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Monthly Archive: August 2012

Sunshine [Morbidware] – $0.99

Gravity-centric platformers like Soosiz, Mr. Ninja, Magnetic Baby and They Need To Be Fed are generally few and far between, but when they do hit the AppStore, fans of the genre just eat em up, and beg for more. Well, last week, newcomers Morbidware added one more game to that very small list; Sunshine. An incredibly challenging, touch-to-jump mesh of Super Meat Boy and Mr. Ninja, providing an incredible challenge, and offering up quite a bit of replayability. 
Sunshine is a story of the Multiverse. With Photon’s shining all over the Multiverse, Black Holes have found a way to turn shining suns into nothingness, and are on a mission to drain all of the light out of the Multiverse. You’ll guide a little Photon around planets, asteroids and black holes, while you try and collect sunshine orbs, and make your way to each level’s exit, saving one system at a time. 
The game contains a Story Mode. No other gameplay modes are included, but fortunately, they aren’t really needed. With 3 Systems to travel through, and each system having 20 stages, with 12 different environments, loads of hazards, boss battles, and an insane amount of challenge, Sunshine will keep even the most hardcore gamers busy for quite some time. 
The controls are simple. Tap to jump. To jump higher, hold your finger down longer. To do a very short jump, tap the screen and let off as quickly as possible. Your little Photon moves on his own, rotating clockwise, orbiting each object. As you’ll quickly find out, black holes can be used and jumped on, but you better get off of them quick, as they shrink, and try to suck you into oblivion in a matter of seconds. Each object has it’s own gravity, and learning how to manipulate it definitely works to your advantage. 
As your jumping from object to object, there’s orbs which you’ll need to collect in order to open up each level’s exit (3 orbs open the exit). Once you do this, you can either stay in the level, and keep trying to collect the rest of the orbs, or you can exit the level, taking the loss to your score. Each stage also has 3 collectible stars you can try and snag. One for completing the level, another for collecting all of the orbs and the last one for completing the level under a certain amount of time. The time challenges are among the hardest I’ve ever seen in an iOS game, especially after you get through the introduction levels, and if you’re a sucker for 100% completing games, this is probably what will keep you coming back, as well as what will drive you insane. 
The graphics and animations for Sunshine are fantastic. I especially love the models used for the bosses, and the ‘cut-scene’ images. The animations are great, with a light ‘trail’ behind your Photon, smooth spinning of objects, great explosions, and more. The sounds and background music help to complete this atmosphere perfectly, with nice effects adding to the ‘oomph’ of the gameplay, it’s incredibly hard not to get sucked in. 
Another huge plus for the game is the level design. With moving objects, as well as the rotation of each world, asteroid, and black hole, the placement of hazards, and the mix of black holes and ‘safe’ zones for you to travel on, it’s clear that the game has gone through endless hours of work, thought, and beta testing to make sure that each level provides a fantastic challenge while not straying too far into the level of frustrating, and enhancing the gameplay immensely. Also keeping the game from getting too frustrating, if you die 10 times in a row, you’re given the option to use an extra heart, which adds one hit point to your Photon, and really helps out on those harder levels. 
Unfortunately, Sunshine does not run on 4th Generation Touch devices ATM, and is not Universal. The developers are, however, working on a fix, and have said that they’re kicking around some ideas for the iPad. Other than that, there’s not one bad thing I can say about Sunshine. It’s one of the best titles within the Gravity-Centric Platform genre, and with it’s hard-as-nails, Super Meat Boy level of difficulty, it provides a fantastic challenge for those willing to take it on. Though, the difficulty might be a deterrent for a lot of gamers, it’s great seeing games with this level of challenge hitting the AppStore more frequently these days. Being priced at $0.99, and including GameCenter leaderboards for each of the game’s Systems (worlds), there’s quite a bit of content to enjoy, and even more replay value if you’re determined to 100% complete the game, or go score-chasing on the boards. Morbidware has definitely, DEFINITELY made some hardcore iOS gamers happy with their first iOS title. I really hope we get to see more from them in the future. 

