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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 >

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 >

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 >

Blade of Darkness [Zealm] – $1.99

With the recent release of Pocket Heroes re-igniting my love for D&D parties, and bringing back memories of playing Diablo back in the late 90’s, I’ve been on a sort of quest of my own. To find all the Diabloesque and Fantasy Card games for the iOS that I can. Low and behold, one of the first titles I came across, and just can’t get enough of; Blade of Darkness – an open-world 3D RPG/hack-n-slash game developed by Zealm (developers of Monster Fight, Zombies Runner and Angry Zombie Ninja Vs. Vegetables). 
Blade of Darkness starts out with a pretty impressive cutscene giving you a bit of backstory; seems darkness overtook the land after a meteor shower rained down from the skies. Zombies and other undead creatures started to appear everywhere, and the darkness slowly spread. This land is appropriately named ‘Shadowland’. On the edge of Shadowland lies ‘Sanctuary‘; a campsite set up where a small patch of sunlight hit’s the ground. It’s here that you’ll begin your journey. 
Actually, I guess I should say ‘it’s here where you’ll figure out what you’re supposed to be doing throughout the rest of the game.’ The tutorial is made up of 3 pop-ups. One telling you that the joystick in the lower left corner is for movement, another saying that the icon to the right is for jumping, and that to talk to people, you walk up to them and tap on them. Trust me, you won’t forget. Every time you come back to Sanctuary, you’ll need to go through the ‘tutorial’ before you get started again. From here on out, you’re on your own.
After figuring out that people in town with a “!” above their heads have a quest to send you on, you can try and figure out how to get out of Sanctuary. Turns out there’s a pathway right behind where you start from that leads out to two different warp areas, and from here, now you can start your journey. Your first task requires that you go to the East to find the wife of a wizard at camp. It seems they were separated, and he needs you to find her. Unfortunately, leaving the campsite will only take you South, through cemeteries, dungeons, and other dark lands which are full of undead creatures. Directions aren’t really accurate, and there will be quite a bit of exploring involved. 
The battle system is in real time, and is kind of reminiscent of CrimsonHeart. If you just run into a pack of enemies slinging your sword around, you’ll find yourself in trouble fairly quickly. Standing back and luring a couple of enemies towards you, and watching how they attack and block will be a valuable asset to learn early on in the game. Running around to the back of enemies helps you avoid their shields, and can give you some massive hits. Of course, not all of the enemies require this tactic. There are some that will just stand there while you walk right up to them and bash their heads in. It’s all part of the combat system dance. I guess. Once you start killing enemies, they’ll start dropping gold and other items, and you can get your loot on. Figuring out how to pick items up is another task that you’ll need to figure out on your own. I’ll help you out; Tapping on the item inside the window that pops up will put it in your equipment pack.
Don’t get me wrong. Once you figure everything in Blade of Darkness out, it’s really a fun game. But sticking with it through all of the figuring it out will be taxing, and currently priced at $0.99, there are going to be some people who just give up, and delete the game. But if you’re willing to stick it out, and not afraid to learn basically the whole UI on your own, the hack-n-slash, loot driven, Diablo reminiscent gameplay can be very rewarding. Finding those rare items, and beating the hell out of hundreds of enemies is great fun. You’re also able to play in CO-OP mode, which has the game controlling another hero along side you, Multiplayer Mode, where you can host or join another game, as well as an Arena Mode where you can battle other players online. Lets just hope that Zealm sells enough copies to be driven to keep the updates coming, because if they do, Blade of Darkness could turn into one hell of a Diabloesque title, and maybe even one of the top loot driven games on the iOS. 
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August 4, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Kid Vector [Uncade] – $1.99

Back when I first got my 2nd generation iPod Touch, platformers were pretty hard to find. There really only seemed to be a couple decent ones available for the iOS at the time. Since then, the genre has grown and grown, and kept growing into the massive collection it currently is. Now, with well over 50 platformers on my iPod alone, the only hard thing to find is which game I want to play. Luckily, this week, Virginia based developer, Uncade, released his third platform game, Kid Vector. 
Like Uncade’s last platformer release, Blast Ball (now named Blast Soccer), Kid Vector uses beautiful retro graphics to enhance the gameplay. Personally, I loved the graphics in Blast Ball, but with Kid Vector, the backgrounds are all animated, adding to the look, as well as the feel of the game, and bringing an extra level of polish to the whole package. 
One (of very few) shortcoming of Kid Vector is the length. Containing only 15 levels, chances are you’ll finish the game relatively quick. However, even that can provide a decent challenge, and when  you bring into account the 3 badges that each of the 15 levels has, you’ve got yourself one hell of an old-school challenge to complete. 
Each level contains a certain amount of coins, as well as 1 hidden star. Collecting all of the coins gives you the Coin Badge, while finding the star will get you the Star Badge. Each level also has a time limit which you can try and complete the level by in order to get the Time Badge. Now, don’t get the wrong idea, just because there’s time limits does not mean that Kid Vector contains bite-sized levels. The levels are actually pretty big. Big enough to have a checkpoint, and time limits around 50 seconds. 
The level design for Kid Vector is fantastic. With the crazy amount of hazards (spikes on the ground and the ceiling, falling spikes, flame throwers, laser blasters, large caterpillars, UFO beams and much more!) placed perfectly, and moving as well as disappearing platforms, and the animated backgrounds adding to the whole layout as well as challenge, it’s one of the most well designed iOS platformers I’ve had the pleasure of playing, and I’ve played just about every single one of them. 
Priced at $1.99, being Universal, including different placement of the buttons for the larger iPad screen (though you’re unable to move the buttons), and GameCenter integration with 7 achievements, Kid Vector is a great buy, especially if you’re a fan of old-school platformers. The 3 badges for each level do add to the challenge, and the replay value, but once you complete that, there’s really nothing to come back for. GameCenter leaderboards for each of the 3 world’s total times, or including a scoring system for score-chasing would have been a huge plus. Though, with Uncade’s previous releases getting some fairly big updates, fully rounding out his previous titles, there’s a pretty good chance that Kid Vector will only be improved as time goes on. As it is now though, there’s quite a bit of gameplay to keep even hardcore platform veterans busy for hours as the challenge more than makes up for the lack of leaderboards and the shortness of the game. Uncade has definitely pushed the bar for iOS retro platformers with slick graphics, awesome music, fabulous level design, and a crazy amount of hazards. Kid Vector is one title you should not pass up. 
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August 3, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Party Wave [Mistwalker] – $1.99

One of my favorite old-school video games has got to be Final Fantasty. Created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, pretty much everything his hands touched turned to gold; Kingdom Hearts, Parasite Eve, Vagrant Story, Legend of Mana, and loads more, Sakaguchi left Squre, created Mistwalker, and has since released some fantastic titles; Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, The Last Story, and more. Releasing titles on the XBOX 360, Nintendo DS, and Wii, Mistwalker finally found their way over to the AppStore with the release of Party Wave, a casual arcade title that has players controlling groups of surfers. 
Surfing really isn’t a sport that’s touched on much in the iOS gaming world; Rising Board, Derby Surf, Line Surfer, South Surfers, ePig Surf and Robo Surf are the only titles that come to mind, and with other genres overflowing with games, it’s pretty surprising to only have a few surfing themed games laying around. But with the reputation of Mistwalker, Party Wave has the potential to blow them all out of the water, so to speak, even before checking it out. Fortunately, that’s not how things operate, and getting our hands on the game, seeing how the first step away from the RPG genre Mistwalker has taken, as well as how they approach the casual arcade genre, we’re pretty darn impressed. 
For those of you who have never heard the term, ‘Party Wave’ is a term for any large wave which several surfers ride on. And that’s exactly what you’ll be doing in the game. Starting off, you’ll guide each of the surfers to a specific spot in the water by swiping on them, flicking them to the area. Once you get all of the surfers there, the fun begins. 
Each surfer will start to blink once they hit the bottom portion of the wave. This is your cue to tap them, sending them up and into the air. Once in the air, you can tap them again on their way up to do a trick, and again on their way down to do another trick. It sounds pretty simple, right? Just tap on the surfers when they’re at the bottom of the wave and in the air, no worries. But once you throw three or more of them together, and add in the hazards of the water, it can get very challenging, very quickly. What makes it even harder, is that some stages require that you get a certain number of perfect scores on previous levels in order to play them, and progress through the game, and sometimes you’ll need to go back and try and replay stages without having any surfers fall off of their boards. 
The gameplay is pretty straight forward, but can get awfully hectic at times. Quick reflexes, quicker thinking, and fast fingers are definitely an asset worth having if you’re going to compete on the leader boards, or complete the game. For those of you who really look for replay value when you get your iOS gaming on, Party Wave caters to you as well; the gameplay gets even more depthy the more you get into it. Perfect scores for getting all of your surfers on the wave, and not letting any of them fall off are great and everything, but what will really make you coming back, trying to max out your score? The little mechanics that add that special spark to a game, having it stand out above others within the genre, as well as all the titles available in the AppStore.
When you perfect clear a stage, stars start showing up. Collecting these while you’re playing will give you power-ups, like giving a surfer extra speed to make it to the wave catching area, which you can trigger by pausing the game, and touching the stars in the menu. You can also collect stars by touching the strange UFO which appears in the game at seemingly random times. Also, the closer you get to the hazards and objects in the first part of each level, while you’re flicking the surfers to the wave catching area will give you special little bonuses as well. 
Something else that will keep you coming back? The special ultra spiffy Arcade Mode! Here, you’ll try and get through six sets of four stages in a certain amount of time. Doing tricks adds to your time limit, while running into hazards depletes it. Arcade Mode can get very difficult, but never in a frustrating way, and when you nail tricks just right, it can become a lot more fun than the already incredibly entertaining Level Mode. 
Party Wave, priced at $1.99, being Universal, and having GameCenter support with 2 leaderboards, one for your total score in the level stages, and another for Arcade Mode, is a fantastic title. The experience of Mistwalker definitely shines through out the entire game, from the graphics to the gameplay, and even down to the little special mechanics that make the gameplay deeper than it looks on the surface, and keep you coming back for more. Party Wave is a shining example that yes, everything Mr. Sakaguchi touches really does turn to gold. 
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August 3, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Cats Away [NNT + ZigZaGame] – $0.99

Casual arcade games are a sort of secret obsession of mine. With as many as there are in the AppStore, it’s really no wonder a lot of gamers are looking for more when it comes to their app purchases, but when it comes to score-chasing casual arcade titles, especially games with combo and multiplier systems, I just eat that stuff up, and love every minute of it. NNT + ZigZaGame’s new title, Cats Away, is the most recent little addiction of mine, already sucking away at least 5 hours of my spare time.
In Cats Away you’ll collect cats with different UFOs which you’re able to purchase with coins that you earn in every game. The higher your score, the more coins you get, the more coins you get, the better ships you can afford, and the better ships you have, the higher your score’s gonna be. It’s a vicious cycle, and getting wrapped up in it will cost you hours upon hours of your life. 
The game starts out a little slow at first, with your one and only ship able to only pick up the smallest cats on the screen, earning you only a couple coins with each game. But luckily, the developers over at ZigZaGame have also included an upgrade system. For 10 coins, you’re able to increase the stats of your first ship, making it a lot more powerful than you’d think. Before you know it, you’re controlling a pretty decent UFO, and are working your way up to hitting 1,000,000+ points and getting 100+ coins per game. 

There are 4 separate worlds in Cats Away, each offering up fairly distinctive gameplay, and very different environments, each with their own ways of getting huge scores. In the first world, you’re given 90 seconds to collect as many cats as you can. These cats range from small to extremely large, with the larger ones really testing your patience, and pretty much just laying there laughing at you as you unsuccessfully try and pick each of them up. There’s bushes all over the level, which hide more cats, as well as power-ups and coins behind them. Your UFO’s beam is able to break up the bushes, revealing their hidden goodies, and this is something you’ll need to do over and over again if you want to score big.
The first world contains sleeping power-ups, which put all of the cats to sleep for a short period of time, making it easier to snatch them up, beam power-ups, which upgrade the strength of your UFO’s beam, making it easier to pick up the small kittens, and, depending on how many of these you can uncover, you’ll be able to pick up the medium sized cats as well. Lastly, there’s the cat fever powerup, which draws more small cats in from the edges of the screen. Collecting the Beam and Cat Fever powerups are essential in getting large scores. In each additional world after, you’ll come across more and more power-ups and special boosters, like meteors which hit the ground, and throw all of the cats into the air, making them easier to grab, time pick-ups, adding 5 seconds or more to your time limit, and more. 

The scoring system is one of my favorite aspects of Cats Away. Getting huge scores (in the millions) is always a plus with casual score-chasing arcade titles. It leaves a lot of room between the first and last place scores on the GameCenter leader boards, which, in turn, adds to the drive to better your score, if even just by a couple hundred points. You’re given a combo bonus each time you collect more than 2 cats at the same time. The more cats you collect at once, the larger your bonus will wind up being. This has a huge effect on the gameplay, with loads of cats on the screen at once, it’s almost impossible to not try and grab as many as you can before sucking all the cats into your UFO. However, this means that the cats floating around in the UFO’s beam have more time to be tossed about, and even flung out of the beam. It’s a nice risk-reward, especially with the game’s time limits. 
The controls in Cats Away took me a little playing around with before I really felt comfortable with them. But once I did, it became very easy to get into a groove, and loose hours of my life. The UFO will jump above your thumb wherever you place it on the screen. This might seem strange, since it’ll cover up the area where you collect cats, but this makes the UFO’s beam appear under your thumb, which is a perfect placement for it. Dragging your thumb across the screen, the beam will pick up any cats which it’s strong enough to grab. Once you have cats floating around in the beam, you’ll need to take the UFO up to the top portion of the screen in order to successfully snatch everything up. If you don’t take the UFO to the top of the screen, you’ll just have cats, power-ups and coins floating around in your beam, and once it’s full, start flinging them all over the screen. 
The graphics and animations are very well done, adding quite a bit to the gameplay. It’s great seeing cats being flipped every which way while in the air on their way into the spaceship. The exploding bushes and projectiles that some ships are equipped with have minimal animations, but they fit the graphic look of the game very well. The physics are another very polished aspect of the game, with each cat having their own weight and feeling to them, adding another layer to the gameplay. All-n-all, it’s a very polished game that you can tell a lot of thought went into while creating it. 
Priced at $0.99, being Universal, and including GameCenter integration with boards for each of the 4 worlds adding to the already insanely high replay value. Fans of the genre, or score-chasing fanatics should definitely check out Cats Away. There’s loads of unlockables, and the incredibly addictive gameplay will give you hours upon hours of gaming entertainment. I’m definitely looking forward to updates, hoping that more worlds and ships will be added, but even more so, I’m on the edge of my seat wondering what ZigZaGames will come up with next. They’ve definitely figured out how to spark all the right nerves in our video game focused brains.
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August 2, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Le Havre [Codito Development] – $4.99

Like Point & Click titles, Board games seem to be a complete fit the iOS device. Perfect for the touch screen UI, multiplayer capabilities and none of the setting up, putting away, or deck/piece/board maintenance. One of the most recent board games to hit the AppStore is Codito Development’s (the same company that brought Tikal, Tigris & Euphrates, Ra and Medici to the iOS) Le Havre (The Harbor). The popular board game, released in 2008, that has you controlling the development of the town, Le Havre.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of playing this 2009 International Gamers Award winner, you’re in for a real treat. Le Havre has you building up as much wealth as you can over the course of 18 turns by constructing buildings, owning ships, and bringing in goods through the harbor. The tutorial is very well designed, and easy to understand, giving you the full scope of the game’s mechanics your first time through. There’s also an option to keep hints on while you’re playing, just in case you need a little extra help through your first couple of games. It’s fairly complex, and includes a bit of depth, but once you get the hang of it, it actually becomes pretty simple, and you’ll probably wonder why it took you so long to figure everything out.
There are two gameplay modes available, Local, which you’re able to set up with up to 4 AI opponents as well as other players via pass n play type gameplay, and Online Multiplayer through GameCenter. You’re able to set these modes up in one of two different ways; Short Game and Long Game. In a short game, you’re given 12 rounds, each round containing 3 turns, and are given a couple of building supplies to get you started. This mode is best for newcomers to the game, while a long game includes 18 rounds, and you are not given any building materials to start out with.
Using your basic building materials; wood, clay and iron, you’ll be able to use the buildings that the town has already built in order to create them. For instance, the town has built the Construction Rirm. You can use the Construction Firm to build up to 3 buildings per turn. Once you build these buildings, you own them. The buildings that you’ll build will help you create more food (which is required every round to feed your workers/employees), more complex building materials, like bricks and iron, and more. Also, with each building you own, your wealth goes up. 
Using the dock, you’re able to collect materials and food, used to feed your workers and build. Starting a long game can take a couple of turns to get into as you collect your materials. You’ll also always need to make sure you take a turn or two to either collect food, or turn food into more processed food, which in-turn feeds more of your workers. Feeding your workers is a huge part of the game. If you can’t afford to feed your workers, you’ll be required to take a very costly loan from the bank, and that can pretty much damage your chances of winning. 
Le Havre is, by far, one of the most impressive board games I’ve had the pleasure of playing on the iOS. The graphics, user interface, and just the mechanics of it all create an incredibly immersive, and very entertaining gameplay experience. Priced at $4.99 and being Universal, if you’re a fan of board games, Le Havre is one that you need to own. GameCenter leaderboards for wins, total wealth, and more, it’s one game that will take you a while to master, but is incredibly enjoyable throughout the entire learning process, and even more-so after you finally figure out the best ways to become the wealthiest man in all of Le Havre. Codito Development just can’t seem to do any wrong. 
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August 2, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Mr. Dreamer [Strapped to a Meteor] – $0.99

Last year, one of the more interesting platform puzzlers hit the AppStore; Deo, from the development studio Strapped to a Meteor. Since the release, they’ve been hard at work coming up with another unique and original game for the iOS, and it’s finally hit the AppStore. What is it this time? An endless runner called Mr. Dreamer. If you checked out our preview of the game about a week ago, then you already have a pretty good idea of what the game is. But if you haven’t, here’s the scoop. 

Mr. Dreamer is a score-chasing, endless runner of sorts. On the main menu, you’re shown a strange little guy who’s stuck in an office cubicle with a stuffed animal by his side, pictures of his family on the walls, and the sounds of a keyboard clicking and phones ringing in the background. Looking bored and staring off into space, one you hit the ‘Play’ button, you’re off into a dream world, running up a two sided pathway in a dream world ripe with candy and sweets. 

What makes Mr. Dreamer unique, as well as challenging, is the flipping mechanic that the game is centered around. Once you start running up this pathway, you need to keep the character up-right. If he happens to go up-side-down, a gauge at the top of the screen starts to drain. Luckily, you’re able to re-fill this gauge by collecting the candies that litter the path. 
The game is split up into different level-like environments. Once you’ve completed one, the game will pause for a second while it loads the next one, and you’ll continue on your journey. This does, unfortunately, take away from the flow and smoothness of the game, but it does keep the original loading time down to a minimum, and the game running as smoothly as it can, though I have experienced some jitteriness while playing, even on an iPad 2. As you make your way up the path in the clouds, you’ll come across special candies. Collect 3 of these, and you’ll speed up, having all of the other candies drawn to you as if you were a magnet, and being up-side-down for this short period of time does not drain your gauge. After the first couple of levels, the game gets even more challenging by introducing bombs that sit on the path. If you’re unlucky enough to run into one of these, they’ll wind up draining quite a bit of your health/up-side-down gauge. Once the gauge is empty, it’s game over. 

The graphics and animations are very well done, as you might expect coming from the developers of the wildly entertaining Deo. The sounds as well as the music fit the game perfectly, and the dreamy graphic look creates a great atmosphere. Sadly, there’s only this one gameplay mode, no other power-ups, no unlockables and no special abilities. Having a more difficult timed mode, or more power-ups along side the special candies would have greatly increased the gameplay, as well as the replay value.
But priced at $0.99 and being Universal, Mr. Dreamer is something the endless runner genre has yet to see, and for that fact alone it’s definitely worth picking up for the dollar, as coming across a unique runner these days is something that hardly ever happens. GameCenter is supported, but unfortunately, at this time, there is no leaderboard, and no achievements to collect, though I’m sure this will be fixed in a future update. Strapped to a Meteor has definitely kept with creating something out of the ordinary with Mr. Dreamer, and after the little issues get ironed out, will be a game that (hopefully) winds up pushing the genre forward with new and interesting ideas sprouting out because of it. 
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July 31, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Blazing Star [SNK + Dot Emu] – $2.99

After the release of Metal Slug 3 by SNK and Dot Emu, a lot of gamers have been hoping for more ports of classic SNK titles. However, I don’t think anyone really expected to see another title so soon. This time around, SNK and Dot Emu have brought the fantastic old-school SHMUP, Blazing Star, to the iOS, and it’s just as faithful a port as Metal Slug 3. 
For those of you who have never played the original Blazing Star, it was originally released in Arcades back in 1998, and is the sequel to the other fantastic Arcade shoot-em-up, Pulstar. Blazing Star includes 6 different pilots + ships, all having their own type of shot, and special shots, offering up quite a bit of varied gameplay. The ships with the stronger shot types tend to move slightly slower than the ships with the weaker shots, leaving it up to the player to find the ship which best suits their style of play. 
Included in the game are 7 stages, each getting progressively more difficult as you progress. Luckily, just like in Metal Slug 3, you’re given continues, and can also choose to play in Mission Mode, which lets you play from the last level you reached in Arcade Mode, so that you’re able to experience playing all of the 7 stages, as well as practice certain stages after you get use to the gameplay and start to go for high-scores. Also included in the game, same as Metal Slug, is the option to switch from pixilated to smooth graphics, add scan-lines, and choose to play in 4:3 or 16:9 ratio. Also available is the ability to play in 2 player co-op mode via Bluetooth, which, like with Metal Slug, is a fantastic addition. 
There are two control schemes, one includes a joystick, and the other offers up 1:1 relative touch controls. You’re able to move the two shot buttons as well as the joystick to anywhere on the screen you like, which is a huge plus, especially when playing on the iPad. 
Unfortunately, a lot of players are having problems getting use to the ship speed. The way the game was made, making stronger ships move slower, this means that the ships will not move as fast as you can move your finger across the screen, and because of this, a lot of players have had problems getting comfortable with the gameplay. Also an issue is the joystick. The dead zone that you’re able to touch is fairly small, and results in the ship’s movement being pretty jerky, and hard to control. Another issue some have been having is that in order to fire, you need to constantly tap on the shoot button. Fortunately, SNK and Dot Emu have stated that they are adding an option for ship movement to be sped up, as well as an auto-fire option. But not to worry, for those of you who have come to love the game in the past, and are accustomed to the ship’s movement, and the firing mechanics, the new control set-ups will have a separate leaderboard, leaving the hardcore players boards safe and sound. 
Graphically, Blazing Star looks amazing. The animations and 2.5D graphics look incredible on both the iPhone and the iPad, and the music is exactly as it was over 14 years ago; hard-edged, and full of energy. The GameCenter integration definitely adds to the already high replay value that almost all SHMUPs inevitably include, having boards for all 4 difficulty settings, as well as 15 hard to snag achievements. 
Being Universal, and priced insanely low at $2.99, Blazing Star is a game that all SHMUP fans need to check out. With it’s slick graphics, awesome gameplay, and fantastic scoring system, it sits along-side the other heavy hitters like Dariusburst and RayStorm, as one of the best non-Cave shoot-em-ups available for the iOS. Hopefully SNK and Dot Emu will keep porting over amazing classics from the past and making them available via the AppStore (here’s hoping for The Last Blade!). Having them available at any time and in our pockets is simply amazing. 
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July 29, 2012 Uncategorized 0 Read more >