Your Site for IOS Reviews

Search Results for: label/Syntheticvoid/index.html

Number of Results: 278

Captain Antarctica [FDG/Ideal Bureaucracy] – $0.99/$1.99[HD]

Endless games are a staple of the AppStore. Almost everyone has more than a handful of them, and even if you’re sick to death of all of the endless runner/climber/diver/jumper releases, chances are, there’s at least one or two (or ten) that will never leave your iDevice. Captain Antarctica, FDG’s newest release developed by Ideal Bureaucracy, might just wind up turning into one of those rare titles. At the moment, Captain Antarctica isn’t an Endless Runner, per say. It’s level based. But there is an endless mode coming in a future update. 
You’ll control Captain Antarctica, a penguin who’s on a mission to save his family. After his wife and children were kidnapped, Captain Antarctica decided to team up with a wacky scientist who’s invented an underwater jetpack suitable for a penguin to wear. Now it’s up to you to make your way through 6 different levels, each with a boss battle at the end, and manage to save your wife and kids.
Captain Antarctica is a diver. You’ll need to dive down into the depths of the ocean in order to defeat each level’s boss, and move onto the next one. Fortunately, these 6 levels will take multiple replays in order to beat the bosses. Each time you make it through the stage and down to the boss, you’ll be able to attack him once, knocking off a piece of armor, or injuring him. Also adding to the amount of times you’ll play through each level are objectives. These objectives help you earn coins which you can use to upgrade and buy equipment in the shop. 
There are IAPs included in the game, but these are, like most games, only if you’d like to outfit your character with all of the best gear right when you get the game, or want to show your support for the developer, sending them a couple extra bucks. 
In the shop, you’ll be able to purchase Utilities, including extra health, a better flashlight so that you can see better in the deep dark ocean, rescue buttons, which let you stay alive if you run out of health, and rush kits, which torpedo you down at light-speed. Bonus items are also available to be upgraded. You can increase your booster, upgrade your magnet, get a better shield, or upgrade your portal gun. There’s also cosmetic upgrades for your jet, you can purchase a trash can, flower, fruit, smiley, Soviet and more jets. Unfortunately, none of the jets increase your speed or agility, and are strictly cosmetic, though it would have been great if each of them had stats. 
As you make your way through each level, you’ll be able to collect goldfish and various power-ups while avoiding the wall’s edges, sea urchins, fish, bombs, and other hazards. As you collect the goldfish, you’ll fill up your jet’s booster gauge, which will propel you down to the depths quicker once filled. 
The graphics and animations are fairly polished, though having some better animations for when the penguin collides with objects, instead of just having him flash, and having explosions when you come into contact with bombs, would have been great. The comic strips however, look fantastic, and are one of the definite highlights of the game. The music and effects are a little cheesy, but they fit the game well. 
Captain Antarctica is priced at $0.99 for the iPhone, and $1.99 for the iPad version. There’s not really a lot of content, but with the added objectives, and soon-to-come endless mode, it definitely has a chance of staying on your device for a while, especially if you’re interested in competing on the GameCenter Leaderboards for Total Coins Earned, and Total Distance Traveled. There’s also 32 achievements, adding quite a bit to the replay value. The addition of bosses at the end of the levels is great, and does kind of help the game stand out. However, not really being able to do battle with these bosses is a bit of a let-down. Having the penguin have to attack certain spots at a certain time would have been awesome. But there’s still enough here to keep endless gamer fans happy, and playing until they complete the game 100%. It’s definitely another nice FDG release. I can’t wait to see what they publish next. 
Posted in: , , , , , , , , , ,


July 7, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Chicken Doom [Bulkypix] – $2.99

