Price: $1.99
Publisher: Shinobi Ninja Video Game
Buy now on
Sometimes games come from nowhere and surprise the heck out of you. I recently had that happen to me and I got to tell you, it was exciting. The game is Shinobi Ninja Attacks. It has nothing at all to do with ninjas (well not directly). Instead it’s actually based band on a band of the same name from Brooklyn. You play as one of 4 band members and utilize your instrument of choice to whoop the bad guys. There have been a few music fighting games like this made in the past. Do you remember the Aerosmith game where you threw cd's at your enemies? The end result is a standard faire fighting game with one standout feature; the music. Fortunately the music alone makes this game worth playing.
Going in I had never heard of Shinobi Ninja. I went to their MySpace page and listened to a few of their songs. At first it reminded me of Beastie Boys but I think that was mostly due to them being from Brooklyn. As I listened to them more, I began to see that they really stand on their own as a band. The game is directly based on the musicians in the band. One character fights with a drum stick, another with a guitar, etc. Your mission is to get to a concert and there are a lot of people trying to hold you back from that goal. That resistance leaves your band with no choice left. You have to fight your way through the crowd of baddies.
The graphics are well done. Most of the characters are drawn in comic book fashion. The hand drawn characters are all rather nice looking and many things within the game are able to be destroyed including phone booths and benches. Destroying these items actually uncovers powerups that can help you on your quest to get to your concert on time. The sound and music is really where this game shines. Inside of the game, you have the ability to hear 6 full tracks from Shinobi Ninja's (the bands) cd. After beating the game you also unlock a code that gets you the six songs that are downloadable in five mp3 files that can be played anytime outside of the game. You also unlock 2 music videos that can be played within the game.
The controls themselves involve you fighting your way through crowds of people using a series of 2 buttons and a special powerup button that activates after beating up enough bad guys. The end result is a pretty decent rendition of Double Dragon/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles type gameplay. It's nothing special, but it’s definitely entertaining.
The main issue I have with the game lies in its length. The game is divided into four levels, each of which can be completed in 5-10 minutes each. I beat the game in one sitting which took about 30 minutes. At 2 bucks, this game clearly wouldn’t be worth it if you were only playing it for the game. The real replay value is not with the game but with the free tracks that you can download after beating the game. “Rock Hood” is especially a great track. All in all, this game is a must buy for any Shinobi Ninja fans. Even if you not a fan right now, take a few moments to listen to some of their tracks and see what you think. For me, the music alone is worth the price of admission. The game is just a bonus.
Overall Value for it's $1.99 price point
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Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Fighting. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Fighting. Mostrar todas las entradas
lunes, 1 de marzo de 2010
viernes, 5 de febrero de 2010
Vanquish: Oath of Brothers Review
Price: $2.99
Publisher:Gamevil
Buy now on
In my time spent playing Vanquish: Oath of Brothers I have felt a wide range of emotions. At first I was bored, then I was interested and finally I ended up feeling somewhere in the middle. The game certainly has its strengths but has a few faults that counter balance them and keep it from being a classic. You play 1 of 3 characters in the story that takes place in the ancient Chinese empire (during the Han dynasty). In that role, you fight to the death over and over and over again. Gamevil calls this an action RPG and it does have elements of an RPG, but don't be fooled, this game is nearly all about the action.
The gameplay revolves around you riding on a horse through the countryside of China killing off whoever gets in your way. The game is divided into a number of levels that once you beat, you never return to. The actual gameplay is unusual because even though you are constantly moving forward (there is no way to stop entirely or go backward), you do have the interesting ability to slow or slightly turn your horse riding character left and right. This game is a side scroller so the ability to turn is intriguing.
On the left of the screen you have you d-pad control and on the right side your attack buttons. One button is your primary weapon, which you need to be ready to push a million times (literally). You will be killing 300-500 people in a single level and these things only take 5 minutes each at the most. The gameplay is really quick. In fact, it is really hard to see what you are doing on the screen at any one time. The problem is you aren’t just fighting foot soldiers. You are also fighting horse riding enemies and occasionally protecting a horse drawn carriage. Sometimes there are as many as 20-25 enemies on the screen at once including 5-10 horses. That is a lot of legs to see on a screen as small as an iDevice, making it extremely difficult to tell where you horse is, especially since the graphics can blend in.
The graphics in the game are interesting. They are hand drawn and sometimes quite beautiful, other times they end up looking drab and monotonous. In fact, when you start turning they can become very pixilated and truly look bad. It is worth mentioning that the blood you see upon killing your enemies flies everywhere and it is very satisfying to see. Especially after coming off playing Assassin's Creed 2 and seeing no blood at all. The music within the game is done well but unfortunately is not turned on throughout your playing time. While playing you simply hear the sound of your main weapon constantly coming up against your enemies which makes a clanging noise that gets old after a while.
