iPhone gamers are not at a lack of things to do on their portable device. There are thousands of games available, with dozens more released every week. That said, about 98% of them are terrible, so it's no shocker that anything of quality that squeaks through Apple's certification program is worth paying attention to. In this case, it's Tarver Games’ Ghosts Attack, an interesting shooter with GPS functionality. Does it break from the norm, or is it another flawed handheld experience?

Production values are high for an iPhone title. Early on, the world of ghost hunting is introduced by Karl, a Torgan Science Rover Technician who will pop up from time to time in video form on the screen. Being spoken to in this fashion is pretty impressive considering the price point, and the setup of scientists lost in the ghost world is fairly appealing. Before long, everything is calibrated and the ghost hunt is afoot, which means flying around small arenas and blowing up floating ghosts. These levels look like brilliantly colored cities, with skyscrapers lining roadways. The reason for this style is simple: they actually are based on cities, and created using map data. Ghosts Attack's "gimmick," so to speak, is the ability to turn any area into one of the game's levels. While most of the story is set in landmark cities, it's also possible to use the phone's GPS to turn the player's location into a level.

The problem is that there's really nothing distinguishable about these areas except for the road names written on the ground. Playing in Paris doesn't let players see the Eiffel Tower, and flying through New York City isn't going to have players blasting ghosts near the Empire State Building. Everything, no matter where it is, looks basically the same, making the GPS functionality (and, for that matter, the entire map integration) essentially pointless. Sure, it makes for an unlimited amount of locations to travel, but when they all look the same with a few pallet swaps it doesn't really change the gameplay in any way.

Luckily, the gameplay is actually fairly fun. It's not all that deep, and it can get repetitive after a bit, but flying around with the accelerometer and controlling ship functions with the touch screen can be intuitive and entertaining. Usually, such control mechanics are implemented poorly, but flying around is completely effortless, thankfully. The graphics, too, are worth complimenting, and the 3D environments and models don't cause the framerate to drop even when there are a large number of ghosts on screen at once, which is impressive for the platform.

While it's far from a great game, Ghosts Attack has some interesting control mechanics and a good idea with its GPS integration. Sadly, it's extremely limited in scope, and the gimmick doesn't carry it as far as it should. As a quirky shooter with some silly story elements, Ghosts Attack is worth checking out for anyone looking for a quick fix on the go, but don't expect the augmented reality to really change anything.