Tower+Base Defense games are everywhere in the AppStore. It’s definitely a genre that has been overwhelmed with releases. With the growing capabilities of the iOS hardware as well as it’s software, this genre is finally expanding after a sort of dead period where nothing really new was hitting the gaming scene, and 3D Tower Defense titles seem to be gaining ground. The most recent TD release from the very prominent publishers over at Bulkypix is Chicken Doom. A tap-based 3D Base Defense title that has you defending a chicken in a lookout tower armed with a Gatling gun. 
Chicken Doom has you playing through various environments on Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulties. Your chicken sits at the top of the screen, back in the stage a bit, while enemies come at you, appearing from the bottom of the screen. The controls are simple; Tap on an enemy to fire at them. You can also hold down on the screen to constantly fire, but this knocks out any chance of building up a combo multiplier, seriously effecting your score. 
So long as you can hit enemies consecutively, without missing one or having too long of a break between hits, you’ll build up your combo, which, in-turn, seriously helps build up your score. The higher your score, the more currency, labeled as ‘Corn’, you’ll earn. Helping out with this is certain power-ups. You’ll be able to use these to increase your combo by picking up an individual enemy, and hitting them about 10 times. During this period, the action freezes, and the one enemy is the only enemy on the screen. 
You’re also able to purchase and upgrade power-ups in the store. Here, you can equip up to 4 power-ups, from a TNT Barrel, which rolls down the hill, flattening all the chickens in it’s path, a Bugger power-up, which covers the chickens in goo, and slows them down, a Chicken Bomb, which burns all surrounding chickens, and more. You are able to upgrade these as well, making them stronger and stronger as you progress through the game. Items will also be unlocked as you reach achievements within the game. A huge plus here is that there are no IAPs, so the game isn’t incredibly difficult just to push you towards throwing more money at the developers. Not to say that the game is easy. It’s not.
With each of the 6 stages having 3 difficulties, Medium and Hard will offer up quite a battle. You should definitely expect to spend quite a bit of time on these, and be ready to play them more than just a couple times before you complete them, especially in the later environments, which are unlocked after you complete the beginning levels. 
What really makes the game stand out is the Co-op Mode. You’re able to play every level with another player on the same device. Unfortunately, it does not support online co-op gameplay, which definitely would have made this one of the best base defense titles available in the AppStore. But it does add an extra level of fun as well as strategy to the game, which is fantastic to see within the genre. 
With Chicken Doom priced at $2.99, and on sale at the moment for $0.99, it’s definitely a game that base defense fans should check out. Yet again, Bulkypix doesn’t disappoint. The tap controls could use some tightening up, and more content would be great, as right now, even though the levels offer up plenty of replay value, especially when you take into account the 12 GameCenter Leaderboards, one for each stage, as well as co-op boards, and 24 Achievements. It could use some improvements, but it’s a huge step in the right direction for the 3D Base Defense genre. 
Posted in: , , , , , , , , ,


July 7, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Tameuchi [2dgames.jp] – $0.99

Shmups have really seemed to expand outwards and spawn some new and interesting genres, especially since the introduction of the AppStore. Dodging games like FlipShip, Tilt To Live and Silverfish; Dual-Stick exploration like Isotope and Inferno; Survival games like ElectroMaster, even the endless genre has been touched resulting in games like Hypership Out Of Control and the wave-based Enborn-X. 
Taking a page out of ElectroMaster’s book, and expanding even more on it, 2dgames.jp has recently released their bullet hell survival/dodger, Tameuchi. 

Tameuchi is a bit strange, well, it’s not very surprising that it’s a bit strange, it’s created by Japanese developers who obviously have a taste for the cute and out of the box thinking. You control a little girl up against wave after wave of purple jelly looking creatures, milkboxes, pudding, and more who all seem to have a wide array of bullets and projectiles all ready to take you out. The good news is, you’ve got an endless supply of bullets, can fly, have proper shielding, can level up, and are able to regain health by collecting bananas. 

The controls, like most iOS games, are fairly simple. To move, you just need to touch down anywhere on the screen, and drag your finger in the direction you’d like to move. While you’re doing this, you’ll be charging up your bullets. Once you let your finger off of the screen, your bullets will be released, and the carnage will begin. 
As you collect green and yellow bananas, your projectile charge bar, and health will be regenerated, you’ll also be able to level up as you progress throughout the game, killing everything in sight. Once you level up, your charge gauge will get bigger, and your projectiles will get stronger, being able to take out more and more of the ever increasing onslaught of enemies. As your rank goes up, the enemies will get stronger, and more of them will attack you all at once. Their bullet patterns will also get more complex. What really helps out, is that while you’re charging your bullets, you’re able to suck up some of the smaller bullets with your charge shield. However, you can only absorb a certain amount before you wind up taking damage. Also working in your favor, once you defeat the milk carton, or pudding, all of the bullets on the screen turn into collectible bananas. 