The actual storyline within the game is done fairly well. It is truly one of the bright spots in the game. It makes sense, develops your character and even made me laugh several times (intentionally I think). It certainly feels that some time was spent on the story and that is a very good thing. None of what is said is done by voice actors, closed caption only here, but that doesn’t really detract from anything in this case.
The main issue with this game again comes down to the pace, which is much too fast in most cases. While there is a slider in the options menu to speed the game up or slow it down, it doesn't really seem to help too much. There are still a ton of enemies in every screen and finding yourself is still a difficult proposition. If they could have made your character stand out more I would have given much higher marks throughout.
One other thing that also needs mentioned is the difficulty level. It gets too difficult, too quick. I was going through the levels as the first character in the game and moving through them quite smoothly until I got to level 7 and tried to fight the boss character. That battle took ages for me to win and repeating the entire mission over and over again to get to that battle was not fun at all. Normally, you could "revive" yourself with a purple gem in the game and go right back into the battle against the boss character. In this instance, things had been so easy up to this point; I was using the purple gems to upgrade my character. When I died, I had no purple gems left to use and so I had to restart the entire mission over and over again. Not fun.
The upgrade system for your weapons and all of the additional powerups you can find/receive/buy can make the game quite a bit of fun. Each has its advantages and disadvantages and knowing when to buy an item (with one of the aforementioned purple gems) is an important thing to learn. Overall, this part of the game feels entirely right and is done quite well. You can even buy a better horse (which seems to make the game go even faster).
In summary, Vanquish: Oath of Brothers has a strong story, a great powerup/item system and an interesting use of controls and graphics. It also gives you several hours of gameplay. On the negative side its difficulty level raises too quickly, is extremely difficult to find your character in the mass of enemies surrounding you, and can become repetitive. As an action gamer, I think this game is worth your time. As a fan of RPG's, you might want to wait until Zenonia 2. This game is probably not going to be a good fit for you.
Overall Value for it's $2.99 price point
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
Publisher:Gamevil
Buy now on
In my time spent playing Vanquish: Oath of Brothers I have felt a wide range of emotions. At first I was bored, then I was interested and finally I ended up feeling somewhere in the middle. The game certainly has its strengths but has a few faults that counter balance them and keep it from being a classic. You play 1 of 3 characters in the story that takes place in the ancient Chinese empire (during the Han dynasty). In that role, you fight to the death over and over and over again. Gamevil calls this an action RPG and it does have elements of an RPG, but don't be fooled, this game is nearly all about the action.
The gameplay revolves around you riding on a horse through the countryside of China killing off whoever gets in your way. The game is divided into a number of levels that once you beat, you never return to. The actual gameplay is unusual because even though you are constantly moving forward (there is no way to stop entirely or go backward), you do have the interesting ability to slow or slightly turn your horse riding character left and right. This game is a side scroller so the ability to turn is intriguing.
On the left of the screen you have you d-pad control and on the right side your attack buttons. One button is your primary weapon, which you need to be ready to push a million times (literally). You will be killing 300-500 people in a single level and these things only take 5 minutes each at the most. The gameplay is really quick. In fact, it is really hard to see what you are doing on the screen at any one time. The problem is you aren’t just fighting foot soldiers. You are also fighting horse riding enemies and occasionally protecting a horse drawn carriage. Sometimes there are as many as 20-25 enemies on the screen at once including 5-10 horses. That is a lot of legs to see on a screen as small as an iDevice, making it extremely difficult to tell where you horse is, especially since the graphics can blend in.
The graphics in the game are interesting. They are hand drawn and sometimes quite beautiful, other times they end up looking drab and monotonous. In fact, when you start turning they can become very pixilated and truly look bad. It is worth mentioning that the blood you see upon killing your enemies flies everywhere and it is very satisfying to see. Especially after coming off playing Assassin's Creed 2 and seeing no blood at all. The music within the game is done well but unfortunately is not turned on throughout your playing time. While playing you simply hear the sound of your main weapon constantly coming up against your enemies which makes a clanging noise that gets old after a while.
The actual storyline within the game is done fairly well. It is truly one of the bright spots in the game. It makes sense, develops your character and even made me laugh several times (intentionally I think). It certainly feels that some time was spent on the story and that is a very good thing. None of what is said is done by voice actors, closed caption only here, but that doesn’t really detract from anything in this case.
The main issue with this game again comes down to the pace, which is much too fast in most cases. While there is a slider in the options menu to speed the game up or slow it down, it doesn't really seem to help too much. There are still a ton of enemies in every screen and finding yourself is still a difficult proposition. If they could have made your character stand out more I would have given much higher marks throughout.
One other thing that also needs mentioned is the difficulty level. It gets too difficult, too quick. I was going through the levels as the first character in the game and moving through them quite smoothly until I got to level 7 and tried to fight the boss character. That battle took ages for me to win and repeating the entire mission over and over again to get to that battle was not fun at all. Normally, you could "revive" yourself with a purple gem in the game and go right back into the battle against the boss character. In this instance, things had been so easy up to this point; I was using the purple gems to upgrade my character. When I died, I had no purple gems left to use and so I had to restart the entire mission over and over again. Not fun.
The upgrade system for your weapons and all of the additional powerups you can find/receive/buy can make the game quite a bit of fun. Each has its advantages and disadvantages and knowing when to buy an item (with one of the aforementioned purple gems) is an important thing to learn. Overall, this part of the game feels entirely right and is done quite well. You can even buy a better horse (which seems to make the game go even faster).
In summary, Vanquish: Oath of Brothers has a strong story, a great powerup/item system and an interesting use of controls and graphics. It also gives you several hours of gameplay. On the negative side its difficulty level raises too quickly, is extremely difficult to find your character in the mass of enemies surrounding you, and can become repetitive. As an action gamer, I think this game is worth your time. As a fan of RPG's, you might want to wait until Zenonia 2. This game is probably not going to be a good fit for you.
Overall Value for it's $2.99 price point
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
jueves, 4 de febrero de 2010
Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery Review
Price: $9.99
Publisher:Ubisoft
Buy now on
Assassins Creed 2: Discovery on the iPhone and iPod Touch plays a lot like an action game that wants you to think it is something else. To give you a little background, Assassins Creed 2, like the first game, takes place in the past with you as an assassin. Its plot is actually weirder and more complicated but let’s just goes with that. As an assassin you need to be stealthy in order to not get overwhelmed by your enemies, right? In theory yes, in practice no. In fact, the game forces you to be stealthy without giving you any reason to do so (other than losing missions) and therein lay the problem.
I assumed that as an assassin you would have nothing but your wits and a blade to help you but in this game, you are as fleet footed as an Olympic gymnast, you possess the brute force of a wrestler, and you also have the grace of a ballet dancer. You can scale 100 ft walls with no problem, jump from 50 ft into hay stacks in order to break your fall and hide. You have the ability to do incredible jumps and run as fast as Usain Bolt but remember, you’re also a stealthy assassin and the developers don’t want you to do these things to beat levels, they want you to walk slowly and sneak up on people to kill them. If that’s the case, why give you the ability to do these things at all?
With all of the above qualities your character possesses, if you want to go all out and stab someone straight on while they see you coming, you should be able to do it. But that is not always how it works in this game. During a level that makes you be stealthy, you can only kill people while they see you coming several times per level. If you do it too many times, the level ends. For example, if you kill the 5th person in a stealth mode level and they noticed you were coming before you killed them, sorry -restart from the last checkpoint. It's annoying and stupid. If you need to be stealthy, why give your character superhuman strength and the ability to literally kill four or five enemies at once? The stealth mode feels like an add-on on that doesn't make sense and is not fun.
The gameplay itself revolves around you using a slider on the left side of your iDevice to move your character forward or back. There is no up and down controller because this game is strictly a side scroller. There are additional buttons for jumping and knifing your way through an enemy. Just because the game treats you like a child and forces your hand when it comes to being stealthy doesn't mean it’s not fun. In fact, the game can be a blast at times. When you do kill someone silently, the game gives you a great 3D cutscene of you slitting a neck or stabbing someone through the chest. There are quite a few varieties and you can even counter an opponent’s attack and kill them in fantastic fashion. However, even this coolness is not without its own drawbacks. There is no blood in this game. To me it doesn’t make any sense. There is blood in quite a few other iPhone/iPod Touch games and its lack here in such a violent game doesn’t make sense.
The graphics in the game are ok. The close up killing looks great but the rest of the game is nothing special. While your character tends to look pixilated at times, most of the backgrounds and settings are well done. All said its graphics are not nearly up to the level of GTA: Chinatown Wars or even Spore Creatures. For a $10 game, I expected a bit more. The sound in the game is fairly well done. Most of the words said throughout the storyline are actually voice acted within the game. That was nice to see as most of it is done quite well. The soundtrack as well is spot-on and works well within the game’s setting and story.
When it comes to replay value, there are quite a few things to keep you busy. There is a minigame thrown into each level that involves you ripping the wanted posters off the walls throughout the city streets. Stats and feats are also tracked within the game and you also have the ability to unlock cheats (called “animus hacks” within the game). After beating the game and its 8 levels, you also unlock a series of challenges that will help to keep you busy. Certainly the game should give you 4 or 5 hours of play time which may or may not be worth $10 in your book.
Though the stealth missions are incredibly annoying, the other missions do help make up for them. The chase missions (where you are being tracked down by many guards) really shine and give you a reason to try to play through some of the more annoying parts of the game. The sad thing is that the best part of the game, the murders, has been made much less important by the developer. You either can’t kill someone straight on or if you can, you have to do it extremely quickly. In the end, the game has its ups and downs. Don't buy it before picking up the much superior GTA: CW but this game will keep your thumbs busy for a while as well. One additional note. I have seen other reports that this game doesn’t fare too well on anything less than an iPhone 3GS/newest iPod Touch models so beware of that.
