The 3DS is lacking when it comes to both first and third person shooters. While Renegade Kid has responded to the First-Person Shooter question, the Third -Person Shooter now has it's own response with VD-Dev's Ironfall: Invasion. However, it's best to temper your expectations, as Ironfall is just slightly above average.

The game is actually split between three forms. The first is the trial version, which is free. To get the single player campaign or multiplayer components, you have to buy those as separate DLC packs from the in-game menu. The single-player campaign is a game that has some passing similarities to other third-person shooters, such as cover based shooting. Taking inspiration from Gears of War is the quick-reload feature, which let's you get up to a full extra clip that helps save on ammo consumption. Failure means a much longer reload time as well. The further to the left that you stop on, the more extra ammunition you get. And you can keep trying to get a full extra clip until you succeed, so it's pretty nifty. It's even kind of broken. 

The game's plot is about of course, an alien invasion, called by the Dyxide. But these aliens are either robots, or they just use drones to do their dirty work. And that's all you will be fighting against in this game. They are relatively slow moving, meaning that the game's combat is never really all that tense or exciting. Although the boss fights are somewhat of a highlight, despite the second real boss fight being a rematch. At least the game takes the time to introduce each enemy in a fashion similar to Platinum Games releases. The game runs at 60 frames per second, and is pretty detailed considering the small development team behind the game. The voice acting is in English, but I get the feeling that the cast isn't native English speaking, as the dialog feels stilted, and the voices themselves are just odd. The protagonist Jim Woper also sounds to0 chipper for a military soldier. The game is a bout the length of the first Gears of War, which is about 8 hours. 

While there isn't much to the game other than shoot things, the already somewhat slow pace is made even slower when you have to solve a few annoying puzzle mini-games. Why the developers felt the need to add such a thing to a shooter is beyond me. There's no co-op mode either, although you can play competitively online or locally. Good luck finding a game though, as no one seems to be playing. Then even if you do, there could be server issues to contend with. The game is a pretty good technical achievement though. The team is small, and they seem to accomplished much. I just hope that the follow-up fixes the previously mentioned issues, makes a better scenario, and re-balances the other weapons to make them more useful. But if you have a 3DS and need a third-person shooter fix, it's not a bad way to spend some cash. But maybe gamers should wait a bit for a sale.  

The Bottom Line: It's an average third person shooter, but it does fill a void in the genre's otherwise non-existent presence on the platform. 

Acquisition Method: This game's review copy was a digital code provided by VD-Dev.