce a monk that cannot attack, but can travel far and heal allies. Other structures, such as a wizard’s tower, will also come with added defenses, bombarding enemies within range with fireballs or arrows.

The only way one gets attacked by defenses, however, is if they actually engage in battle. Whenever a unit is close enough to attack something, a circle will highlight it. Telling them to attack will whisk them away to a 3D battlefield where the two forces duke it out, with the attacker going first. The player has minimal control, with the only option being to use special spells at the start of a battle they initiate (should they have any) and recharge every few turns. As for where these spells come from, they are earned by capturing buildings called “monoliths” and will do everything from weakening enemies to inflicting tremendous damage.

Unfortunately, these battles are where the few complaints for Highborn come into play. Visually, it’s not all that impressive, and matches in the campaign are very long. Watching the same animations a couple dozen times does begin to get old (at least the first few times are amusing as death animations tend to be a bit overdramatic). Beyond this, it is exceedingly annoying to be able to undo moves. Once the player has moved a target unit, even if they did so accidentally, they cannot reverse the effect.

Another key aspect to Highborn worth noting is that everything about it comes with a very tongue-in-cheek style of comedy that is actually quite funny. Most of it comes from the dialogue and interaction between heroes, but there are other subtle elements of the game worth noting too. Perhaps the most memorable is the options menu that houses a “broken” button with a sign taped to it saying “do not press.” Don’t worry, we won’t tell you what happens.

Moving onto the social mechanics of the game, Highborn evidently once utilized Facebook for its multiplayer system. In a recent update, however, that was removed for OpenFeint. With the addition, a rather sizable number of shareable achievements were added, but being a basic social feature, it is easily outshined by the asynchronous multiplayer.

It goes without saying that multiplayer is always a popular choice, and as far as social games go, asynchronous modes tend to be more attractive than synchronous ones. In Highborn this works similar to a challenge system in other social games, and players can apparently access multiple games in progress. The downside, unfortunately, is that the games must be created with OpenFeint friends that play. There is no obvious way to challenge random users.

In the end, all this is merely just the tip of the iceberg that is Highborn HD. Each level can take 30 or more minutes to complete, so there is a tremendous amount of longevity to the title.

Other than some minor repetition in the battle systems and usability qualms, it’s a game that comes highly recommended. Furthermore, even if you don’t own an iPad, it’s also available for the iPhone as well.（source：inside social games）