Overall Value for it's $9.99 price point
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
Publisher:Ubisoft
Buy now on
Assassins Creed 2: Discovery on the iPhone and iPod Touch plays a lot like an action game that wants you to think it is something else. To give you a little background, Assassins Creed 2, like the first game, takes place in the past with you as an assassin. Its plot is actually weirder and more complicated but let’s just goes with that. As an assassin you need to be stealthy in order to not get overwhelmed by your enemies, right? In theory yes, in practice no. In fact, the game forces you to be stealthy without giving you any reason to do so (other than losing missions) and therein lay the problem.
I assumed that as an assassin you would have nothing but your wits and a blade to help you but in this game, you are as fleet footed as an Olympic gymnast, you possess the brute force of a wrestler, and you also have the grace of a ballet dancer. You can scale 100 ft walls with no problem, jump from 50 ft into hay stacks in order to break your fall and hide. You have the ability to do incredible jumps and run as fast as Usain Bolt but remember, you’re also a stealthy assassin and the developers don’t want you to do these things to beat levels, they want you to walk slowly and sneak up on people to kill them. If that’s the case, why give you the ability to do these things at all?
With all of the above qualities your character possesses, if you want to go all out and stab someone straight on while they see you coming, you should be able to do it. But that is not always how it works in this game. During a level that makes you be stealthy, you can only kill people while they see you coming several times per level. If you do it too many times, the level ends. For example, if you kill the 5th person in a stealth mode level and they noticed you were coming before you killed them, sorry -restart from the last checkpoint. It's annoying and stupid. If you need to be stealthy, why give your character superhuman strength and the ability to literally kill four or five enemies at once? The stealth mode feels like an add-on on that doesn't make sense and is not fun.
The gameplay itself revolves around you using a slider on the left side of your iDevice to move your character forward or back. There is no up and down controller because this game is strictly a side scroller. There are additional buttons for jumping and knifing your way through an enemy. Just because the game treats you like a child and forces your hand when it comes to being stealthy doesn't mean it’s not fun. In fact, the game can be a blast at times. When you do kill someone silently, the game gives you a great 3D cutscene of you slitting a neck or stabbing someone through the chest. There are quite a few varieties and you can even counter an opponent’s attack and kill them in fantastic fashion. However, even this coolness is not without its own drawbacks. There is no blood in this game. To me it doesn’t make any sense. There is blood in quite a few other iPhone/iPod Touch games and its lack here in such a violent game doesn’t make sense.
The graphics in the game are ok. The close up killing looks great but the rest of the game is nothing special. While your character tends to look pixilated at times, most of the backgrounds and settings are well done. All said its graphics are not nearly up to the level of GTA: Chinatown Wars or even Spore Creatures. For a $10 game, I expected a bit more. The sound in the game is fairly well done. Most of the words said throughout the storyline are actually voice acted within the game. That was nice to see as most of it is done quite well. The soundtrack as well is spot-on and works well within the game’s setting and story.
When it comes to replay value, there are quite a few things to keep you busy. There is a minigame thrown into each level that involves you ripping the wanted posters off the walls throughout the city streets. Stats and feats are also tracked within the game and you also have the ability to unlock cheats (called “animus hacks” within the game). After beating the game and its 8 levels, you also unlock a series of challenges that will help to keep you busy. Certainly the game should give you 4 or 5 hours of play time which may or may not be worth $10 in your book.
Though the stealth missions are incredibly annoying, the other missions do help make up for them. The chase missions (where you are being tracked down by many guards) really shine and give you a reason to try to play through some of the more annoying parts of the game. The sad thing is that the best part of the game, the murders, has been made much less important by the developer. You either can’t kill someone straight on or if you can, you have to do it extremely quickly. In the end, the game has its ups and downs. Don't buy it before picking up the much superior GTA: CW but this game will keep your thumbs busy for a while as well. One additional note. I have seen other reports that this game doesn’t fare too well on anything less than an iPhone 3GS/newest iPod Touch models so beware of that.
Overall Value for it's $9.99 price point
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
lunes, 11 de enero de 2010
James Cameron's Avatar Review
Price: $6.99
Publisher: Gameloft
Buy now on
It takes a special kind of person to have not heard of Avatar. The movie is everywhere, its licensed games, ads, and toys make it hard to go anywhere without falling over them. Over a billion dollars made at the box office in just about a month. Maybe it will surprise you then that I haven't seen the movie. Nevertheless, I have played the iPhone/iPod Touch game and I have some impressions.
This game has some type of weird storyline that I couldn't follow at all. Perhaps it is based on the movie's storyline, but maybe not. Anyway it sounds like you are a soldier that becomes a hybrid of a human and a Na’vi (blue aliens). Along with looking the part, you now have the alien race's body and skill set (or something like that). In that role you go to different places throughout the alien world named Pandora and fight off the many enemies in the process.
Avatar's gameplay revolves around you using your amazing Na'vi skills to kill wild beasts in the jungles of Pandora. You hack and slash your way through the world. You have the ability to use several different weapon types within the game, including a bow and arrow type weapon which is pretty fun. Your character can perform some pretty amazing acrobatics and sometimes all of the action reminds you of a Tarantino flick, only on a really bright world.
The sound, along with the graphics are well done. The score from the game is well suited for a science fiction based action game and the graphics are very clean, bright and plush with life. The frame rate rarely, if ever drops on my 3GS. Character models and beasts/monsters are also very well animated and overall the game feels fairly polished when it comes to the graphics and sound. To be honest, It's not really a surprise as Gameloft usually excels in these departments in their games.
Unfortunately the part they usually don't excel in, the actual gameplay is again a mix of good and bad. While the gameplay feels pretty lively, the game’s camera is not up to par. In fact the camera is truly horrible. There are times when you feel like you have no idea where to go and there is no way to direct the camera backwards. Unfortunately all camera movements are performed automatically by the game. Sometimes you will be attacked off screen by a beast and you won't even see them because they aren’t in your field of vision.
The game's difficulties don't end there. This game is a plat former in the mold of Tomb Raider. Like Tomb Raider there are jumping and climbing puzzles galore. Also like early Tomb Raider games, the controls are very difficult to use when jumping. Since the camera doesn’t follow directly behind your character all of the time, judging the distance you need to jump or the direction in which you should jump is made much more difficult than it needs to be. One saving grace is that the game does create quite a few checkpoint saves along the way. However it can be pretty annoying to do the same jumping puzzle for 15 minutes.
The controls are a mix of virtual d-pad and on screen action buttons that offer several different functionalities. All in all, it's a good system for movement. This game also offers quite a bit of content. It took me about 6 or 7 hours to beat it in full and you end up going through about 15 levels. Though there are quite a few levels, many of them are similar and again, there are far too many jumping puzzles. One nice thing I can say is that even if I wasn't playing this game for a review site, I would have tried to finish it. The gameplay of Avatar is usually satisfying enough throughout that I can partially overlook some of the camera issues.
With its lengthy campaign, pleasant graphics and sound I am going to suggest this game is worth it if you can get it for $5 or so. Unfortunately it is priced a bit higher at this point but when it comes down during a sale you might want to take a chance with it. The value of this game is that it gives you a ton of content and the action within it is a lot of fun. If your OK with looking past some of its issues, then you will probably have a pretty good time playing it. To me, it is obvious that with this game, Gameloft made a better effort than in past games (NOVA for example). Next time out I hope they can do even better.
Overall Value for it's $6.99 price point
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
Publisher: Gameloft
Buy now on
It takes a special kind of person to have not heard of Avatar. The movie is everywhere, its licensed games, ads, and toys make it hard to go anywhere without falling over them. Over a billion dollars made at the box office in just about a month. Maybe it will surprise you then that I haven't seen the movie. Nevertheless, I have played the iPhone/iPod Touch game and I have some impressions.
This game has some type of weird storyline that I couldn't follow at all. Perhaps it is based on the movie's storyline, but maybe not. Anyway it sounds like you are a soldier that becomes a hybrid of a human and a Na’vi (blue aliens). Along with looking the part, you now have the alien race's body and skill set (or something like that). In that role you go to different places throughout the alien world named Pandora and fight off the many enemies in the process.
Avatar's gameplay revolves around you using your amazing Na'vi skills to kill wild beasts in the jungles of Pandora. You hack and slash your way through the world. You have the ability to use several different weapon types within the game, including a bow and arrow type weapon which is pretty fun. Your character can perform some pretty amazing acrobatics and sometimes all of the action reminds you of a Tarantino flick, only on a really bright world.
The sound, along with the graphics are well done. The score from the game is well suited for a science fiction based action game and the graphics are very clean, bright and plush with life. The frame rate rarely, if ever drops on my 3GS. Character models and beasts/monsters are also very well animated and overall the game feels fairly polished when it comes to the graphics and sound. To be honest, It's not really a surprise as Gameloft usually excels in these departments in their games.
Unfortunately the part they usually don't excel in, the actual gameplay is again a mix of good and bad. While the gameplay feels pretty lively, the game’s camera is not up to par. In fact the camera is truly horrible. There are times when you feel like you have no idea where to go and there is no way to direct the camera backwards. Unfortunately all camera movements are performed automatically by the game. Sometimes you will be attacked off screen by a beast and you won't even see them because they aren’t in your field of vision.