Priced at $0.99, it’s a fantastic game to pick up if you’re a fan of the slightly weird Japanese gaming culture, or are into dodging/bullet hell titles. The only bad things I can say about the game is that there is only one game mode, it’s not Universal, though, the game still looks great in 2X mode, and there’s absolutely no leaderboards. That’s right, not even local boards, it does save your highest score, which is a plus, but nothing else. GameCenter integration, as well as more modes would make Tameuchi one hell of a game. But for 2dgames.jp first at bat within the AppStore, they’ve hit, at the very least, an inside-the-park homerun. 
If you’re interested in the game, but don’t know whether or not to take the plunge, check out Tameuchi Lite. 
****After writing this review, I contacted the developer and asked if GameCenter would be added in a future update, they said that yes, it would be, and asked us to be patient. =o)
So those of you holding off on the game because the lack of it, it will be implemented in the future. *****

Posted in: , , , , , , , , ,


July 7, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Astronaut Spacewalk [Jorge Hernandez] – $3.99

It’s always great seeing something new and unique hit the AppStore. With so many new developers that have hit the AppStore over the last 4 or so years, it’s incredible that there are developers out there that have ideas that haven’t been done or taken advantage of yet. That’s the case with Jorge Hernandez’s Astronaut Spacewalk, an astronaut simulation title that has you move and control an astronaut around a spaceship right above the earth’s atmosphere. 
The first thing you might notice when starting up the game is the detailed controls. Going through the operation manual is something you really should do before you start playing. The controls are unlike anything I’ve experienced on the iOS as of yet. You’re given buttons which will move you up, down, forward, back, left, right, rotate you right, left, strife right, left, rotate you forward and back, and controls that will move the camera around you, however, they aren’t your typical virtual controls. On the left side of the screen, you’re given your basic movement buttons, and on the right you have your rotating, and the center of the screen controls your camera. It does take a little fidgeting around before you get comfortable with them, but once you do, the controls are perfect for the game. 
Starting off, you’ll need to guide the astronaut to various spots around the shuttle. You have a certain amount of boosters, and re-aligning energy, as well as a set amount of oxygen. If you can’t make it to all of the checkpoints around the ship with the given amount of energy and oxygen, you’ll need to start from scratch. There are also set boundaries around the shuttle, and if you leave them, you’ll need to restart as well, so no making your way from the shuttle to the moon, or re-entering the atmosphere in your suit. There are some glitches that occur if you manage to collide with the ship, and keep going forward, you can wind up getting stuck inside of the ship, unable to make your way out, but this really only happens if you’re trying to make it happen.
After the first mission, you’ll be faced with objectives that generally have you moving from one area to another, and staying there while something is fixed, attached, or checked out. You will need to align the astronaut in the correct positioning in order for this to happen, which can get quite challenging. Even further on, you’ll be making your way to satellites, space stations, and more. 
The graphics are definitely a highlight within the game, with the Earth, Shuttle, Astronaut, and space debris very detailed. Combined with the controls, physics, inertia, and basic gameplay, Astronaut Spacewalk becomes a very immersive experience. Something that also helps is the music and effects, as well as the constant background NASA chatter. Astronaut Spacewalk is really less of a game, and more of a challenging experience. Each of the 20 Missions provides unique tasks which you must complete before you run out of air and power. 
Having a launching price of $3.99, it’s a fantastic simulation title to pick up if you’re interested in something new and unique, and are up for a challenge. I can’t really see the gameplay appealing to a wide audience, but hopefully it does. With more and more people becoming interested in space and NASA, now seems like a perfect time for a game like this to hit the AppStore, but with so many casual gamers, it’ll be a hard sell. Being made only for the iPhone is another thing that will most likely keep people from purchasing it, but if you’re willing to play in 2X mode, with a little bit of pixilation, or just have an iPod/iPhone, it’s definitely a game you should check out. I can’t wait to see what Mr. Hernandez has in store for future games on the platform. Here’s hoping this is only the beginning. 
Posted in: , , , , , , , ,


July 6, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Bio Crisis [Sphinx Entertainment] – $2.99

Sphinx Entertainment has released some awesome games in the past; Carrot War, VR Mission, Mole Dash, League of Extraordinary Birds, and more. Their newest title, however, is easily their best yet. Bio Crisis, a title that’s won numerous Indie Game Design Awards, has been polished up and released for the iOS, and takes it’s place next to the small, but growing list, of cover based shooters. 
Bio Crisis throws you into the roll of Night Hawk, a marine who’s guided by Claire, the operator of the Missions, who is pretty much your tutorial master. It’s 2035, and Earth’s resources are depleted. Thankfully, a meteor that wound up landing somewhere near the jungle that use to be the South Pole has been found. It’s said to contain a mysterious crystal which could be a source of great power. Your mission is to find Bull Dog, another operative who hasn’t been able to be reached since finding Crystal Samples. 
Like other cover-based shooters, you’re outfitted with various weapons, and will need to fight your way through loads of enemies in order to complete your objective. But with Bio Crisis being a top-down type shooter, it allows for some great strategic additions. This is amplified by the great level design, and positioning of barriers which you’re able to take cover behind.
All of this would be pretty much meaningless if it weren’t for the great control system. You’re given a virtual joystick, roll, fire and reload buttons. Once you get close to a barrier, Night Hawk automatically takes cover behind it, blocking all of the projectiles coming your way, and in order to make it through the game without running out of ammo, you’ll need to figure out what weapon best serves the situation. You’re outfitted with an auto riffle, shotgun, missile launcher, grenades, and a laser gun, and switching between all of them throughout each level is basically mandatory. Your shotgun is great for taking out enemies close-by, while your riffle is better for enemies further away. If you’ve got enemies back to back, the laser is able to shoot through them, hitting all of them at once, and the missile launcher and grenades take care of bigger enemies or groups of enemies. You’re also equipped with a knife, which you’ll be able to use when you’re close to an enemy. You automatically use it by pressing the ‘fire’ button, no matter what weapon is equipped. 
There are 24 Missions, and every 6th Mission you’ll come across a boss battle. Here, you’ll need to figure out how to use the environment and your heavy weapons to best serve you. The first boss battle is fairly easy, requiring you to roll out of the way when the boss comes charging at you, and then shoot missiles and throw grenades at him once he hit’s the wall and is dazed. However, the second boss has some great armor, and in order to take him out you’ll need to figure out where to stand in order to make him damage himself. 
There are goals which you’ll need to complete in order to unlock the other gameplay modes; Brutal, Insane and Hell. To unlock Brutal Mode, you need to kill 100 enemies with grenades, for Insane, you need to kill 999 enemies, and for Hell Mode, you’ll need to kill 500 enemies with your knife. 
There is a shop, with IAPs included in the game. In the shop, you can upgrade your weapons, as well as purchase ammo if you happen to run out. The IAP is for coins. You also earn these coins by playing through the game. With each enemy you kill, you’re given coins, and are given lump sums after completing boss stages. While progressing through the game, you’ll also come across ammo containers which help out with the ammo. You will run out of ammunition if you blast away emptying clip after clip into an enemy after their dead, or just decide to only use one gun the entire time you’re playing. But the game is centered around strategically figuring out what weapon best suit’s the situation, and carefully planning out your attacks. It isn’t a blast everything to smithereens while not keeping an eye on your ammo type of game. Your health is also pretty limited, but does regenerate. 
You can automatically refill your health for 300 coins if you don’t want to wait, but again, you will be dying and loosing a lot of health if you just decide to run into a group of enemies and start blasting away. Players that don’t use some strategy and don’t use each weapon as it’s meant to be used will probably wind up feeling like they’re being pushed towards buying coins through the in-app-purchases. However, you can also go back and replay missions that you’ve already beat if you wound up loosing all of your ammo by being careless. You’ll earn the same amount of coins as you did the first time you played through the level, so this can help out a lot. 
With Bio Crisis priced at $2.99, and being Universal, it’s a great buy for gamers looking for another cover-based shooter, or a shooter that requires thought rather than mindless killing. Sphinx Entertainment has definitely raised their own bar, as well as created a fantastic cover-based shooter that can hold it’s own within the genre. The game could use GameCenter support, with achievements, and possibly leader boards, but with the amount of content, there’s already quite a bit that’ll keep you coming back to the game, even after you beat the Campaign Mode. Bio Crisis is highly recommended for fans of the genre, especially if you’re sick of the mindless shooters found throughout the AppStore. 
Posted in: , , , , , , ,


July 6, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

AXL: Full Boost [SpinVector] – $2.99

I’m generally not too big a fan of racers on the iOS. Even on console platforms, racers have almost always seemed a little dull after getting addicted to Kinetica on the PS2, and wasting a good 200+ hours of my life playing it. But there are a few that have that special spark that makes them stand out above the crowd. QuBIT, Protoxide, jAggy Race… and now I can add one more racing title to that very small list of mine; AXL: Full Boost, developed by SpinVector, an Italy based, 15-person studio who’ve won numerous awards. Now developing titles for the iOS, AXL: Full Boost is their second iOS title, the first being the award-winning BANG! With 10+ years of experience under the belt, it’s no surprise that at first glance, AXL looks amazing. But, as with other games that look amazing, the gameplay that lies underneath all the special glitz and glamour can make or break the game. 
Using technology developed by another Italian company, Raylight, AXL: Full Boost stands out by including orbs into the racing. These orbs can either be used to boost your racer, reaching insane speeds, or you can use them to take advantage of power-ups found throughout the tracks. The catch is, when you use these orbs, they’re left behind you, giving your opponents the opportunity to pick them up, and use them themselves, adding an extra little layer of strategy to the gameplay.
The technology also allows for Quick-Time Events. This is used for very sharp turns within the game. Whenever a sharp turn is coming up, an icon appears on the center of the screen, letting you know which direction you’ll be turning. When this does pop up, you’re able to twitch your device in that direction, and have your racer attach itself to a track within the turn, letting you keep up your high speed racing, and focus entirely on the racing and orb collecting/strategic aspects of the game. 

Looking at the screen-shots for AXL, it’s very clear that the graphics for the game are top-notch. The futuristic, clean, smooth, minimal look of all the buildings and racers definitely creates an intriguing atmosphere. Also pretty noticeable is the draw-distance. In most iOS games this is usually pretty short, but with AXL, the minimalistic graphics help to allow the developers to make the draw distance fairly large, which is a huge plus, and something that I hope is taken advantage of more within the genre. 
Once you get into the game, you’ll notice that not only do the graphics stand-out, but the automations are also fantastic as well, drawing you into the game even more. One of my favorite animations in the game is when you break, and get ready to boost, and your whole racer changes shape. It definitely adds to the feeling as well as style of the game.

Like a lot of other racers out there, there is a story intertwined with the game. In 2099, the environment collapsed, and humanity needed to find a new energy source, in 2123, HEX a new form of renewable energy was found. In 2150, Shifters, shape changing racers, were built using HEX, and after that, large corporations create newer and better Shifters, and the AXL Division of racing is established. This is where the game starts. 
At the beginning, like most racers, you’re only able to choose between one Shifter, and have to go through training missions before getting into the real gameplay. You also find out that you’re responsible for the loss of 55 Pan-American engineers. You were expelled from Rotco Global Defense Corporation, and have been sentenced to 4 years of civil labor. Later, found with contraband, you’re currently waiting for sentencing from the courts. Ikuma Energetics, a racing company that has scouted you out, has the power to suspend any criminal proceedings for the duration of your apprenticeship. Lucky you, you get to race Shifters.

There is loads of content within the game, 3 different modes; Starcade (or Story/Carrer Mode), Free Run, and Custom Race. As you progress through Starcade Mode, more tracks, and more Shifters will become available to you, there are 12 total, each having different statistics. Starcade Mode offers up 71 different races spread across 7 different locations. Free Run lets you practice on any one of the tracks that you’ve already reached, and Custom lets you race against however many opponents you want, and lets you decide if there’s power-ups included or not, as well as which track you race on. 
In the options, you’re able to adjust the Effects, and Music volumes, as well as change the view from First Person, Near or Far views, and adjust the sensitivity. Unfortunately, there is only a tilt control scheme, which really does have an effect on the gameplay. Even though you can adjust the sensitivity, until you get comfortable with the controls, more often than not, you’ll find yourself bouncing from wall to wall, which effects you more than you might like. With the Quick Time Events included in the tracks, you need to be going full speed to use them, which means that you can not accidentally touch the wall of the track, and need to have an orb for boosting right before it, which can result in your Shifter smashing right into the wall of the turn. Without orbs for boosting right before the QTE turns, you’ll need to take the sharp turn on your own, which almost always results in bouncing off the walls even more. But if you have the patience and determination to stick with it, and most likely play track more than once so that you can learn them, the controls become less and less of an issue as you make your way through the game.
Running at a smooth 60FPS, even on my 4th GEN Touch, which, with each passing week, is becoming more and more obsolete, and has fantastic tracks, amazing graphics and animations and great music and effects, with outstanding stand-out of the crowd mechanics with the orbs, power-ups, and turns. There are also 24 achievements, and 14 leader boards included in GameCenter, which definitely adds to the replay value, which is, of course, already fairly high. Sadly, the game is not Universal, which means you’ll be playing it in 2X mode if you’ve got an iPad. AXL: Full Boost is priced at $2.99, which is a fantastic price. Fans of the genre should definitely pick this up. It stands out in a genre full of like-minded titles, offers loads of content and basically endless replay value. It could very well wind up being the best racer available for the iOS, maybe even one of the best racers available on any gaming platform.

Posted in: , , , , , , , ,


July 5, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Zombie Quest [Synaptic Wave] – $0.99/$1.99

Hex-based strategy games haven’t really been my cup of tea. New World Colony, Conquest!, Neuroshima Hex – none of them really did it for me, and with Neuroshima Hex being GameShark’s iOS GOTY, TouchGen’s runner up for Best Board Game, and a whole slew of fantastic reviews and press behind it, probably the ‘best of the best’ – I just figured the genre wasn’t really for me. Lucky for me, I was able to have an entirely different experience with Synaptic Wave’s (a 6 person outfit from the Ukraine, and developers of Tesla Wars and Tower Siege) Zombie Quest – Mastermind the Hexes! 
Maybe it appeals to me because I’m not a hardcore strategy fanatic, maybe I’ve still got some ‘casual’ gamer left in me from my early 20’s, I dunno, but Zombie Quest really hit’s the mark between casual and hardcore which is usually a difficult balance to achieve for most strategy developing studios, who generally go completely casual, or full-on hardcore within the genre. 
With Zombie Quest, you’ll be able to think your way through 5 different enemies, including Pinhead, Dracula, Lecter, Frankenstein and Torquemada, each having 4 different stages with increasing difficulty. The gameplay is simple enough, yet full of strategy. Whenever it’s your turn, you select one of your wolf characters on the screen, and you can either select a spot directly next to them, which will clone your character, and turn any enemy characters that are touching that spot into one of your characters, or you can jump up to 3 spaces away, not cloning your character, but sometimes being able to make it into a group of enemy tiles, resulting in a huge addition to your team. The side with the most characters on the board when there are no more moves left for one of the players, or the board is full, wins. 
The addition of power-ups makes the gameplay even more strategic. At first, you’re only able to use a shield, protecting one of your wolfs from becoming an enemy if they move next to your character. The enemy is also given a power-up, in the case of your first enemy, Torquemada, he’s able to use a crane like power-up, removing one character from the board. Once you complete the 4 Torquemada stages, you’re given that power-up, and can use it throughout the rest of the game. Also adding to the game is a special 2 player, side-by-side mode, which lets you play with another player on the same device. With not too many 2-player-1-device games out there, it’s definitely a plus, and was a pretty big surprise to find included with the game. 
It’s not really anything that hasn’t been done before, I’m sure, though I’ve never had the pleasure of playing a hex based strategy game that does what Zombie Quest does, with a surprising amount of polish on the animations and graphics, as well as casual gameplay that could easily appeal to hardcore strategy gamers looking for something to blow through, or take their mind off of extremely deathy gameplay. 
Zombie Quest also includes GameCenter integration with a total score leader board, and 15 achievements, adding some replay value to the game, but if you’re not really a high-score chaser, or achievement fanatic, the 20 levels don’t really offer up much replay value, and will probably not be a game you dive back into time and time again after completion. However, the time you do spend making your way through the game will be toughly enjoyed, especially if you’re new to the genre, or more of a casual gamer. 
With a few fairly deep strategy hex based games in the AppStore, games like Zombie Quest is something we could definitely use more of. If you’re looking for something with loads of depth, and endless replay value, chances are, this is not for you. But priced at $0.99 for the SD version and $1.99 for the HD version, it’s worth snagging if your interested in getting into the genre, are looking for another 2 player on 1 device title, or are interested in something that won’t push your mind to the edge through every stage of the game. With their previous Synaptic Wave releases, the updates have definitely not been in short supply. Hopefully Zombie Quest will get a couple more enemies to take on, or maybe even multiplayer in the future. With the gameplay, it’s easy to see multiple different routes being taken, and hopefully Synaptic Wave will take advantage of that. 
Posted in: , , , , , , , ,


July 5, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Boom Brigade 2 [10Tons] – $3.99

10tons has brought out some fantastic titles for the iOS gaming scene. Azkend, Joining Hands, Grim Joggers, Sparkle, and more. Boom Brigade, a tower defense/line-drawing strategy arcade title, is definitely one of my favorites from 10tons, which is kind of funny, because line-drawing games and I don’t really get along. But there’s something about Boom Brigade which just hit’s the right nerve with me. Now, I get to experience it all again. Boom Brigade 2 is finally here, and it’s everything you would expect in a sequel. The same great gameplay mechanics and type of gameplay as the original, with more of everything.
Boom Brigade is a real time strategy line drawing defense title. You might not think it, but all of those genres mashed together really seems to work out well, especially since 10tons has done such a great job with the design of the game. You’ll guide army men around the map by drawing lines for them to follow. Enemies come at you from all sides of the screen, and you need to defend your base through wave after wave. 
There are two modes contained in the game, the 30 level Campaign, and a Survival Mission Mode. In the campaign mode, before each mission, you’re able to select your load outs for the givin units, and then go into battle. While you’re in battle, you’re able to pause the action with the icon in the lower left corner, and draw the lines for your men to follow along. This really helps out when the action gets hectic, and it does get very hectic. Throughout the stage, various power-ups and health containers are dropped from the sky, helping you to fend off the onslaught of aliens. 
Boom Brigade’s line drawing controls are some of the best I’ve ever experienced on the touch screen. One of the things that really turns me off of line drawing games are the clumsy controls, never really drawing the line exactly where I want it to be, or not responding and cutting off halfway through a path. Here, 10tons has done an excellent job making the controls precise as well as responsive. 
Graphics-wise, Boom Brigade 2 has a top/down view of the battlefield, but that doesn’t effect the gameplay like you might think. Your units are very clear, and it’s easy to tell if you’re moving your machine gunner or shot gunner, and the environments have plenty of detail. The animations also help add to the gameplay, with great death scenes and sounds, blasting the enemy away becomes very satisfying.
With 30 missions spread across 3 environments, unlockable upgrades for every character, and loads of line drawing strategy, Boom Brigade 2 is a game that’s definitely worth picking up if you’re even remotely interested in the genres. Priced at $3.99 (on sale ATM for $2.99), and Universal, as well as including GameCenter support with a whopping 11 leader boards, and 16 achievements, and a whole set of Survival Missions, there’s loads of replay value to be had. 
Posted in: , , , , , , , ,


July 1, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Bug Hunt 8-Bit [Dom n’ Tom] – $0.99

Old-school retro score-chasing arcade games have quite a following, especially in the iOS world. With so many older gamers coming back to the scene, finding out that they can enjoy quick gameplay sessions on their phone, it’s not really a surprise that there’s so many of these games available in the AppStore. Dom n’ Tom’s Bug Hunt 8-Bit is a prime example. 

The main goal of the game is to eat as many bugs as you can, getting the highest score possible. With bugs going back and forth across the screen, and mixed in with bees, which kill your character, it’s simple, quick gaming. Controlling your character is easy, just place your finger on the screen, and drag left and right to move your little frog, and swipe up and down to move his tongue. Once you have plenty of bugs stuck on your frogs tongue, drag it back down so that he can eat them, and get the points. Sadly, this is the only control setup, no virtual buttons for those of you who are comfortable with them.
There are 7 levels, kind of set up like Tetris’s levels. Each progressive level will give you more bunches of bugs, at a faster speed. While you’re playing, your level will increase as you catch more bugs, but you can choose to start at a specific level if you like. The background colors change as you play, but there are no real different environments. 
Unfortunately, this is all the game has to offer. Yes, it’s simple, yes, it has great retro graphics, and yes, it has the potential to become very addictive. But with only one gameplay mode, no power-ups, only 3 different bugs, and the biggest disappointment, no online leader boards, there’s not really much there to pull you back to the game after you play it a couple of times. 

Bug Hunt 8-Bit is great for those little spaces of time when you have a minute or two to waste, and being Universal and priced at $0.99, it’s not bad if that’s what you’re looking for. But if you’re hoping for something that will totally draw you in, and have you coming back to compete for high-scores, it’s lacking. Released last year, and not receiving one update, it’s not looking like that will change, but hopefully more attention is given to this little game with tons of potential so that Dom n’ Tom maybe get the push they need to take advantage of it. 

Posted in: , , , , , ,


July 1, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Rainbow Tissue Cat [Sunny Tam] – $0.99

Sunny Tam, developer of two of my favorite shmups on the iOS, Danmaku Unlimited and Storm Strikers, has just come out with another title. This time around, it’s not a bullet hell, but it’s still seemingly influenced by Japanese culture. Rainbow Tissue Cat, a Super Crate Box type title where you try and hit birds and collect stars while avoiding bullets and samurai stars was released a couple weeks ago, and if you’re a fan of the SCB genre, or just love cats, Rainbow Tissue Cat is for you.
Starting it up, you’re able to choose to play the Morning Stage. Afternoon and Evening are unlocked after you score a certain amount of points. Your castle is under attack from swarms of woodpeckers, and you need to take care of them by bouncing on your special roll of toilet paper. The controls are easy to use, and surprisingly accurate. Tilting your device moves the cat left and right, while bouncing is done automatically, ala Bean’s Quest. It would be great if virtual buttons were added to the game, since it is Universal, and tilting an iPad plays hell on your wrists. 
The graphics are great, and super cute, with the background colors changing depending on what time of day/stage you decide to play in. Each time you start up a new game, the layout of the platforms changes, which kind of makes it feel like you’re playing in a different stage each game. 
There are three types of blocks which you’ll be able to bounce on, big, small and blocks with arrows. The bigger blocks stay in place, while the smaller blocks drop down and disappear after you bounce on them, reappearing a short time later, adding to the challenge of the game, and the arrow blocks bounce you higher than you normally would. There are also two different types of birds. Your regular birds, and then pink birds, which, once you run into them, will give you either a 2X points multiplier, a power-up which slows down time, or a special ‘more birds’ star, which sets off a huge wave of birds.
Each time you hit a bird, they will drop a star. These don’t add to your total level score, but they can be collected and used to unlock different suits for your cat. There are IAPs, but these aren’t pushed on you at all, and are really just there if you want to support the developer, and get a couple of different looks for your cute little cat. You can also earn stars by getting promotions, this is done by hitting a certain number of birds as you play through the game. 
Like you might expect from a developer who’s done Bullet Hell titles in the past, the scoring system is a huge plus. For each bird that you knock down, you’re given 1 point, unless you can hit them in a special spot giving you a critical hit which is worth 10 points. Unfortunately, this spot isn‘t really clear. Sometimes you‘ll get it if you hit a bird on it‘s stomach, sometimes if you hit it on it‘s tail, sometimes directly in the face. If you manage to hit a bunch of birds in one jump, it’s a combo, and this is where the real points are. Collecting combos adds a bonus combo score at the end of your game, which can boost your score up quite a bit. 
Rainbow Tissue Cat is Universal and priced at $0.99. It’s supported by GameCenter with 13 achievements and 3 leader boards, one for each time of the day, adding a bunch to the replay value. Fans of the Super Crate Box genre should definitely check this one out. The only thing it really needs is a nice tutorial, explaining the scoring, power-ups, and what not to come into contact with (the first time I saw a samurai star, I thought it was a special power-up, and then died). 
Posted in: , , , , , , ,


July 1, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >