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Monthly Archive: August 2011

Art Penguin – 0.99 (Luck-u)

With technology where it is, touch screens, infra-red controllers, it’s not surprising that gesture based games are starting to make their mark on the gaming world. Art Penguin is the second game from Indie Developer, Luck-u. You play as a wizard penguin who was on a flight home with a bunch of other penguins and some cows that was intercepted by aliens. But it seems that the aliens only wanted the cows so that they could drink milk whenever they wanted to, and ended up dumping you on a remote island somewhere in the ocean. You now have to make it through some pretty dangerous areas using your trusty wand to get home safely.
There’s 16 different gestures that you’ll need to memorize in order to make it through Art Penguin’s 2 worlds, each having 12 levels. At first, it may feel like you need to memorize thelevels in order to make it through them all the way, but once you get the hang of the gestures, it becomes a game that you play instead of a game that you need to memorize. Each level is built very well, having the difficulty increase at a great speed, so you won’t feel overwhelmed at first. By stage 3 you might have some trouble remembering which gestures do what. But thankfully, there’s a spell book in the top right corner that holds all the gestures you’ll need to know in order to make it through. The graphics are nice and cute, and the music fits the game very well.
The challenge in Art Penguin comes from being able to remember and draw the shapes quickly enough. There’s some spots where you need to wait to see how big a hole is so that you’ll know if you need a spring, or a ramp, and some spots where you’ll need to draw different shapes one right after the other pretty quickly. You are given unlimited lives, but dying takes you back to the beginning of the stage. There is a pretty good sense of accomplishment once you do make it through each level. This structure kind of reminds me of older NES and SNES games of the late 80’s and 90’s, with the same great feeling after getting to the next stage.
Art Penguin is available in the AppStore for $0.99, and really is the best gesture game I’ve played on any platform. Everything about it is very polished, and feels like it could have been released through a big company, like Chillingo, Halfbrick or Gamevil. The gameplay is actually exciting, which is a word I never thought would be able to be tied to a gesture based game, but with Art Penguin, it’s very fitting. Once you get the gestures down, it becomes a blast to play. It’s also OpenFeint enabled, and has 22 achievements for you to try and nab. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5, and if the occasional wrong item for the gesture drawn is fixed in an update, it would get 5 out of 5 stars.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/art-penguin/id449097181?mt=8

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August 10, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

HexRoto HD- 0.99 (Hill Stone Animation Studios)

What is HexRoto you may ask? Well, HexRoto HD ($0.99- iPAD ONLY) by Hill Stone Animation Studios is a puzzle game that’ll have you thinking every single move you make. In the game there’s colored balls in each level. Your objective is to get the certain colored ball in the appropriate highlighted position. Trying to move the balls correctly takes strategy. To move the ball you want all you have to do is tap on a certain ball to rotate all the other balls clockwise. A little confusing, eh? Trust me it’ll make a lot more sense when you start playing the game! As you move on

through the 45 levels, the difficulty gradually increases over time. More balls are required to be rotated which takes a lot more thinking then rotating 2 or 3 balls. To achieve 3 stars on a level you must rotate everything in the least amount of moves as possible. The more moves you make, the less amount of stars you’ll gain. This in turn makes you want to come back to the game to test your brains capability and acquire more stars. With that all said, HexRoto HD is a great little puzzle game to exercise the ol’ brain, but it’s missing a few things to me. Some mind stimulating music in the background while playing would be great. When I hear silence in a puzzle game it makes me over think. That’s just me. Also, GameCenter support would be a nice little update. The biggest thing I feel  it’s missing is a time challenge mode. I would love to race against the clock to get all the balls where they need

to be. Overall the game is a nice little puzzler, but to me I feel it needs a little more to be just perfect. My final rating is 3.5 out 5. If you like puzzle games then you can go check out HexRoto HD (iPad only app) for a mere $0.99. Don’t have an iPad? Then don’t worry! You can download HexRoto for iPhone and iPod Touch for $0.99 also! Not sure if you want to play the game yet? Then go check out some gameplay footage that I found below.

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August 8, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

iDaTank – 1.99 (Pavel Tsarev)

It seems like there are endless dual stick shooters released each year in the AppStore. Coming across one that is original can seem like a chore sometimes, and most will pass up a game from an indie developer for a big name title from a bigger name developing company. But when many saw the screens for iDaTank,they couldn’t resist. And what they got for their curiousness was a different and original take on the dual-stick genre.
iDaTank isn’t a typical dual-stick shooter. For one, it doesn’t have dual sticks. The aiming is done by the game, a la auto-aiming at the closest enemy to the player. But Pavel Tsarev has done an amazing job creating a world that is still as dangerous as it is beautiful. In iDaTank, you play as a lone scouting drone searching different bite-sized planets for crystals that will power upteleporters leading you to the source of anunknown signal sequence. Along the way, you’ll encounter different life-forms on each cluster of planets, of which there are five. There’s also plenty of environmental hazards to make the strange 3D world seem like a maze at first. The enemies in iDaTank are extremely varied throughout the game. And once you get about half-way into it, seeing what enemies are on the next planet becomes a part of the whole gaming experience. Figuring out how to deal with the enemies and plant life of each world requires quite a bit of planning. You’re given 5differentweapons, each with different characteristics, for instance, a freeze gun, a high-powered, but slow firing weapon, grenade throwing weapon, and more. Each of the weapons are upgradeable up to 3 times using the points you get while killing the life-forms on each planet. Enemies can quickly gang up on you, especially during the boss battles that take place at the end of each cluster of planets, often leaving running away to recharge your health and try a different tactic the only option. All of this gives the game a real feeling of growth as you move through it, discovering, learning, and developing new tactics to get through each planet.
There’s also a pretty depthy RPG element to the game that’s a lot like the one in Solomon’s Keep. Kill enemies, gain experience, pick one of three upgrade choices. Each choice you make will effect how you experience the game as a whole. You can stick with picking quick movement and lots of firepower, so you can dodge most enemies, and just blast away through the whole game,or sacrifice speed for agility, and firepower for defensive upgrades. You’re also given a rank, which goes up as you kill enemies, and increases your general firepower and armor just slightly. The default controls for iDaTank are invisible, holding down and rolling your thumb on the screen to move, like there was a movement stick there. This minimalistic approach to the user interface is a theme in the game, even with the on-screen controls. You also have the option for a fixed joystick, or a floating joystick. There’s also an option to show weapon hotkeys on the right side of the screen, so that you don’t need to go into the pause menu each time you want to change a weapon. You’re also given an option to buy more lives in the pause menu, the price of which goes up after each life is bought.
Everything about iDaTank just screams professional. From the customization to the game play and graphics. If played like a dual-stick shooter, you might not enjoy it much, but if played like an adventure game with a dual-stick shooting control setup that has something new to offer, and that will grow with you as you play, you might just find a game that will stick with you for a long, long time. I give it a 5 out of 5, and consider it to be one of the best releases on the iOS of 2011. You’d be hard pressed to find another game like it. It’s one of the greatest adventures you can take on your iDevice for $1.99.
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August 7, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Fabled Lands 2 Gold Edition-6.99(Megara Entertainment)

