The Butterfly Attack – Episode 1 – An Interactive Graphic Novel about War on the Web

Cyber terrorists are out there. They are always plotting their next move. It’s scary how easily it is for cyber terrorists to hack into secured databases and reap havoc on not only governments and businesses but also on innocent people like you and me.

It’s scary to think that one lone person can hack into a computer system and cause planes to crash or steal the identities of thousands of people.

Often hackers work as a team with other hackers. I’m sure right now – at this moment of time – there are several hacker groups working towards shutting down a government or destroying a countries economy.

Not all hackers are bad. There are those who hack to protect people. There are many people employed by our government and private agencies who use their high tech computer skills to protect us from harm.

It amazes me how tech savvy today’s teens, and even children, are. My husband is a computer tech and has been for 20 years. There are things about computers our 14 year old knows that my husband doesn’t.

If all this high tech computer hacking stuff interests you there is a graphic novel that is worth checking out. This is a unique graphic novel because it’s interactive. It’s called The Butterfly Attack – Episode 1. Its an interactive graphic novel about a team of hackers that were hired to conduct a mock cyberwar game.

Here is a bit of background about the interactive graphic novel.

The modern day battleground is no longer on land, it’s on the web – This is Netwars. The Butterfly Attack is the latest installment of Netwars: Out of CTRL, a cross-platform fact-based multimedia experience that uses fictional characters to explore the very real threat of digital warfare in today’s technologically driven and digitally connected world. Written by award-winning British novelist and screenplay writer M. Sean Coleman and created by the German production company filmtank, The Butterfly Attack is a graphic novel app for iOS and Android. Combining true facts with actual events, The Butterfly Attack is a captivating and visually stunning fictional story about a team of hackers hired to conduct a mock cyberwar game that goes terribly wrong.

The Butterfly Attack – Episode 1 can be downloaded on iTunes App Store, Google Play Store, Amazon App Store or Samsung App Marketplace. You can enjoy it on your smartphone, tablet or other devices. The app sells for $2.99.

I downloaded the app on my iPhone to check it out.

The story does play out on your smart phone or device as a graphic novel. You can control how fast you read through each “page” by swiping your finger across the screen. You can also go back if you want to re-read something.

Throughout the story there are special areas on the screen that you can press on to get more special features within the scene. For example, one one scene a man was on his lap top in the backseat of the car. The laptop had the special interactive icon on it. When you press on it you get to see the computer screen so you can see who the man is talking to and what he’s saying. The icons give you “extras” to go along which each scene.

The animations are cool and there are plenty of sound effects to add to the experience. With more graphic novels you have to come up with the sounds in your head since books and ebooks don’t come with sound effects.

There is even a revolutionary 3D parallax technology with motion sensors for unlocking hidden artifacts. In my opinions this is the coolest feature of the app. I have never experienced anything like this before. It’s amazing!

The app is available in different languages including English, Spanish, German, Mandarin Chinese and Brazilian Portuguese.

To be honest with you I’m not personally into graphic novels. I do read The Walking Dead comics, but that is about it. However I did find The Butterfly Attack – Episode 1 to be very interesting. I did get lost a few times with all the high-tech talk, but I am able to go back if I need to and there are little “I” buttons that appear on the screen from time to time to provide you with extra information. That helped too.

There are plans to release an episode 2 and 3 in the near future.

Basically want it boils down to is that The Butterfly Attack – Episode 1 is setting the precedence for the future of graphic novels, possibly even books. Reading is fun but having the ability to add sound effects and being able to interact with the story takes reading to a whole new level.

The Butterfly Attack – Episode 1 is NOT for children. There is a lot of high tech talk in the story and curse words. I would recommend this for ages 13 .

If you would like to learn more about The Butterfly Attack – Episode 1 and the Netwars visit www.Netwars-Project.com. You an also check it out on Facebook and follow @NetwarsProject on Twitter.

Check out this brief trailer that tells you a little more about The Butterfly Attack – Episode 1 and shows you how cool the special 3D effects are.

Kimberly

*I received a free credit in order to review the app. Although compensated the opinions expressed are entirely my own and not influenced in anyway.

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