The God King, who's made it his business to take your family's lunch money...

There's an old saying: "If your father was horribly impaled by the God King while trying to rid the world of evil, you should probably follow in his footsteps and try to kill the God King as well."

It's not a popular saying.

Or good advice.

Still, this is the central theme of Infinity Blade, a medieval role-playing game in which you take on the role of a warrior who must fight his way through a castle and destroy a figure known as the God King. Along the way, you'll collect treasure, healing potions, new weapons, armor, and magic spells.

You'll also die. A lot.

Still, there's a bright side to this in that your equipment and saved experience points will be passed down to your heirs, who then stand a slightly better shot at fighting through the castle's various guards and slaying the God King themselves.

Like the old Kenny Rogers song says, sometimes you've just got to stand up to and fight the Iron Golem.

Infinity Blade has received a significant amount of fanfare in recent months, all well deserved. The title, powered by the Unreal Engine 3, brings console-level graphics to a universal iPhone/iPad title with a terrific framerate and amazing music and sound. Plug in a pair of good headphones, find a comfy place to sit, and the obsession begins, the game placing you against various knights, gladiators, robots, and assassins on the way to fight the God King.

Following true role-playing style, your character begins the game almost hopelessly outmatched in terms of weapons, armor, and magic that can be used against him. This gradually shifts in your favor over time, your newbie warrior being able to take on gigantic warriors endeavoring to kill him while earning both offensive and defensive magic spells such as lightning, frost, fire, poison, and healing that can help sway a battle.

Speak softly and carry a big freakin' mace.

It's the control factors that make or break a game, and the guys at Chair Entertainment Group apparently did their homework. Sit down with Infinity Blade for 20 minutes and the quick dodges, swipe motions used to attack your opponent, and quick taps to activate a shield block begin to feel both easy and natural. The game's learning curve is surmounted pretty quickly and it becomes easy enough to dodge and parry in battle as well as study the way your opponent shifts their body to help predict which angle the next attack will come from and work against this.

Chair threw in a number of bells and whistles too, from additional weapons, armor, and equipment to free updates and in-app purchases. But the game does suffer from one core issue: a lack of variety in the environment itself. With each attempt to take down the God King, you'll fight your way through the same castle again and again with only two paths to the top and the God King himself. In spite of everything else Infinity Blade does well, this can feel like a bit of a slog, especially when you're grinding with a low-level character or saving towards an expensive new weapon or piece of armor.

Dodging is generally a good idea.

The bottom line. Even if Infinity Blade can begin to feel repetitive, the title has far more working for it than against it and even if there is the typical "RPG grind" inherent in the gameplay, it's fun to see what your character can become over time and even more fun to take down the medieval equivalent of a heavily armed high school football team in the process.

Look, he's a troll. You were bound to make him angry sooner or later.