Artillery Brigade gives you just enough story to get you going, then turns everything over to the action. You're a rookie turret operator in WWII and you get the envious job of manning a series of turret emplacements to help halt advancing troops. You start out with a basic machine gun as you mow down foot soldiers, eventually moving up to higher caliber machine gun turrets and anti-aircraft emplacements.
When I think of iPhone games, I rarely think of fast-paced shooters. There are a few on the market, but none have been able to hold my interest for more than a few minutes. Artillery Brigade isn't something I continually went back to, though I spent much more time playing it than other iPhone games, something I think I would have done even if I wasn't reviewing it. For me, this is always a sure sign of a quality game.
Above all else, Artillery Brigade is a solid, fun shooter. Levels last roughly 3 - 5 minutes (sometimes longer), which is a nice sweet spot for this sort of game. It's just long enough to provide a satisfying experience, but never to the point where you begin to wonder, "Okay, have I killed enough guys yet?"
The main campaign takes you through a little over a dozen levels, placing you in numerous wartime situations. In one mission, you might find yourself keeping invading ground forces at bay while in another, you'll need to watch the skies for incoming bombers. There's a lot of variety and Artillery Brigade does a great job of mixing up the action.
Outside the campaign, there's a Survival Mode. Levels run parallel to the Campaign maps, but instead of a limited number of enemies, you're pitted against multiple waves of enemies until you run out of health.
Artillery Brigade is plugged into the Feint Network, opening both online tracking on in-game Achievements as well as Leaderboards. You aren't required to sign up to play the game, though the option is great for competitive players.