The Nardio Review

Is Callys Caves 3 worth your time?

YES! This is the best 2D action platformer on mobile devices. I totally recommend getting Callys Caves 3 and supporting the devs with in-app purchases.

What should I play Callys Caves 3 on?

Callys Caves 3 is one of those rare games that plays and works on pretty much everything. I’ve beaten the game several times on my iPhone and dozens of times already on my iPad. I think to really appreciate the game you need a tablet device though. You can also do Android if that’s your thing (totally judging you) and the Amazon’s app store!

Callys Caves 3 boss fight

What Did We Think Without Spoiling It?

This is going to be one of those reviews where I just gush over a game because I love it so much.

Callys Caves 3 is the iOS platformer I have been hoping and waiting for. This is a beefy game with plenty to see, do and kill. If you are new to the series you will be a little lost as far as the plot goes. I played through the second Callys Caves before I played this and still don’t seem to get it all. Thankfully even if you’re a bit lost on the story, it doesn’t detract from the game. Besides, the characters seem just as confused about the plot and the Big Bad’s motive as you. I have to admit I did find myself enjoying the jokes and the over the top drama. The ending was beautifully epic.

Callys Caves 3 secrets Callys Caves 3 is sort of like a mix between Metroid like goodness and Ratchet and Clank. Over time you will collect more weapons that bring unique powers and limitations to the table. To make things more interesting, the weapons level and power up the more you use them. The initial ten levels of power and transformation are free. The other ten are locked behind an in app purchase. Don’t worry though you don’t need the in app purchase or the extra ten levels of power to beat the game.

Callys Caves 3 has in app purchases and while they aren’t mandatory for hours of fun blasting baddies and beating the base game, you want to spend $4.99 on the “Best Deal.” $4.99 unlocks the New Game+ mode and the Survival Mode. Any in app purchase also removes the ads. With New Game+ you carry over all of your character and weapon progress from the base game and play a modified version of the initial game. This mode is full of new enemies that are much tougher to take down. It also has a slightly different and yet more complete ending. You are also able to level your weapons past level 10.

The survival mode puts you in several different levels where you face off against numerous waves baddies. This is an awesome mode to make a lot of money and level your weapons quickly. It’s also just a blast for quick gameplay that works with your ever growing arsenal.

Another in app purchase allows you to get all of the weapons immediately and upgrade them to their final level of 20 with the addition of more sweet gold to power up your character and weapons. I also recommend getting this along with the best deal. Having all that power in your hands ASAP is a lot of fun. One warning though, buying all the weapons at once pretty much nerfs the game.

I beat the main game first without any in app purchases and loved it. Absolutely loved it. Buying the in app purchases felt like more of a thank you for the experience than just getting more content. Thankfully the content was well worth it.

!!!GET THIS AND SUPPORT THE DEVS WITH THE AWESOME IN APP PURCHASES!!!

How it Plays and Why it Works:

Bera Gameplay Callys Caves 2, while fun, was very, very easy for me. Being able to pause anytime and buy health back took the challenge out of most of the game in my opinion. In Callys Caves 3 you can’t just buy more health at whim. Instead, you find yourself at the mercy of check points and tough enemies. This makes jumping from platform to platform really tense when you find yourself far away from your last checkpoint. Checkpoint rooms are sparsely spread around the map. If you die and you don’t have a special item on you, you find yourself transported to the last checkpoint. To make matters even worse/better the item you buy to save your progress is sold in stores that are also sparsely spread around the map. Even better – you can only carry one with you at a time. So if you already used your lantern and you are several rooms past your last checkpoint, life is tense. I loved it. I hated it and loved it. Don’t worry about boss fights though, you start over in the same room when they kick your butt.

So much content!

The enemies are very similar to Callys Caves 2. In fact I was worried at first they would all be just copies of the last game. Thankfully tweaks were made and new enemies were brought in. The challenge is good for most of the game though there are points later on where you just become a death dealer. While that can seem boring at first, you eventually kick back and enjoy how overpowered you are. I found myself replaying levels over and over again just to see if I could make my weapons stronger. After that I bought the “Best Deal” and lost myself in leveling my weapons to level 20 and beating the survival mode to see what the dev could throw at me. I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised.

Callys Caves 3 is pretty much perfect. Sure everyone once in a while the controls weren’t as accurate as I’d want. There were a few cheap deaths because the buttons weren’t perfectly responsive. But I blame the platform more than the game. Callys Caves 3 screams for an actual controller. As great as the game is, you realize as you play that it’s limited by the mobile environment. This isn’t really a mark against Callys Caves 3, it’s more about a game dev trying to push the game to the bleeding edge of the platform’s limitations. Oddly, the imperfect controls and checkpoint system greatly added to the tension. I found after a few deaths that made me scream aloud that I couldn’t just blow through levels. Whenever the game had a lot of really tight jumps and/or shooting enemies near jumps I found myself getting nervous as I approached and relieved when I was past it.

Obviously saying all of that I wholeheartedly recommend getting Callys Caves 3 and supporting the dev with in-app purchases. Buying the “Best Deal” is totally worth it. You are getting the best shoot-em up platformer on mobile today. Best of all the dev has been great about supporting the game. Multiple bug fixes have gone out already fixing major and minor problems. Some I didn’t even know existed until I read the patch notes. Plus Callys Caves 3 has two FREE mini expansions so far. The first was a side story for the new Bera character. Another expansion just came out today and promises a tough challenge: 34 new levels, 5 new enemy classes and even new weapons!