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August 9, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Hassey Enterprises’ Dynamite Jack Goes Universal!

Hassey Enterprises’ Dynamite Jack, released back in late June, just got an update last night, and what an awesome update it is! Instead of releasing a totally separate app for the iPhone/iPod Touch, the devs over at Hassey Enterprises decided to show some love for their fans, and made Dynamite Jack UNIVERSAL. That’s right, now all of you who already purchased the game are able to install and play it on the small screen. And those of you who don’t have an iPad can now enjoy the game as well! 
For those of you who don’t know, Dynamite Jack is a stealth-based action/adventure title that has you blowing up rocks and enemies while trying to escape an underground cave system. It’s easily one of the best stealth-based titles I’ve ever played, and has LOADS of content. Check it out;
– Single Player Campaign Mode;
Containing 28 challenging levels, each with 3 different objectives (like beating the level in a certain amount of time, collecting all of the cartridges in a level, kill all the enemies in a level, kill ZERO enemies in a level, detonate 30 bombs in a level, beat the level without using keys, and much more!) and 3 data cartridges to collect in each stage, as well as a leaderboard for each level!
– Map Builder;
Build your own maps for the game, and share them via Hassey’s server. – This is even included on the smaller iPhone+iPod Touch screen! 
-Community Maps;
Download maps made by other users! This lets you download maps from iPad and PC users as well! 
This makes for near endless replay value, and some very challenging Campaign Mode gameplay.
If you’d like to know more about the game, check out our 4.5/5 star review, take a gander at the trailer below, check out the developer’s website, or head on over to the AppStore, and pick up this fantastic game already! =oD
**NOTE** – You will also be given a free PC/MAC/Linux code to download the game for your computer through the game! GET THIS NOW!! =oD
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August 9, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Rayark’s Cytus gets it’s Version 2.0 update!

Every now and again, an update comes along that totally changes how we view a game. Aside from the usual bug fixes, Facebook+Twitter additions and little tweaks, there’s the rare occasion that you’ll wake up one day, and see an update that you didn’t expect, and that completely changes how you view, or adds to the amount of respect you have for a developer. 
Today was one of those morning. Waking up at 5AM (damn neighbors locking their dog outside), I did my usual morning routine, and then opened up the AppStore to see a couple of updates. One of which was for Cytus. Not even knowing that an update for Cytus was in the works, I clicked on the icon, and was extremely surprised to see the amount of changes and additions that have been done for the fabulous Version 2.0.0 build. 
Here’s a list of what’s new in Version 2.0.0;
>As much as people enjoy the game of Cytus, there seems to be quite a few things that remain unanswered; Often people wonder, what is the robotic icon for? Is the background story really relevant to the game? You will be finding the answers in the new release of Cytus Version 2.0.0
>Cytus Story Mode unfolds before you
>The world outlook of Cytus has always been there, through implementing the new chapter select menu, gamers will better understand & be irresistibly drawn into the world of Cytus more than ever. 
>From Version 2.0.0 onwards, Rayark Inc. has a plan that is bold & experimental; with every 100,000 paid downloads, a new chapter, including 10 new songs, will be unlocked. The complete story of Cytus consists of 10 chapters, 100 songs thereof can be played as a whole, as long as the plan goes through in terms of having all 10 chapters unlocked.
–Having attempted to execute such a plan, we intend to dodge the commonly used IAP song packs in the contemporary music genre. We are relying on each and every gamer to spontaneously promote Cytus to others for its quality content as well as friendly price. Together, we have a chance to make Cytus the one and only; a classic music game with a hundred songs to play!
>9 new songs, including a hidden track of our most popular song.
>Technical Point system for those who want more of a challenge.
>New user interface to introduce the magnificent story of Cytus, including the new chapter select menu with 3 chapters, the story will expand in the future!
>New explosion and sound effects.
>GameCenter achievements 
That’s right. The background story is being brought out more, more songs, a new Technical Point system, new sound effects, GC Achievements!!! Sensory overload! =oD
Also finding out that new chapters and songs will be unlocked if the game sells well, instead of having the song packs come out as in-app-purchases was a huge surprise. Though I’m not too optimistic that the game will hit 1,000,000 paid downloads and have all 100 songs unlocked, I am still hopeful. So get out there, check out the update, and tell EVERYONE you know about a wonderful little music game, priced at $1.99, and already including a buttload of songs, that has the potential to have 100 songs sometime in the future!
Rayark has also been kind enough to contribute some promo codes for Cytus for our first ever BIG ASS PROMO CODE GIVEAWAY! So if you don’t have Cytus yet, and are a broke… broke… like so many of us out there, make sure you check our Twitter page every day for the next week while we hand out promo codes (we’re up to 95!!!) starting tomorrow (the 8th) and lasting until next Tuesday (the 14th).
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August 7, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Wizorb [Tribute Games] – $2.99

Ports are always a pretty big deal in the iOS gaming world. The most recent port to hit the AppStore, Wizorb, is a mix between an old-school block-breaker and an RPG. Sound good? We thought so too. And so did thousands of PC/MAC gamers when the game was released on Steam and the Mac AppStore back in March. Since then, Tribute Games, a very small, 2 person studio, with roughly 10 years of development experience (working with Ubisoft, Eidos and Gameloft), has been figuring out the best way to port Wizorb over to the iOS. Well, last Thursday, it finally hit the AppStore, and the first ever brick-breaking RPG was made available for mobile devices around the world. 
Wizorb starts off similar to other RPGs; After an introduction level, you’re taken to Tarot, a small town in the Kingdom of Gorudo, where you find out that a curse cast by demons has whipped out most of the town, and that monsters came from Gorudo castle, attacking the townspeople. Seems Cyrus, your badass wizard, is the only hope for Gorudo’s salvation. And here’s where you might start to get disappointed. The control scheme is horrid.
Starting off in the intro level, you’re able to see two buttons, labeled A and B in the lower right corner. During the block breaking segments, these are used to launch your ball, and to cast spells. To move your paddle left and right, you can drag anywhere on the screen. This isn’t so bad, especially on the smaller iPhone/iPod screen, but you might have some issues on the larger iPad screen, needing to constantly pick your finger up and re-drag it in order to move the paddle all the way across the screen, and the A and B buttons are fairly small, and have a pretty large dead zone, so you’ll constantly be missing the buttons. During the town sequences, movement is done by touching in the direction you want to go. So to move upwards, you’ll need to touch above your wizard, left, on the left side of the screen, ect. Again, this isn’t too much of a problem on the smaller iPhone screen, but on the iPad, it’s a real pain, and you’ll wind up blocking a lot of the gameplay area. The collision detection in the towns areas doesn’t help movement much, as you’ll need to be completely clear of an object in order to get around it. This generally just makes things a little more frustrating. 
Once you get out of the first town, you’ll be taken to the world map, where you can move on to the next town, and start the real brick-breaking gameplay. Here, as you destroy bricks, mana bottles, gems, extra lives, keys and coins will occasionally fall, depending on what color the bricks that you’re destroying are. Also thrown into the mix are evil monsters which you’ll need to destroy in order to complete the levels. Like most brick-breakers, if you can manage to get your ball stuck up above the bricks, you’ll be in for a smooth and easy ride, just needing to collect the items that fall down towards you. Also, learning how to control the ball is a very valuable asset. Hitting the ball in the center of your paddle will send it straight up, while hitting it on the edge will send it flying in that direction (left edge = ball goes to the left), and everywhere in-between sends it at a different angle. Getting this perfected will make the game a lot easier, while at the same time, provide another level of challenge to the gameplay. 
Unfortunately, I have experienced quite a few drops in framerate, and some lag, especially in levels that are packed with bricks. In a game that’s dependant on quick movement and reflexes, this can be a real downer. Another issue I’ve experienced is having buttons get ‘stuck’. Occationally, if I hit the A, or launch ball, button before the wizard completely changes into the paddle, the game will read the A button as being held down, and I won’t be able to launch the ball. The only way to fix this is to quit and restart. 
Another complaint that others have had is that the game only takes up ¾ of the screen. The developers have said that this is because re-sizing the game to fit the iDevice’s screen caused the gameplay area to distort, and that they would have had to re-do all of the game’s artwork in order to have it display correctly. This has left a giant black bar on the bottom of the screen. Something to fill in this black bar would have been great. For instance, Cave’s games also do not necessarily fit the iDevice’s screen, so instead of having a large black bar around the gameplay area, they’ve included some nice artwork along the outside. 
Now, even with all these issues, if you’re a huge fan of the original PC title, it’s nice to have the game available at any time and fit in your pocket. The town segments do not take a lot of time to get through, and the real meat of the game is, in fact, the brick-breaking gameplay. Again, a lot of the issues with the controls are not as prevalent on the smaller iPhone/iPod Touch screens, but on the iPad, can be very frustrating. Priced at $2.99, which is also the same price on Steam, you might want to check out the PC version that doesn’t have all of the touch-screen’s issues. But if you’re a huge fan of the brick-breaking genre, Wizorb has the potential to be another great title. However, you might want to hold off until a couple of updates have gone through, fixing the control issues and gameplay lag as well as the drops in framerate. Right now, it seems like the developers over at Tribute Games tried to spend as little as they could, and worked as fast as they could to port the game over to the iOS. Luckily, updates are a huge deal in the iOS gaming world, and all of this can be fixed and dealt with; if the developers care enough to put the time and effort into it.
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August 6, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Bitless [Nicholas Rapp] – $0.99

