While there are a number of beat 'em ups available for the iPhone, many of them are ports or retreads of console games, and most all of them struggle with unresponsive on-screen "virtual buttons." While Brutal Fantasy: The Orcs of Undermountain succeeds with a working, fluid control scheme, that's about the only thing this new release gets right.

Brutal Fantasy: The Orcs of Undermountain is a beat 'em up game, also known as a brawler, which means that gameplay consists of moving your character around scrolling levels and fighting wave after wave of enemies. The experience is similar to classic games like Final Fight or Double Dragon.

Other beat 'em ups on the iPhone have struggled to offer effective, responsive controls, but Brutal Fantasy: The Orcs of Undermountain displays none of these problems. The game features a four-way directional pad, and separate buttons for attacking, blocking and spell-casting, which respond immediately to a gamer's touch and are spaced far enough apart to minimize any mid-game confusion.

Unfortunately, while the controls are responsive and effective, the game they're attached to is not compelling in the least. Enemies come fast and thick, but with only a few different variations between them, and near braindead AI, the game quickly devolves into button mashing. The best beat 'em ups feature a variety of attacks and combos to take out your opponents, but aside from a dash attack, Brutal Fantasy: The Orcs of Undermountain has little to offer.

The game attempts to liven things up with some light roleplaying game elements, tied to a simple leveling system. After defeating enough enemies, players are rewarded with a skill point to distribute into one of several different areas. In other games, this feature would allow users to customize their character, but in Brutal Fantasy: The Orcs of Undermountain, any changes in character stats go largely unnoticed during gameplay.

Brutal Fantasy: The Orcs of Undermountain's equipment system exhibits similar problems, as aside from increased damage, most other upgrades are largely cosmetic in nature. The game's shop has nothing to make slogging through its repetitive levels worthwhile in the slightest.

While there is something interesting about the fanart-esque aesthetic of Brutal Fantasy: The Orcs of Undermountain, once combined with the game's dull, on-the-nose dialogue and uninspired gameplay, it quickly becomes less charming.

While it is true that Brutal Fantasy: The Orcs of Undermountain has succeeded where many iPhone beat 'em ups have failed, creating an on-screen button system that works as well as its physical equivalent, the game has failed in every other area. To make a beat 'em up game truly great, it must offer diverse, engaging gameplay, preferably such that it evolves over the course of the game. Brutal Fantasy: The Orcs of Undermountain, however, expects users to march through its levels with only a few basic, uninteresting attacks. Even the game's attempts to make things more complex with a basic RPG leveling system fall flat on their face, as most upgrades are strictly cosmetic in nature, and are hardly worth the investment of time required to obtain them.

Brutal Fantasy is a bad game, and not at all worth its $1.99 price tag. However, that shouldn't minimize the achievement of such a responsive and easy-to-pick-up control scheme. Hopefully, the game's developers, Iskandar, will use the game's excellent controls in a future title, amping up the variety and complexity for the next Brutal Fantasy game.

Final Score: D-