If your reading my words right now chances are your not much of a book person.  But what if you had a game that was a blend of a book and a game all at once?  That unique blend can best be described with one simple word, gamebook.  And that is exactly what this game is except with a lot more RPG elements than others of its kind. Apparently this game was adapted from an actual book series so if you a fan of the books then youll probably love this adaption.
Starting off you are given the selection of starting your adventure in the first Fabled Lands gamebook or the second one.  I don’t think the storyline differs between the two but just to be safe I stuck with the first one. You have the ability to choose between 6 different classes and whether your character is male or female. Your class certainly changes some of the decisions of the game and the way you play it so there is tons of replay value to be had here.   So as to not ruin the experience for you I will not give away any details of the story as that is the main element of the game and for you to interpret on your own.

As you progress through the game you are  given options of what to do like for example go to the tavern, or investigate the poison ivy bushes.  Different outcomes come from these actions and influence you in different ways like needing to go to an inn because you drank too much beer at the tavern or having to buy a medical solution because you mistakenly used the poison ivy as toilet paper.*  Also you may run into a battle or two by choosing to venture into the forest or take the path up to the fort.  Among the options you may encounter over the course of the game include how you sneak up on your enemies like by using magic or using the shadows.  Depending on how much prowess you dedicated to that specific skill you will either pass the action and move on to assassinate the boss or fail miserably and be forced to run away sometimes loosing your items and gold which can set you back substantially.  Often I felt discouraged by the fact that you never really knew for sure if you were prepared for a quest but once I get the hang of the unique mechanisms im sure ill catch up.  When your in a town you can of course buy important items like potion or swords or accpet quests from the guild.  Its basically a free roam game and you are only limited to your imagination as most game events like battles are random.  The battles are turn based and your stats and weapons are taken into account when judging the max attack damage on the enemy.   You dont have to push any buttons or select options during a battle as they are all entirely automated.
The hand drawn art at each scene is absolutely beatufil and captures the fantasy mood of the game spectaculuary.  The soundtrack is also very fitting and is very relaxing to listen too.  Multitasking has been included as well so its good for pick up and play sessions on the go or on the job. The price may be a bit steep for some but the game is  definitely worth the admission price.

Overall this is a breathtaking game that puts the reins in your hands and lets you choose your in-game destiny.  With tons of replayability and many different situations this one will last you a while.  I give it a 4.5/5.
Link:http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fabled-lands-ii-gold-edition/id451019342?mt=8
*please note that some of these situations e.g(poison ivy) are not actually in the game and were used for comedic effect.

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August 5, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Guardian Saga-1.99(9th Bit Games)

There are tons of RPGs on the appstore ranging from KRPG’s to JRPG’s. But what type of RPG I’ve really been hankering for is a classic RPG, something akin to the early days before grinding became a major part in games. Guardian Saga is what I feel appropriately fills that hole in the appstore for the time being.
The story of the game is fairly typical of the genre e.x(You have been sent to save the world from a great evil that is taking over the land etc) but does not detract from the overall experience. The controls are a simple D-pad that works smoothly and is very reactive as to not detract from the gameplay. There is a single menu you can access during any time(except battle) that includes quite a few functions like quick saving, equipping, and your items.
You have free roam in this virtual world and their are a variety of optional dungeons and places that deviate from the main plot. Every once in a while when you are traveling you run into an enemy which by turn based combat do you defeat. Once initiated in combat you have three different choices: Attack, Magic, or to run the heck away. Your attack strength depends on what equipment you have on you at the time as you can not change while in the heat of battle. You gain magic skills as you progress in the game and they take up your Mana points. Located around the map are various villages where you can save your progress, buy items, or take a nap to restore your health. Luckily theyre never so far apart you die trying to get their but if not well equipped when you step foot in the wild then your shit out of luck.
The chiptune soundtrack is quite delightful and definitely fits the retro vibe of the game. The 8-bit graphics are spectaculuar and well detailed. The gameplay time is roughly 8 hours but more if you take time to explore other dungeons and reach the level cap. The only complaint I have so far is the fact that their is no multitasking which im sure will be added in an update.
Overall this game takes everything we love about rpgs and puts it in one lovingly crafted game. This should definitely be added to your app collection. I give it 5/5.
Link:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/guardian-saga/id451887140?mt=8

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August 2, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >