Monthly Archive: December 2011

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Super Crate Box for iOS is the lovechild of indie gaming studios Vlambeer and Halfbot.  Vlambeer, being new to the iOS crowd decided to collaborate with Halfbot, a studio that has already published their first game.  Though Super Crate Box or SCB for short was originally a PC game by Vlambeer, it translates well onto the smaller screen of iDevices.  The two studios spent countless hours perfecting the controls and cleaning up the code of the game.  The game was originally planned to be released in late December, but rather than rushing through the rest of their work they decided to postpone the launch and make it even better than it was before.
The new release date is five days from now on January 5th.

SCB is a game about speed, maneuverability and firepower. Your main goal is to collect as many crates as you can while dealing with the torrent of enemies flung at you over the course of your play session.  Every time you run over a crate you exchange your current weapon for another weapon you have already earned. This is both a blessing and a curse as you might get stuck in a situation with a gun that wont help you get out of it alive.  Crates are also important because they unlock new characters, weapons, levels and gameplay modes.
 The controls are as tight as possible and I have not had any problems with them excluding human error.  The music is retro themed and gets your blood pumping. SCB is also Universal so it can work on your iPad and iPhone and has iCade support.
Overall this is a brilliant port and full of insane jaw dropping action that will keep you on the edge of your seat. At a launch price of $0.99 you wont want to miss this bad boy. Plus if a overall total of 5 million crates are collected by iOS gamers all over the world the developers promise to add iOS exclusive content in a update.

Here are some screenshots of the game in action:
(rather hard to catch good screenshots since this is such
a fast paced game)

From what we have heard and seen so far, 2012 is going to be one hell of a year. Let’s just hope all of the great games we’ve been hearing about release before the world ends. Here’s our 10 most anticipated games for 2012 (that we know of now).

#1 Legendary Heroes (Legendary Heroes)

Haven’t heard much about this one other than that it plays like League of Legends or DoTA. Going of the video, this game is nothing short of awesome.  It will be releasing sometime in early 2012, and it will be free-to-play.  Don’t let this keep you away from the game though, just remember that League of Legends is free-to-play and is great.  We’ll have all the details on this one as they come.

#2 Paper Monsters (Crescent Moon Games/Robotsvswizards)

This is the platformer that I’ve been waiting for for the longest time. The quality of the artwork and the original garageband-made music seem to create a unique and lovable experience. And, it seems reminiscent of the Mario games, which is a huge plus. The video is some old footage and the game has evolved since then.  Paper Monsters will be launching early 2012.

#3 League of Evil 2 (Ravenous Games)

It’s pretty obvious that I like League of Evil. Not only was it our Game of the Year, but it is still my favorite game, hands down.  From what I’ve seen, the second installment looks like it will be just as good as the first, if not better. The pixel art is out, and all of the artwork is now being done by hand. Can’t say much about gameplay yet, but judging from the screens this is going to be one hell of a game.

#4 Kids vs. Goblins (Crescent Moon Games/Stolen Couch Games)

The line drawing control mechanism was really brought to life by the Mika Mobile masterpiece, Battleheart.  In Kids vs. Goblins, this tactic is taken to another dimension. Literally. This game looks really good, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

#5 Infinity Of God (CalviGames/Chillingo)

This God of War inspired game looks like another step up in terms of iOS graphic quality. It’s being made with the Unreal Engine, so lets hope it doesn’t fall victim to the bugs that are associated with the engine.

#6 Oceanhorn (Cornfox & Brothers)

**Bullshot**

This adventure game is brings back memories of the old days of classic, Zelda-style RPGs. Explore the world, solve puzzles, and kill the ancient sea monster named Oceanhorn.  Forget grinding, I’m on a boat.

#7 Raid Leader (Crescent Moon Games/Red Zebra Games)

Raid Leader seems to have somewhat similar gameplay to Kids vs. Goblins but has an entirely different appeal. From what we can tell so far, this game will be one awesome real-time strategy game (if that’s what they call them). The info we have so far is that there will be EPIC BOSS BATTLES and unique perks and abilities. Early 2012 launch for this one.

#8 Last Knight (Crescent Moon Games/Toco Games)

Looks like 2012 is the year of Crescent Moon Games.  Last Knight is being developed by Toco Games, and judging from the screens it looks plain amazing.  In terms of gameplay, this will be an endless “rider” with some jousting and ragdoll physics along the way. Count me in!

#9 Lightopus (Appxplore)

I recently finished beta testing this game, and it really was a pleasure to play. The atmosphere created by the game’s music (headphones help) and artwork is amazing. The video somewhat shows how the controls work, and also what kind of gameplay you will expect. No matter what you will have a blast playing this game, and that is why it’s on our list.

#10 2013: Infected Wars (Action Mobile Games)

This zombie shooter is shaping up to be quite the killer. The game will sport third-person shooter action with both single player and online co-op play. Online co-op is very rare on iOS especially in a game like this. Not much solid info on 2013: Infected Wars yet, but we’ll be back when there’s more.

These 10 games certainly aren’t the only ones that we are looking forward to, but there needs to be a cut-off to the list somewhere. Either way, we’ll try to review all of the great games in 2012.  I hope you enjoyed the read.

For the past week or so developers on Steam have been drastically cutting the prices on their games to just a few measly dollars. Once every 24 hours the new sales are revealed for people to peruse.  Today two iOS game developers have cut down their prices to the lowest they have ever been.  Those developers are Vlambeer and Trendy Entertainment.  Vlambeer recently submitted Super Crate Box to the Appstore and it is due out on January 5th of 2012.  Trendy Entertainment ported Dungeon Defenders onto mobile devices like iOS and Android.

In case you are out of the loop, Steam is a storefront for computer games that you can download onto your computer.  Once you have Steam downloaded you can buy a variety of games, granted that you have the proper computing requirements.  It’s free and you can get it here: http://store.steampowered.com/

The two games that are on sale are Dungeon Defenders for PC and Serious Sam: The Random Encounter.

Dungeon Defenders by Trendy Entertainment

Dungeon Defenders is a tower defense/ action roleplaying game.  Your goal is to protect the Eternia crystals from the swarms of monsters that arrive in each of the areas.  Towers are a main focal point of the game and you place them strategically around the area in order to best defend your crystal. You can choose from 4 characters all of which have different skills and towers available.  The game is multiplayer enabled so you can play with people around the world. Though the iOS version cant sync back and forth to the PC version but in my opinion the game plays smoother on the PC.

Price: $3.74 http://store.steampowered.com/app/65800/

Serious Sam: The Random Encounter by Vlambeer

Serious Sam: The Random Encounter is a turn-based RPG that lives up to its name, it’s extremely random. From aliens to insanely crazy weapons this is definitely a interesting game. It is definitely worth a shot for a dollar and you would have to be insane to pass up this offer.

Price: $1.24 http://store.steampowered.com/app/201480/

Total for both games: 4.98 or 5 dollars after tax

I know you are dying to hear who won, and let me give you a few hints. This developer started life under the wing of big-shot publisher Chillingo. After releasing their first title, the team moved on to more ambitious projects and has evolved into a publishing company of its own.  This development team now produces its own original games and helps others perfect their projects.  From epic, open-world RPG’s to simple yet hardcore ball rolling games, and even a side-scrolling brawler, this development team has provided the some of the best games in 2011.  I am proud to announce that the 2011 Developer of the Year is Crescent Moon Games!

Here’s a link to all of Crescent Moon’s games. The first game released by Crescent Moon Games was Ravensword: The Fallen King which was published by Chillingo. You can find that here.  Remember all Crescent Moon Games are on sale this week for $0.99 or less. Check out this post for all the links.

Also, there are a ton of Crescent Moon games coming in 2012 like Paper Monsters, Kids vs. Goblins and Raid Leader. We’ll have more on that here in a bit.

Congratulations again to Crescent Moon Games for winning the Game of the Year award! We hope you guys continue to make awesome games.

With awesome graphics tailored to the iPad 2 display and frantic fighting action this is an easy buy. The  larger display and room to manuever make it much easier to swipe and doge in the game.  It has a long lasting story which should keep you playing for a long time.

There is no shortage of endless games on the App Store, and there is only one reason for this. THEY ARE FUN.  These days there are so many games appearing on the App Store that it is easy for hidden gems to drift by without a sound.  A new gem that should not be passed up is Ice Wings: Skies of Steel by MassiveFun3D. This newest addition to the App Store brings great visuals, an epic soundtrack, and frantic flying action together in an awesome endless arcade shooter.
The visual appeal of Ice Wings is definitely what caught my eye first. Cool and clean is one way to describe it. The color-scheme and building style really creates the feeling of being in a war-torn environment. Now, this is not to say that the graphics are perfect though.  The textures are a bit rough at the edges, and when you get up to speed some of the enemies look almost 2D. To go along with the visuals, the soundtrack of the game is nothing short of epic. You know the sort of music that you hear in the Call of Duty series that always puts you in the mood for shooting stuff? The best way to describe the music in the game is a mix between CoD and Top-Gun style. This really goes to create an awesome experience while you are playing, and for that I think the composer (Dave Dexter) deserves a big applause.
Moving on to the controls, Ice Wings utilizes a simplistic control scheme. A fixed shoot button (you can place this on the right or left side), finger dragging to move the plane left or right, and an upward swipe to dodge vertically.  My first few minutes playing the game were very frustrating as it took maybe 7 or 8 tries just to get past the first obstacle! Over at the TouchArcade forums, others have had the same trouble, but this is just a matter of getting used to the timing. Your plane is constantly speeding up, so in the beginning you have to wait until you are right up against the obstacle before dodging, whereas later on you have to dodge much earlier. In terms of obstacles, there is a variety ranging from train overpasses, to helicopters and cranes, and some more crazy ones like giant spinning blades and gates that slam shut with a tiny hole to pass through.  When you get going really fast, it becomes really difficult to see the obstacles coming, so you pretty much have to depend on luck. But hey, that’s the name of endless games isn’t it.

There are incentives to keep flying and crashing as well.  When you shoot down enemies you gain stars. These stars act as in-game credits to unlock new planes. Currently there are 4 planes total. The planes each have different stats in areas like acceleration, weight, and damage. This is what will keep you playing the game, and the developers will be bringing more planes in the future.
Speaking of future updates, the first update to the game is currently in the works. This will bring updated controls and hopefully some more customization. Some features that we hope to see in later updates are more obstacles (ie. some that you need to fly underneath), more maps, of course more planes.
This game is everything you could ask for from an endless game. It is nearly non-stop action, it has great visual appeal, it has an epic soundtrack, and it is from an indie developer. All of these are perfect reasons for you to get this game. It is highly recommended from me, and let’s hope that we will see updates galore in the future. Check out the launch trailer after the score:

Action RPGs have flooded the AppStore over the last couple of years. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In my case, it’s driven me back towards Turn-Based RPGs, which I use to love as a young teen, but kind of feel out of until earlier this year. Anyway, with the insane amount of Action RPGs available to iOS gamers, it’s hard to think that any of them can really bring anything new to the table, or generally impress gamers to the point where they’re given hope for the genre again. Enter ANBSoft. Their title, CrimsonHeart, might just wind up being the game that changes your perspective.

CrimsonHeart puts you in a world where Humans and Demons have fought for control of the world, with Demons trying to control the Humans with force, and the Humans trying to fight them off with intelligence. Dragons act as judges, having both intelligence and strength beyond that of both races, they limit themselves from getting involved. Dragons are immortal, but fall into deep sleep every 200 years, which is when the fighting between Humans and Demons is in total chaos. You’ll play as Pochi, a young warrior who has all of this going on around him, and Ann, a young mage, who has no memory of who she is, or what is going on in the world around them.

The graphics and animations are also a huge selling point for the game. The graphics are some of the best I’ve seen within the genre, with loads of detail, and an insane amount of color. As you attack enemies, how much damage you’ve done shows up above their heads, a-la Borderlands, which I always thought was a very cool graphic addition for games. If the enemies hit you, the same thing happens, but the numbers are in red instead of a pale yellow. The environments are very well done, with great path layouts, and wonderful objects scattered around the worlds. The trees, water, grass, bushes, rocks, flowers, everything that’s in the game adds to the overall atmosphere somehow, which does help immensely when becoming immersed within the game. The world that ANBSoft has created is beautiful, and the creatures within it are all designed perfectly. On top of this, the animations for moving, walking, running, dashing, attacking, everything is so fantastically well done that after playing CrimsonHeart, pretty much all other Action RPGs are dull and boring by comparison.

With all of these great selling points, it’s easy to see why the regular price for CrimsonHeart is $4.99. But right now, it’s on sale for $0.99! Did I also mention that the game is UNIVERSAL? So if you’re a fan of the genre, or use to be a fan of the genre, and have been disappointed over the last year by the onslaught of Action RPGs released in the AppStore, CrimsonHeart is definitely a game that you NEED to check out. ANBSoft has become a development team that I will be keeping a very close eye on in the future. If their next games are even half as entertaining as CrimsonHeart, they’ll be worth buying. Also, a huge THANK YOU to the developers, for re-igniting my love of Action RPGs. I really can’t thank you guys enough. I hope those of you who end up checking this out will feel the same.

Silvertree Media’s first iOS release, Cordy, made quite an impression on gamers with it’s fantastic graphics, animations, music and gameplay. However, those who loved Cordy might end up wondering why Silvertree decided to take their second release, Sleepy Jack, in a more casual direction with the gameplay. Sleepy Jack feels more like a Disney’d-up Tunnel Shoot than anything else, having your character go through stages collecting orbs, shooting enemies and objects trying to block your path, and trying to beat level times. Not to say that Sleepy Jack isn’t worth playing, or that if you’ve got plenty of tunnel shooters, that you’re not missing anything if you skip on it, because it does offer up some very top notch gameplay, but those of you who were hoping for something a little more creative based on your experience with Cordy will most likely be disappointed at first.

Sleepy Jack puts you inside the dreams of Jack, the kid who owns the toy, Cordy. Each night, you’ll control Jack as he flies through 40 levels, split up across 4 different worlds. Each level has a 3 star ranking system, with one star for completion, one for collecting a certain amount of the level’s orbs, and another for beating the level’s par time. There are 3 different control schemes, one having virtual buttons for movement, using a double tap to make Jack do a barrel roll, one where you can hold on the left or right side of the screen for which direction you want Jack to move, and then swiping in the gameplay area to get him to perform a barrel roll, and tilt controls, which also give you two buttons, one on each side for the direction you would like Jack to do a barrel roll in. While you’re going through the stages, you’ll sometimes be able to fire projectiles. This is done automatically when your fingers are on the screen with the two touch screen controls. For the tilt controls, you’ll need to tap on the screen when you want to shoot. All three control options fit the game very well. In fact, I’m having a hard time finding out which control scheme I prefer, they are all put together that well.

It would be great to see some additional modes added in the future, as tunnel racers are generally known for having more than one mode. Maybe a zen mode, where you didn’t have to worry about any obsticles or enemies, and could just zone out to the amazingly beautiful graphics, or a full on chaos mode where some of the harder enemy battles were thrown at you in waves, and you survived as long as you could with one life. There’s loads of possibilities when it comes to secondary modes in a tunnel racer game. It would also be great to see some unlockable characters, maybe be able to play with Cordy, and other toys that Jack owns. Even though there is a high replay value with the game already, it would just be nice to have some more variety with the gameplay.

Right now, Sleepy Jack is priced at it’s launch sale price, $0.99, which, even during December, is a fantastic price for this high-quality game. Yes, it is a tunnel racer, yes tunnel racers are not known for their deep gameplay, but once you look past the genre it’s in, and actually start playing it, and progressing through the game, you really start to see how much depth there really is. On top of the 3 star rankings for each level, which provide tons of replay value, there are 3 different difficulties (which also makes the game more accessible to younger gamers, as well as hardcore players), and Game Center + OpenFeint integration. Within GameCenter, there are leaderboards for the first 30 levels, as well as an Overall Score board, and OpenFeint has a board for every level, as well as an Overall Score leaderboard, along with both having 44 achievements. Silvertree Media can add their second title, Sleepy Jack, to that list of top notch, high quality, amazingly beautiful games that they started on with Cordy. I can’t wait to see what they’ll bring us in the future.