One of my favorite genres of video games happens to be platformers. Luckily for me, there’s loads of great titles available in the AppStore. One of my favorites has always been ChocoRun; A hard as nails, Super Meat Boy influenced game with one touch controls for jumping. Since it’s release, there hasn’t been another title even remotely similar. Until now. Bitless, developed by Nicholas Rapp, is a touch-to-jump, hard as nails, retro platformer that will drive you insane and keep you addicted at the same time. What more could you ask for in a platformer? Well, other than tight controls, awesome level design, sweet bosses, and some badass chip tune music… which, fortunately, can all be found in Bitless as well. Excited yet?
Bitless contains 50 levels spread across 4 worlds, and includes 3 bosses. Starting off, the game is simple enough. Your little character moves on his own, and to jump, you just need to tap the screen. Holding down longer results in a longer/higher jump. If you hit an edge, your character will change directions on his own. However, even with this very simple gameplay, it leaves a lot of possibilities open for some very challenging segments and levels. 
As you progress through the game, you’re gradually introduced to new gameplay elements; pits, wall jumps, wall sliding, static enemies, moving enemies, small platforms, ect. Each time you die, you’re confronted with a large eye in the lower corner spouting condescending bits at you; Splat, Death, Balls, Really?, Delicious, Ha Ha Ha, LOLZ, and more. You’re also told that each time you die, the enemies grow stronger, though this is really just a mind-game, as with each time you die, you get more frustrated, and the enemies have more power over your aggression. Each time you die, it’s added to your counter, as well as the world-wide counter, and the leaderboard. Checking out the boards will show you how many levels gamers have completed, as well as how many deaths, and believe me, some of these death numbers are insane. 
The retro graphics and animations in Bitless are fantastic. The backgrounds contain images which kind of look like platforms, but not really. They mix in very well with the actual levels, and give it a sort of 2.5D look, which is great. The animations for movement are fairly simple, but keep with the sort of minimal graphic look of the game. The music and effects are also top notch, mixing in a very well produced chip tune soundtrack, and throwing in some great sounds. 
What really stands out is the level design. It’s very clear that each level has been crafted and tested, hundreds of times, to make sure that the game doesn’t contain any missing tiles, and that the jumps are perfectly spaced apart. The segments of wall jumping mixed in with the dodging of the evil eyes, disappearing platforms sections, endless pits, eyes that chase after you, eye shooting boss eyes, and much, much more is all put together so well that it creates one hell of a challenge, and one extremely entertaining, and almost sadistic gameplay experience. 
Being Universal and priced at $0.99, Bitless is a game that EVERY platformer fan needs to pick up. GameCenter integration is not included, but will be in a future update. However, the game contains it’s own worldwide leaderboards, and pretty large list of achievements. The difficulty might be a little too high for a lot of players, but if you’re up for a challenge, Bitless will definitely provide it. It’s easily of the best platformers I’ve played on the iOS, and one of the most difficult I’ve played on any platform. I really can’t wait to see what Nicholas Rapp will bring to the table with his next releases. 
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August 6, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

TAS Newsletter back up and running!

Alright. Many of you have already signed up to receive our newsletter. Unfortunately, this service has been down for quite some time. Until today. If you previously subscribed and still wish to receive The App Shack’s Newsletter, unfortunately, you’ll need to go through the process again (enter your e-mail address below, and confirm through an e-mail). We’re terribly sorry about this, but it’s the only way it could be fixed at this time. We’d like to thank you for your understanding, and are hoping that we can get back the substantial amount of subscribers that we previously had. 
We’ll start again by sending out monthly letters. Depending on how it goes, we might make it bi-weekly, but it all depends on feedback. 
Thank you for your support. You, the reader, make what we do here at The App Shack worthwhile. It means the world to us. =o)



After a quick confirmation e-mail, you’ll be able to receive The App Shack’s Newsletter containing information about new games, reviews, previews, and other iOS gaming news.
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August 5, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Plight of the Zombie [Spark Plug Games] – $2.99

Zombie games are really getting out-done in the AppStore. It seems like every week, another zombie game is released, and I can’t see an end to it. Fortunately, there’s a whole mass of gamers who just can’t get enough of it, and plenty of developers out there who are willing to take a chance on yet another zombie game. North Carolina based Spark Plug Games, a fairly well rounded development company, producing over 50 products over the last 4 and a half years. It’s pretty safe to say that they’ve learned quite a bit since their inception, and with their most recent iOS and Android title, Plight of the Zombie, it shows. 
Plight of the Zombie is a line drawing puzzler which has you guiding Craig Creeper and other mysterious zombies through 5 worlds, and 50 levels of line drawing zombie fun. Each level contains 3 brains and various humans, some wielding shotguns, some pistols, some will just cower in fear as you walk up and bite them. Once you touch a non-zombie, they instantly turn into another zombie which you’re able to control. This adds to the puzzle solving, as you’ll need quite a few extra zombies to get blown to bits so that you can get a zombie to reach a gun toting human. Each level is completed once you convert all humans to zombies, whether you have collected each of the 3 brains or not, so planning out your paths is a pretty important aspect of the game. 
In each of the 5 worlds, you’ll have different zombies which you’ll start each level with. In world 1, it’s Craig Creeper, a basic zombie that can’t take much damage. However, these basic zombies become useful in world 2, where you’ll control Charlie Chunker; a nice fat zombie that can take loads of damage, but moves relatively slow. He’s also unable to fit through many of the smaller pathways in the levels, which is where the basic Craig zombies need to be utilized in order to progress through the world. Learning how to utilize each zombies strengths and weaknesses is essential for completing the game. 
Another great facet of PotZ is the level design. It’s evident that Spark Plug Games has spent an incredible amount of time with the layouts and designs of each of the levels in Plight of the Zombie. As I’ve already stated, the level design comes into play by blocking off some zombies, while others are able to reach certain areas. But also, sometimes figuring out how to collect all of the brains in a level before converting all of the humans will require some quick thinking and figuring out which zombies need to go ahead of others, when zombies should be sacrificed, or when one should be used as a decoy so that others can pass by safely. Early on in the game, you’ll start seeing brains which have a timer underneath them. In order to collect these, you’ll need to reach them before the timer runs out and to do so, you’ll need to employ various tactics throughout the game. 
With Plight of the Zombie priced at $2.99, being Universal, having slick graphics and some of the best line drawing gameplay I’ve seen on the iOS, and although it starts out a little slow, once you hit the 2nd world, the game really picks up. It’s definitely worth grabbing, even if you’re sick of zombie games. It might just reignite your love of the genre, and give you hope that, when used to their full potential, zombie games are not done evolving. Not by a long shot. Including GameCenter integration with 16 achievements (that unfortunately, are not working ATM), a store full of items which you can dress up your zombies with and 3+ brains per level, there’s quite a bit of content to keep you busy for a while. Spark Plug Games has also stated that every 2 weeks, new cosmetic items will be added to the shop, and that we can expect more level packs as well. Plight of the Zombie definitely shows that Spark Plug Games knows exactly what they’re doing, and precisely what it takes to create a fantastic line drawing puzzler. It’s one development team that, without a doubt, we are going to be keeping our eyes on. 
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August 5, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

ORC: VENGEANCE – [CHILLINGO] – $2.99

What makes a good RPG / Dungeon Crawler? If you were to ask someone like myself, who almost never plays them, it would be one that appeals to the masses in its gameplay encompassing something for everyone, not being to in depth to understand what the heck is going on, and having an even level progression and gripping storyline.

Orc: Vengeance, Chillingo’s latest fledgling entry to these adventures, is something that caught my eye from its initial release, and even being somewhat adverse to the genre, I thought I would give it a go. Mind you, the last time I dug into a similar title was Aralon: Sword and Shadow. I am certainly glad that I hit that Buy and Install button!

The story of Orc is actually a worthy one, even with other reviews saying that it may fall into the cliche category, with you taking on the guise of an Orc Warchief, Rok, who’s homeland clan, Argon, is threatened by the ever flourishing ‘Dark One’. Your objective is to take on said damnable force and breach their stronghold head on, and put an end to this evil that was actually brought on by the now mortified humans. There are a variety of cutscenes that tell the story, but the more interesting way the chronicle is told is via strewn about books that you find similar to loot.
The graphics are gorgeous. The animations are top notch, and the backgrounds are all exquisitely detailed. The framerate never suffers, and I can definitely say this is one of the prettier games I have had the pleasure of playing while maintaining such a great framerate.

The loot system is downright perfect, with the enthusiast never feeling the urge to even glance at the all to existent and optional IAP system. Each enemy you destroy drops some coins, and there are also treasure chests impeccably placed around each level. Another way to earn loot is to pick up dropped weapons from your defeated enemies, and sell them to the vendor whom you are prompted to visit upon each level completion. You can also hit the main menu at anytime, go to the vendor, and select the level you were on and you’ll be returned to the last checkpoint.
The weapons and shields have the typical attributes such as speed, opposing weapon upgrade capabilities, and defense powers. The weapons are all fun and unique, and I personally thought that having the biggest, baddest weapon was the best and didn’t care that it was the slowest. Their are limited inventory slots to use, which may be a put off to some, but I found the ones available to be plenty.

The leveling system is standard fare as well; attack, defense, greed (ie. coin % earned), and vengeance. Vengeance is a key component to your combat as it is limited in supply, although is replenished over time, and is what is drained when doing your advanced combat ‘Skill’ moves. These skills are found in chests, so it is key to explore, something I found pleasure in and I think adds to the game. You can upgrade all of the skills, everything from the blizzard slam attack to the replenish health points, and this is based on your character’s current level.

The combat is awesome. The interface is made up of a tap to move system, and the combat/skills are similar in using swipes and other gestures. You are allowed up to four(4) inventory gestures; I used two combat skills, and two for health/vengeance upgrades. Some may question the use of the touch to move interface as opposed to a joypad, but I can confirm that it works fine.
Combat scenes are extraordinary. Everything stops for a second, sort of a cutscene, and you will feel your adrenaline surge until Rok bangs on his shield as if to say ‘Bring it!’
The adversaries will certainly gang up and smother you if you don’t keep moving, which really add to the urgency of the combat scenes. The adventure has a great sense of pacing in that you will have an insanely intense battle scene, a perfectly placed checkpoint, and then you will be allowed to explore for a while to loot and upgrade etc. I found great pleasure in not having to battle back to back, well, not until the final few chapters anyway, but that’s to be expected when you’re getting close to your villain.

If there is one fault of Orc, is that the foray went by all too quickly with the entire game taking me roughly 4-5 hours. I certainly think that the money spent was entirely worth it however. Those looking for an all around dungeon crawler with amazing retina visuals, fast paced combat, and great albeit not too in depth character and weapon leveling up systems will find a great time with Orc and I highly recomend it to those new to the genre, as well as to the seasoned Hack n Slash veterans.

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August 5, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Master of Dungeon [Playbean] – $3.99

Ever since the release of CrimsonHeart, RPG fans have been looking for the next title to live up to the very high standards set by ANBSoft’s amazing title. Now, I won’t lie. Not one Action RPG title has made me come close to thinking of CrimsonHeart since. Until now. Playbean’s Master of Dungeon. What first brought on the memories of CrimsonHeart? The 360 degree movement. Yup, that’s really all it took. Once you play an Action RPG with 360 degree movement, all others seem stiff, and Playbean has nailed the movement, controls, and camera angles perfectly. The only question remaining; Does the rest of the game live up to the criteria of Crimsonheart? 
Master of Dungeon is a story about a place called World Tree. Light and Food is scarce, but the people of the land follow and believe in the Prophet, willing to do anything to please her. The English translation is pretty bad, and this isn’t helped by the text being broken up across lines (what a kawinkidink, just like CrimsonHeart!), but it’s understandable, and I never found myself at a loss for words not knowing what was going on in the story. Once you start you’re able to pick your class; Warrior, who has a strong physical attack with fencing skills and sword spheres, Assassin, who specializes in fist combat and is great when luck skills are increased, helping him find gold and rare item drops easier than the other classes, and the Wizard, who specializes in magic attacks and skills, and is better used at medium range instead of up close and personal.
Each different class has a different skill tree, and these skill trees are pretty extensive, offering up numerous skills to use and expand on, helping you immensely throughout the game. The skills you wind up choosing will play a major roll, effecting combat, and guiding how you control your characters from the beginning of the game. Unfortunately, the combat is not equal to CrimsonHearts. Running into a swarm of enemies and hacking and slashing your way through them will not severely drain your HP, or effectively kill you. Instead, mob management plays a roll, guiding enemies into large groups so that you can easily take them all out at once. This does, however, bring down the amount of grinding needed in order to level up, and because you’ll be leveling up fairly often, you will be spending quite a bit of time managing your skill tree. 
Master of Dungeon is set up so that you’ll constantly be visiting your tiny town in-between missions, talking to the townsfolk, progressing in the story, and starting new quests. Once you have your quests, there’s one exit out of the town, and it’s straight into a dungeon. When you start, you’re only able to go into one area of the dungeon, but as you progress, more areas will be opened, and you’ll be able to transport your character to these places directly, making it easier to navigate through the seemingly endless corridors of the world. Unfortunately, there’s not much in the way of environmental changes, which does have a pretty big impact on the game. Visiting essentially the same areas over and over again filled with different enemies does get a little boring after a while. 
The graphics and animations are reminiscent of CrimsonHeart, though not as extravagant, the attacking animations do contain a lot of flare, and utilizing the strengths of each class, they really do make you feel like a badass. The movement, death, and re-appearing animations are also well done, also having animations for various impacts like confusion, poison, and more, making the gameplay pretty flashy. Along with the great music and sound effects, it does create a fairly immersive gameplay experience. 
Priced at $3.99, and being Universal, it’s not a bad game by any means, and fans of the genre will love the 360 degree movement. It is better than CrimsonHeart? No. Not really. Is it better than most of the other Action RPGs out there? Yes. Yes it is. The 360 degree movement makes a huge difference in the gameplay, and even though it’s not equal to CrimsonHeart, I don’t think players want another game that’s exactly like CH, and I’m pretty sure Playbean knows this. There’s enough similarities to keep fans of CrimsonHeart satisfied, entertained, and hooked on the game, while also having enough differences to not be just a copy. Playbean has done a fantastic job here, and with a couple tweaks, it could rank right up there with CrimsonHeart as one of the best Action RPGs available in the AppStore. 
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August 5, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

VR Mission EXT [Sphinx Entertainment] – $0.99

The last couple of releases from Sphinx Entertainment have been amazingly outstanding. Actually, you wouldn’t be flamed if you said that the last couple releases they’ve put out are the best titles in their respective genres. Sphinx Entertainment is very quickly climbing up the ranks on my favorite developers list, and their latest title, VR Mission EXT, puts them one step closer to the top 5. Taking everything the team has learned from the original VR Mission, EXT steps it up in more ways than one, and could very well be the best stealth based game available for the iOS. 
As you can tell from screenshots, and the name, VR Mission EXT gets its inspiration from Konami’s Metal Gear Solid VR Missions. In 2012, the world seems peaceful after several notorious dictators have died. Unfortunately, a secret organization, the Shadow Soldiers, claim that they have the newest and best in Nuclear, Bio and Metal Mechanic weaponry. The last World Nations soldier to go into the enemies base never came back, but pictures were sent out of weapons, and secret intel, leading the World Nations to send in their best agent, Viper, to find out the truth and eliminate all possible threats. 
VR Mission EXT picks up where the original left off. Actually, that’s not very accurate. VR Mission EXT contains all 15 missions from the original game, as well as 19 more. EXT was originally going to be an update to the first VR Mission, but after putting in over 6 months of very hard work, Sphinx Entertainment decided to release EXT as a separate app. And it is definitely for the best. 
For those of you who have already played the original VRM., you know that one of the most requested features was 360 degree movement instead of the original 4 directional movement it was released with. The update was going to include this, as well as more missions. But after getting to work on the game, Sphinx Entertainment added much, much more. 360 degree movement, more missions, more items in the shop, re-done level designs, and 2 more agents, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, thrown into the mix for good measure. Worth another $0.99? We sure think so. 
As you make your way through the 34 levels, you’ll encounter various trap and hazards, like metal floors which make loads of noise as you walk over them, trap doors which will have you falling to your death, and more, as well as numerous enemies, and bosses who are on a mission to take you out. In some of the levels, you’ll come across data pickups, which you’ll need to download while staying out of the enemies sight range, as well as cash drops. These cash drops help you pick up and upgrade items in the shop. Also to help you out, each stage contains 3 objectives, each giving you $500. You’re also able to replay previously beaten missions to pick up some extra cash if you get stuck, and need a hand.
The level designs, and layouts are superb, and the graphics and animations are fantastic. Unfortunately, GameCenter is not supported, which does take away from the replay value and drive for achievements, and perfect playthroughs. The objectives for each stage do help with this, but not having a scoring system, and no achievements to go for is kind of disappointing. 
If GameCenter was added in a future update, VR Mission EXT would easily be the best stealth based title for the iOS. In fact, many gamers have already placed it in their #1 spot despite the lack of GC. But for others, it’s still in close competition between Spy Mouse, The Nightworld, Dexter, Silent Swords, Dynamite Jack, Spy Corp. and more. However you slice it, Sphinx Entertainment has created a top notch stealth game, worthy of checking out whether you’re a huge fan of the genre or not. The gameplay is fantastic, hooking you in from beginning to end. VR Mission EXT is yet another fantastic title to add to the ever growing list of Sphinx Entertainment’s creations. Specially priced at $0.99 for launch, don’t let this one slip by you. 
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August 4, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >