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Archive for the ‘ Reviews ’ Category
Reviewing this game is difficult. Quite simply I have been a fan of the Prince of Persia games since the very beginning and as such have laid my hands on every iteration I could get hold of. The reboot of the series that started with the Sands of Time kicked off a series that I still play to this day and will always be held with reverence and love. The next reboot, the cel-shaded, one on one combat adventure simply titled Prince of Persia was supposed to be a return to the original roots of the series but fans dismissed it as too easy and didn’t like the fact that you couldn’t ever die. The tone was right but the execution was off and fans weren’t sure what to expect next. Well they probably didn’t expect this…
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Popularity: 5% [?]
I promised myself when I started to write these reviews that I wouldn’t lower myself to using casual profanity and inappropriate humour to describe any game no matter how infuriating or bad it was. This leaves in something of a quandary as unfortunately there is no other way to describe this adult nappy shit stain of a game.
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Popularity: 14% [?]
Every now and then a game will throw at you a set piece that’ll stay with you long after you stop playing it. In Gears of War it was either the moment the Kryll first spiralled across the moon or the Corpser appearing in front of you and dropping down to block your path. The battle with the Hydra, at the opening of God of War. The first toppling of a giant in Shadow of the Colossus. The battle with the Dahaka at the end of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. Or the gigantic worm on level 3 of Lost Planet. I do love giant worms.
Ah, Lost Planet. When it first arrived it was loved for a short while but then vanished into sea of distant hardcore online gamers and not a lot else. The setup was simple: Shoot really big things with really big guns. Or climb into a robot suit with even bigger guns and shoot even bigger bugs. In the snow. And shoot people and people in robot suits too. Fun! Problem was, it had fiddly controls and the main character Wayne was a namby-bamby baby girl that ran like he had a weeks worth of crap in his snow pants.
The sequel takes place ten years after the non-eventful events of the first game on the same Lost Planet of E.D.N.3. The bugs are still everywhere and evil corporation NEVEC are still plundering for Thermal Energy, a hot lava-like goo that powers everything and is treated like it’s rare as rocking horse shit despite the fact it’s absolutely everywhere, which seems to imply that in the last game we achieved absolutely sweet FA. Except!!! Due to a massive release of even more really rare Thermal Energy pockets of the frozen planet have turned from glacial apocalyptic wasteland to thriving jungles, rocky mountains and vast deserts with each scenario featuring a different squad of soldiers.
It’s amazing how much of a difference a simple change of scenery can make with a game like this. The repetitive scenery was a bane to the first game and the freshness for each chapter here really helps proceedings. As does the fact that you can move slightly faster this time round. It’s not much faster but the character is at least moving quickly enough that when you’re trying to run away from the thirty foot armour plated creepy that’s smacking you around.
The guns and explosions are as impressive as ever. Really, gloriously over the top light shows of destructive glory that Michael Bay would be jealous of. Even the basic machine gun makes you feel like a man with every trigger squeeze. The sniper rifle has been refined and is one of the most satisfying guns in the game. Each snappy headshot provokes a sly grin and the new grenade launcher is a real treat.
The whole package just seems faster paced this time round. The waves come thicker and faster and rather than throw so many Akrid (giant bugs to the uninitiated) at you that you’re bored of them by level 4, Capcom mix it up a lot more with larger soldier encounters meaning that the Akrid assaults feel much more eventful. If you have any interest in this game you’re probably already aware of the train-in-the-desert-level featuring a giant worm. Allow me to assure you that a) that level is awesome and b) you’ll want to play it more than once. The worm in question would use the worm from the first game as dental floss and the giant worms from Dune as a tampon. It’s MASSIVE. So massive it would be foolish for one person to tackle alone. The best bit is… you don’t have to.
The campaign is now playable with 4 player co-op online and splitscreen and hellz to the yeah cause a bug blasting four-way turns out to be some of the best fun you can have on an Xbox. Chatting to total strangers about how exactly you’re going to down a 6000 tonne salamander are hilarious over the headsets and saving a team mate at the last second with a well placed shotgun blast feels like a moment from Starship Troopers every time and you can even share Thermal Energy between you to add to the whole feeling of camaraderie. (Thermal Energy also powers Harmonisers, devices that give the wearer superhuman regenerative abilities).
So everything has pretty much improved for this instalment. The VS’s (robot suits) are shinier, bigger and better and the enemies are much more varied (I love the new panther style Akrid that adjust their balance and movement based on how many limbs they have left! Sweeeeet!!!) the bosses are the biggest you’ve ever fought (No the Reaper in Mass Effect doesn’t count and I still haven’t played God of War III yet so that doesn’t count either – yes I’m bitter) and some of the set pieces are truly epic. The only niggles are that some of the boss fights take too long. Unless you’re playing with three other humans and not the surprisingly tolerable AI the larger creatures can take anything up to half an hour to kill and this ends up just feeling like a grind. The controls are still a little fiddly (they’re essentially exactly the same) and there is a certain amount of repetition after extended sessions of play.
Overall though this really is a great improvement over the original. The multiplayer is still great, there’s more variety in the levels and set pieces, the co-op adds a great new flair to an already winning formula. Some people may get narked off by the simplistic gameplay and the longer boss battles but this really is a great quality game full of great moments that it’d be a shame if you didn’t give it a go. Get your guns on and go hunt some bugs!
Popularity: 22% [?]
Archipelago is a beautifully simple real time strategy game, which has been boiled down into a puzzle format. I love the complexities a full-blown RTS but a mobile phone screen is not the place to reenact Age of Empire however Archipelago feels like it has a perfect balance. Does Archipelago stand out as a good example of games for the Android market?
Essentially Archipelago has the feeling of Risk with islands and planes but a difference is that It has no dice or turns, which makes it hugely addictive and the fact that you don’t have to wait ages for the other person to move their pieces after tussling with their inner-self wherever it’s politically wrong to take over Madagascar. With lots of small maps and fast action, the “one more go” mentality is strong which is guaranteed to force you to you miss your bus stop/train stop/own wedding. The game is played in landscape with no fancy motion or multi touch controls so perfect for those times you want to look like you are not playing games but actually reviewing some very important emails.
It’s hard to find a game that doesn’t feel like you have played it before on the Android market place as the android system is yet to have its renaissance unlike Apple’s app store where franchies and innovation seem to be part and parcel with owning the platform. The difference between the iPhone and App store is that the android market is not flooded with games so it gives niche gamer developers a chance to get their games noticed as the Android market place is lacking in original games.
However this does lead to a pattern emerging the fact of clones breaking out,such as Bejewelled and Tetris, that look and feel great but for anything more interesting or innovative feel underworked and ill thought out.
Archipelago does well at proving my point. The textures are not shiny and the animations are not as smooth and worse of all there is no sound which for a paid for app is disappointing. The user interface is average and I feel I have seen the art work before. Archipelago maps the physical buttons oddly; Archipelago does not use the menu button to bring up a menu it… well does nothing. To bring up the menu you hit back, counter intuitive as this could be used as an undo button for dire decisions/situations. There are no instructions only a, well worded, tutorial and one of my biggest problems grievances is that it has no save button! Although the game auto saves, I need to save to put my mind at rest and save, with a real button, I have already been caught out and have to start again! These are all small problems however it is the fact that I have seen this genre too many times recently that brings my overall view of it down.
Its very easy to criticise a game like this as it feels like a project two steps from being ready for release, perhaps if they put BETA in a shiny label on the corner I wouldn’t mind as much. Over all an just addictive enough to look over its flaws.
Archipelago, Android, $2.99
Popularity: 5% [?]
If you’re like me, then right now your suffering from a severe case of World Cup fever. The anticipation of unbelievable highs like ‘that’ Owen goal against Argentina are balanced in more or less equal proportions with a sickening terror that we are only 1 second away from another Maradona or Seaman moment, where all hopes are ripped away in a heart beat. You watch every game, whether its England labouring to another ill deserved and scrappy win or Brazil seemingly able bamboozle their fellow professionals with ridiculous ease.
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Popularity: 14% [?]
Farming, a method that many city folk will never get the chance to participate in unless they are completely yuppy and decide to set up a farm in their city like the London farm. What is the attraction though for recent simulations that allow us to tend crops, plough fields and make sure that all of our workers are cared for and pass immigration laws.
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Popularity: 18% [?]
Abundante, Arrrrrriba Arrrriba. Que Tal, Me gustaria ir al discoteca.
When creating a puzzle game, you have to make sure that the idea is sound and that you implement and tune a control system that will work even when the user is panicking. Take tetris for example. The simplicity of its control system makes it easier to learn whilst in the beginning stages but like all good puzzle games, it will take a while to master. This is the same for Abundante. You will grasp the control system within minutes and then will have you speed and strategy tested as the levels progress and obviously get faster and faster.
In Abundante, the aim is to take blocks from above of selected colour and then link them to block of the similar colour, hence creating a chain. When there is a chain then boom, the blocks disappear and other blocks around it fall into place, which causes a combo hence forth increasing your point score ergo making your experience of the game better. If only life was that easy.
The game increases with difficulty through it’s levels by slowly speeding up the amount of the time that the blocks move down from the top of the screen and by adding various different blocks that are detrimental to your health. There are moss blocks that spread the moss to adjacent blocks, which can’ t be destroyed directly but will fall to its doom on destruction of those around it. Concrete blocks that can’t be grabbed by you and also have to be destroyed indirectly.
By expanding the game mode, the player has to re address their strategy to complete the levels and levels there are. On count there are 100+ levels so the game length warrants the price of the game.
Some blocks give up more gems, which is the prime purpose of the game. On the left side of the screen is a progress bar that you have to fill up by collecting jewels that fall on destruction of the block. You can earn acquire more jewels by creating shapes with the blocks that you have, which give you bonus jewels at the end to increase your score. It’s an idea that works very well but sometimes moving the cart gets forgotten by the player. To compensate for this the jewels nearly always fall automatically into the cart, but it does seem like moving the cart was a second thought.
However,
The control system works naturally as you touch the block you want, if its linked to any equal colours, these come join the party on et cart as well. You then touch the column where you want to place these blocks. Simples. The touch based controls could have had you smacking your head against a brick wall constantly but luckily the touch events have been refined to a 99% success rate for selecting the correct column where to place your blocks. The 1% failure rate is when you are moving to fast to carefully place your blocks, a fault of our own, not of the game.
What needs to be addressed though is that the developers really missed a trick by not including social gaming features such as Open Feint as this would have really benefitted Abundante. It’s ‘tell a friend’ feature is not enough to expose a game as I for one can say I have never used that feature. The facebook feature although currently over used can not be underestimated for how it can help get downloads of game.
If you like puzzle games and fancy a game to pass the time, then for$2.99, Abundante is for you.
Popularity: 5% [?]
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Have you ever found yourself stuck in a town or city with no idea of what is going on around you? Be it drunk or completely sober, this can be quite an annoyance, especially if the timer in your stomach is telling you that it is nearly time for the food bomb to go off. Well, this is where Around Me comes in to hopefully save the day.
Around Me locates you and then depending on what type necessity you desire, it locates those that are nearest to you. A simple application that has be done now multiple times on the iPhone, but AroundMe is the only one i have ever put my faith in. However, this was not to be the case when trying to find a source of drinking tomfoolery in London. ‘Why do you need an app to find a pub in london? ‘ I hear you cry, as there are pubs on every street corner. The reason for this was a test of the applications metal, could it find out exactly what pub I was standing in front of. Sadly, the answer to this was no as the application put me deep in Camden Town when actually I was stood in Leicester Square.
This may be a fault on Apple’s part due to the GPS but any shortsighted user would put it down to being the App’s fault straight away. This is my only gripe with the application and overall it is probably not the fault of Tweakersoft as the current location aspect of Apple’s GPS software only has 4 or 5 settings.
Now lets talk about the impressive nature of the app. If you are so lucky to have a 3GS, then you can find where you need to go by using the Augmented Reality aspect of A.M. Turn your phone landscape and a world of floaty signs becomes your oysters. This is a lovely gimmick for the application but unless you wanted to become a large flashing target for muggers, then I really doubt it should be used.
Directions can also be given out to you by a simple tap on the options button whilst viewing a location and if you need to guide a friend to your whereabouts, then this location can be shared on Facebook and Twitter, a lovely addition to a fully formed package.
If you are stuck in a new area with no idea what to do, then Around Me is your buoyancy aid, as with only one touch (click to the desktop user) you are finding out where the nearest pubs are to you. But heed this warning, like all GPS systems, not all directions are correct but the majority are.
Popularity: 9% [?]
So if you wanted to take over a hostile government regime how would you go about it? Infiltrate the local political field to convert followers to your cause? Rally a mob and march on the local parliament? Write a strongly worded letter perhaps? Or maybe you’d just like to take on the entire army single handed, steal a fighter jet, fly it into the nearest oil reserve leaping to safety at the last second before tying the last remaining enemy guard to the back of a car and dragging him screaming down the nearest motorway while you cackle maniacally? Well good news to all you video gaming revolutionaries, at least one of these is an option!
Popularity: 43% [?]
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, actually it’s a badly drawn snake that another player has tried to draw with their fat fingers that instead looks like a sausage boutique. By another player however, I do not mean someone who you have just passed your phone too o no, Depict is a completely online game and the user experience benefits because of it but it can suffer if you are not always connected.
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Popularity: 22% [?]
Have you seen Death Race 2000? Even the remake starring Jason Statham? If you answered yes to either of these and had a private giggle to yourself then the odds are you’re going to get a bit of a kick out of this. The basic set up is what you’d expect. You operate one of many different armoured variations of standard vehicles; armed with a variety of weapons… you get the idea. It’s a top down racer focusing on tightly packed tracks; all in a Mad Max styled post-apocalyptic setting. You get junkyards, carnivals and other once familiar locations draped in fire and brown with bright clear checkpoints to guide your way through the ensuing carnage. It’s essentially Micro Machines meets Twisted Metal: Black. If that sounds appealing then read on…
Popularity: 35% [?]
If you’ve played Perfect Dark before three things will happen before you fall back under a very familiar spell. A brief spinning camera angle, some echoing key strokes and a brief glimpse of a familiar grey and blue uniform. That’s it. It has you. End of discussion.
What then will those that haven’t played it be left with? Can an FPS that originally graced our gaming palms nearly a decade ago stand up tall amongst the current breed of realistic shooters? The answer may surprise you: Really quite well.
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Popularity: 27% [?]
When Toy Soldiers appeared in the Xbox Live Arcade, I was immediately captivated with its dignified and reserved class and style. With it’s classic War time look, it sits amongst it’s shiny and modern counterparts, quietly waiting for its time to be pulled from the shelf dusted off and enjoyed. A game that reflects the war-time days of our grandparents/great-grandparents, when games as we know them now were a distant reality that could never be conceived by man…well…except maybe Marty Mcfly. It harks back to the days of toy solders, wind-up toy tanks and good, honest fun.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
It’s like it’s been a PopCap mid week weekend, if you understand that phrasing you will understand anything. But after finally discovering PopCap’s latest offering, what better time to jump and dive head first into the rest of their gaming library. Boom let us hit this game harder than a spoilt child on Christmas Day.
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Popularity: 10% [?]
Robotic, road bound, ever forward moving egg on wheels. Eggbot! Unfortunately the road is messed up to no end and you’ve got to reassemble it. Fixing the said roadway entails a task similar to that of a picture puzzle game that you might find in a stocking. Let it be noted this isn’t Eggbot’s first adventure, however just an Irish installment. It’s St. Paddy’s day today don’t you know?
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Popularity: 2% [?]
Yes yes yes, I hear what you are seeing. That’s right, hear what you are seeing. I know we have already reviewed the desktop version of this game, but isn’t it fitting that the iPhone edition get the 7Bit treatment as well. Even though the game has been shrunk down to zombie hand sized proportion, none of this games charm has been lost.
Popularity: 2% [?]
I have been thinking for quite a while about what words I could possibly use to describe the immense beauty of Braid. When I say beauty I don’t just mean the game’s stylistically exquisite visuals (which put me in mind of a living, breathing painting by one of the great impressionists like Monet). I mean everything about this game, from concept to gameplay to exposition, is just sheer beauty.
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Popularity: 2% [?]
Anyone who had a 5th generation iPod will remember some of the games that came included with it. You had solitaire and that bat and bricks game, but you also had that music game. You know, the one where it played you part of a song and you had to guess which one it was? Well iMusic Puzzle is the iPod Touch’s version of this game. Except for the fact you have to buy it of course but these developer types have got to make a living.
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Popularity: 2% [?]
Oh no is the first thought that comes to mind when you hear the name Hottie Hookups. Is this game going to be a game endorsed by Paris Hilton that involves you playing the role of a hottie with the principal objective being to achieve pseudo stardom by spreading your legs and making sex-tapes? Well don’t worry, H.H. is not about that even though that game sounds like a David Firth creation in the pipeline. However, I digress….
Popularity: 6% [?]
I will never hire deaf composer again, no matter how much he will pay us!
Above is a quote from the ‘iFun4all’ press release by the games creators, Laszlo Kovács & Fülöp Mészáros. This review will be full of them, so if you like the humour in the quotes you will fall in love with the game.
Review Start Motherf**kers.
You see the word defense in the title, your first thought is, o no, not another tower defense game for the iPhone. I already have Fieldrunners, why would I need another. Well that is where you are wrong as Crap of Defense is not a tower defense game, so like many misconceptions in life, you will realise you are wrong, cry a bit, grovel to the lady who you thought was pregnant as she has a bit around the edge and then buy this absolute peach of a game.
Popularity: 6% [?]
When I first got wind of this game I was giddy like a Yoshi in a Piranha Plant factory. Cooperative 2D Mario platforming. Brilliant. Oh to my dismay as the reviews flooded in slating the failings of the game’s pinball mechanics. Assuming it to be a poor investment the game was never bought. However! Low and behold an opportunity arrived to bang Mario in one sitting and find out for myself if this game play decision nails the coffin on this addition to the franchise. So I gave it a chance to woo me with my fingers crossed it wouldn’t let me down.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
Max had a marker pen, yes he did, and it was bloody magic.
Anyone who listens to the podcast regularly will know I’ve been crying out for a level basher; a break of sorts from all these open world games. MATMM comprises of exactly that with 18 levels of pure joy. You take control of both Max and his pen (ed: marker spanjj, it’s a marker), negotiating platform elements with Max and solving puzzles with his pen. In order to pass certain parts of the level, you draw your the tools you need. When you realise the potential of the marker the game becomes brilliant.
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Popularity: 1% [?]
There are many games that can be called a timesink, a term that can be defined as follows.
“a game that you can play for hours and not realise the time”
Games that I am aware of the fall into this category are Infamous (hours go by running around zapping pedestrians), Borderlands, Mass Effect (o, it’s night time outside), Theme Park (I have no time for friends,i have to get rid of the rats in the rollercoaster); I think you get the picture.
Popularity: 23% [?]
Firefly night is one of those charming games that is so simple that you find yourself instantly engrossed in it. I hope saying that it is simple is not offensive to Frozen Giant as the amount of time that goes into creating these games is huge.
There are fireflies on your screen that you have to touch and drag into the corresponding pots on the bottom of the screen and on contact they make a rather distinguishable noise. Each of the 40 levels has a set time limit, so the feel of urgency is present in getting your fireflies into their pots. Easy Non.
The game beings with a low count of fireflies that need to be put in the pots but as the levels increase, there are multiple colours of fireflies with each having a different number that you have to get into the pot. This simple looking game then takes a turn for the nasty as you are frantically trying to drag the fireflies correctly. A moment of possible frenzy occurs when you constantly keep getting the wrong firefly as you panic at the time limit. however grabbing the wrong firefly is not something the game has done wrong.
The touch based actions are perfect as through thorough testing, it was impossible to grab multiple fireflies with one touch. Also, instead of upping the ante so much by having too many fireflies on the screen, the game mechanics and level variation are clever enough to give you the correct firefly that you are aiming for.
The game is aimed towards those who have a small amount of time on their hands and the save feature really allows you to pop in and out of the game when you train journey is over.
Add to the strong gameplay mechanics the trusty Open Feint engine then you have a game that lasts as you try to collect the achievements.
59p/99c is a bargain and Firefly Night is a hidden gem in the ever growing iPhone App market.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Games Press is very handy sometimes. News can be bland and every other site picks it up and outputs it faster than a cake being thrown at Katie Price, but sometimes there is a diamond in the rough. In this instance, the diamond was that Triangle Studios were giving away Heron: Steam Machine free for one weekend only. After tweeting, facebooking and talking(???) this out to the world, the game was on my phone ready for some investigative thinking.
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Popularity: 12% [?]
“Heads will roll!” – (Reviewed on The 7 Bit Audiocast Episode 4: Gamers Have Souls)
Apocalyptos is the latest release from Sudden Games and its all about the disembodied heads. We back track to the days of pyramids and human sacrifice (*sigh*, I miss those days) and the gods are in for a treat because people are being beheaded by the dozen. The heads are flying all over the place and its your job to bounce ‘em and spike ‘em in the series of mini games the game comprises of. That’s 40 OpenFeint enabled games with three difficulties for each… well, sort of.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