The game's difficulties don't end there. This game is a plat former in the mold of Tomb Raider. Like Tomb Raider there are jumping and climbing puzzles galore. Also like early Tomb Raider games, the controls are very difficult to use when jumping. Since the camera doesn’t follow directly behind your character all of the time, judging the distance you need to jump or the direction in which you should jump is made much more difficult than it needs to be. One saving grace is that the game does create quite a few checkpoint saves along the way. However it can be pretty annoying to do the same jumping puzzle for 15 minutes.
The controls are a mix of virtual d-pad and on screen action buttons that offer several different functionalities. All in all, it's a good system for movement. This game also offers quite a bit of content. It took me about 6 or 7 hours to beat it in full and you end up going through about 15 levels. Though there are quite a few levels, many of them are similar and again, there are far too many jumping puzzles. One nice thing I can say is that even if I wasn't playing this game for a review site, I would have tried to finish it. The gameplay of Avatar is usually satisfying enough throughout that I can partially overlook some of the camera issues.
With its lengthy campaign, pleasant graphics and sound I am going to suggest this game is worth it if you can get it for $5 or so. Unfortunately it is priced a bit higher at this point but when it comes down during a sale you might want to take a chance with it. The value of this game is that it gives you a ton of content and the action within it is a lot of fun. If your OK with looking past some of its issues, then you will probably have a pretty good time playing it. To me, it is obvious that with this game, Gameloft made a better effort than in past games (NOVA for example). Next time out I hope they can do even better.
Overall Value for it's $6.99 price point
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
miércoles, 30 de diciembre de 2009
The Simpsons Arcade Review
Price: $4.99
Publisher EA Mobile
Buy now on
The Simpsons Arcade is a 2d platformer. It looks a lot like Double Dragon or Contra on the NES with updated Super Nintendo graphics. Neither is necessarily a bad thing. All of the usual cast members are here and despite a few nagging issues the game can be a fun time waster, albeit a bit short. You play as Homer. The storyline is so dumb that the developers themselves mention that you have probably already skipped reading it. This game really isn't about the story; instead it's about playing an old fashioned 2D fighting game as modern America's favorite cartoon character.
The controls of The Simpsons Arcade are like you would expect on any old NES game. You have the virtual joy pad on the left and two virtual buttons on the right. I never really had any problem with them at all. The graphics are also what you would expect to see from a game of this type. I remember a Simpsons NES game that came out in the early 1990's that looks surprisingly similar. There are six different levels in the game, each with its own feel, bosses and henchman. Each level has 2 or 3 different bosses even a modest Simpsons fan will easily recognize from The Simpsons television show. Overall the graphics do their job but they aren't anything special.
The sound of the game is pretty decent. Since you play with Homer, you'll get to hear some familiar "mmm" sounds throughout. However, none of the bosses that you fight actually say anything vocally. Instead they ‘speak’ through captions and only the Simpson family members ever utter a word. It certainly would have been nice to hear what they said instead of reading it. After all, few things are more recognizable than the voices of our favorite Simpson’s characters. The music is pretty decent throughout the game and avoids the pitfall of being unbearably overused. Also, EA Mobile again gives you the possibility of using your own music catalog as well during the game. As with NFS Shift, this was a nice addition.
I did have several problems arise during my play through. One persistent issue was that even though the levels last 15 minutes or so, there are no save points. So if you are hoping to stop the game to make a call or get an email, you'll be starting the level over after you load the game back up. Another issue I had come up once during my play through is that 10 minutes into a level, one of the henchman became invincible. The game would not allow me to move on until he was dead but since he was impossible to kill, a restart of the level was the only answer. After playing a 10 minute level or so it was disappointing to have to restart the level from the beginning. I do want to mention that I never had that issue come up again in my play through.
The basic game play is fairly repetitive. Kill a bunch of henchman and move along. There are some weapons to use including a boomerang, baseball bat, etc and Homer can do 4 or 5 different fighting moves but there aren't any big surprises. I played the game without sound for a while and actually became very bored with the game play. I recommend playing with sound on since even though the fighting is simple, the sound adds quite a bit to the environment in the game. One nice thing is that most boss characters have different weaknesses and strengths and figuring them out can take little trial and error. The game's difficulty is pretty well balanced throughout. Expect to die some but not too much.
Other than the single player missions, of which there are six, there is absolutely nothing else to do in the game. There are no achievements, nothing to unlock. You can replay the game and try for more points but overall there is very little replay value. All six levels may take you 90 minutes or so in total. It seems like slim pickings for premium priced game. That being said, if you are a Simpsons enthusiast, you just might feel the $4.99 price tag is warranted. For everyone else out there, you might want to wait until the game goes on sale for 2 to 3 dollars which is a more reasonable price.
Overall Value for it's $4.99 price point
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
Publisher EA Mobile
Buy now on
The Simpsons Arcade is a 2d platformer. It looks a lot like Double Dragon or Contra on the NES with updated Super Nintendo graphics. Neither is necessarily a bad thing. All of the usual cast members are here and despite a few nagging issues the game can be a fun time waster, albeit a bit short. You play as Homer. The storyline is so dumb that the developers themselves mention that you have probably already skipped reading it. This game really isn't about the story; instead it's about playing an old fashioned 2D fighting game as modern America's favorite cartoon character.
The controls of The Simpsons Arcade are like you would expect on any old NES game. You have the virtual joy pad on the left and two virtual buttons on the right. I never really had any problem with them at all. The graphics are also what you would expect to see from a game of this type. I remember a Simpsons NES game that came out in the early 1990's that looks surprisingly similar. There are six different levels in the game, each with its own feel, bosses and henchman. Each level has 2 or 3 different bosses even a modest Simpsons fan will easily recognize from The Simpsons television show. Overall the graphics do their job but they aren't anything special.
The sound of the game is pretty decent. Since you play with Homer, you'll get to hear some familiar "mmm" sounds throughout. However, none of the bosses that you fight actually say anything vocally. Instead they ‘speak’ through captions and only the Simpson family members ever utter a word. It certainly would have been nice to hear what they said instead of reading it. After all, few things are more recognizable than the voices of our favorite Simpson’s characters. The music is pretty decent throughout the game and avoids the pitfall of being unbearably overused. Also, EA Mobile again gives you the possibility of using your own music catalog as well during the game. As with NFS Shift, this was a nice addition.
I did have several problems arise during my play through. One persistent issue was that even though the levels last 15 minutes or so, there are no save points. So if you are hoping to stop the game to make a call or get an email, you'll be starting the level over after you load the game back up. Another issue I had come up once during my play through is that 10 minutes into a level, one of the henchman became invincible. The game would not allow me to move on until he was dead but since he was impossible to kill, a restart of the level was the only answer. After playing a 10 minute level or so it was disappointing to have to restart the level from the beginning. I do want to mention that I never had that issue come up again in my play through.
The basic game play is fairly repetitive. Kill a bunch of henchman and move along. There are some weapons to use including a boomerang, baseball bat, etc and Homer can do 4 or 5 different fighting moves but there aren't any big surprises. I played the game without sound for a while and actually became very bored with the game play. I recommend playing with sound on since even though the fighting is simple, the sound adds quite a bit to the environment in the game. One nice thing is that most boss characters have different weaknesses and strengths and figuring them out can take little trial and error. The game's difficulty is pretty well balanced throughout. Expect to die some but not too much.
Other than the single player missions, of which there are six, there is absolutely nothing else to do in the game. There are no achievements, nothing to unlock. You can replay the game and try for more points but overall there is very little replay value. All six levels may take you 90 minutes or so in total. It seems like slim pickings for premium priced game. That being said, if you are a Simpsons enthusiast, you just might feel the $4.99 price tag is warranted. For everyone else out there, you might want to wait until the game goes on sale for 2 to 3 dollars which is a more reasonable price.
Overall Value for it's $4.99 price point
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domingo, 20 de diciembre de 2009
N.O.V.A Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance Review
Cost: $6.99
Publisher: Gameloft
Buy now on
I guess I should start this review with a disclaimer. I don't like HALO. I think it's bad. I think the single player mode has an embarrassingly poor story line (in all of the HALO games) and the multiplayer mode isn't much better than some of the first multiplayer games ever developed for PC gamers. I know people like it. I am not one of those people.
The reason I mention all of this before reviewing N.O.V.A is that for all intents and purposes, N.O.V.A is another 4 letter name for HALO (complete with a stupid acronym). That doesn't mean it's all bad. In fact, parts of the game are surprisingly fun.
N.O.V.A starts off its single player mode with some decent looking cut scenes and with some half thought out story about aliens in the future. I have no problem with this. Just a typical sci-fi plot. The first thing you'll notice as you go through the opening tutorial level is that it's pretty. In fact, the graphics are among the best of any game I have seen on the iPhone. The colors are bright and clean. In fact, the levels you play through in the game (12 or so) all look good on the iPhone's screen. Each is distinctive as you go from a jungle map to a space ship to an alien planet.
The sound is standard fare for a science fiction FPS. The background music is nice but some of the alien noises are a little over the top. My wife overheard me playing and thoughts I was killing dinosaurs. Unfortunately there are very few different alien types in the game. So even though you travel all over the galaxy, you’re likely to see the same foes again and again.
The controls are ok. However, in some places it is almost impossible to turn quickly enough to not be killed or grabbed (some of the aliens can pick you up). That brings me to one of my most hated parts of this game. The ubiquitous enemy pop-ins. Like an old Nintendo game, if I walk 1 more foot I know another enemy will fall through the ceiling or magically teleport behind me in a room and begin shooting. The publisher, Gameloft, has trouble with this in quite a few of their games (another example is Modern Combat). Being shot suddenly from behind occurs throughout the entire game and can become quite frustrating.
Along with the enemy pop-in, there are other annoyances that keep the game from being as fun as it could be. For example, as I run through a level, I may miss killing one or two baddies. The game will allow me to go up the elevator, into the next room but not allow me to progress. What’s wrong? Oh, I get it. I forgot to kill an alien and he is down the elevator waiting for me to kill him (literally). Wow, how fun.
Once you leave the single player campaign, things do get a bit better. The game offers the standard Bluetooth multiplayer and local Wi Fi options but it also offers online Wi Fi mode that allows you to play 3 other people around the world in 1 on 1 (on 1 on 1) death match. For this mode, it uses Gameloft's excellent online server service. The game connects you quickly to an online lobby and I was able to connect immediately each time I tried a new game. Multiplayer offers several maps that allow you to see everyone at the same time. Death comes quickly to those regardless of their skill. You have the ability to use 6 weapons to maim and kill your opponents in any way you can. This part of the game can be fun for a few minutes.
Unfortunately the only multiplayer option available is deathmatch. It would have been nice to offer co-op mode (at least someone else could share the experience of that awful story) or team deathmatch. perhaps these will be future additions but for now, you should get a good 30 minutes of enjoyment out of deathmatch. Probably a lot more if you really like HALO.
All in all, NOVA isn't necessarily a bad game. I think it's a bit disappointing that it wasn’t better. When are we going to see story telling on the iPhone like we do in games like Half Life or Deus Ex on a PC or console? If you play through the whole single player game and give multiplayer a shot, the game should give you a good 2 or 3 hours. It also offers some achievements and other rewards for playing the game that will give some people enough reason to replay it. Overall, N.O.V.A is decent in a pinch but I doubt I'll run back to it anytime soon.
Overall Value for it's $6.99 price point
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
Publisher: Gameloft
Buy now on
I guess I should start this review with a disclaimer. I don't like HALO. I think it's bad. I think the single player mode has an embarrassingly poor story line (in all of the HALO games) and the multiplayer mode isn't much better than some of the first multiplayer games ever developed for PC gamers. I know people like it. I am not one of those people.
The reason I mention all of this before reviewing N.O.V.A is that for all intents and purposes, N.O.V.A is another 4 letter name for HALO (complete with a stupid acronym). That doesn't mean it's all bad. In fact, parts of the game are surprisingly fun.
N.O.V.A starts off its single player mode with some decent looking cut scenes and with some half thought out story about aliens in the future. I have no problem with this. Just a typical sci-fi plot. The first thing you'll notice as you go through the opening tutorial level is that it's pretty. In fact, the graphics are among the best of any game I have seen on the iPhone. The colors are bright and clean. In fact, the levels you play through in the game (12 or so) all look good on the iPhone's screen. Each is distinctive as you go from a jungle map to a space ship to an alien planet.
The sound is standard fare for a science fiction FPS. The background music is nice but some of the alien noises are a little over the top. My wife overheard me playing and thoughts I was killing dinosaurs. Unfortunately there are very few different alien types in the game. So even though you travel all over the galaxy, you’re likely to see the same foes again and again.
The controls are ok. However, in some places it is almost impossible to turn quickly enough to not be killed or grabbed (some of the aliens can pick you up). That brings me to one of my most hated parts of this game. The ubiquitous enemy pop-ins. Like an old Nintendo game, if I walk 1 more foot I know another enemy will fall through the ceiling or magically teleport behind me in a room and begin shooting. The publisher, Gameloft, has trouble with this in quite a few of their games (another example is Modern Combat). Being shot suddenly from behind occurs throughout the entire game and can become quite frustrating.
Along with the enemy pop-in, there are other annoyances that keep the game from being as fun as it could be. For example, as I run through a level, I may miss killing one or two baddies. The game will allow me to go up the elevator, into the next room but not allow me to progress. What’s wrong? Oh, I get it. I forgot to kill an alien and he is down the elevator waiting for me to kill him (literally). Wow, how fun.
Once you leave the single player campaign, things do get a bit better. The game offers the standard Bluetooth multiplayer and local Wi Fi options but it also offers online Wi Fi mode that allows you to play 3 other people around the world in 1 on 1 (on 1 on 1) death match. For this mode, it uses Gameloft's excellent online server service. The game connects you quickly to an online lobby and I was able to connect immediately each time I tried a new game. Multiplayer offers several maps that allow you to see everyone at the same time. Death comes quickly to those regardless of their skill. You have the ability to use 6 weapons to maim and kill your opponents in any way you can. This part of the game can be fun for a few minutes.
Unfortunately the only multiplayer option available is deathmatch. It would have been nice to offer co-op mode (at least someone else could share the experience of that awful story) or team deathmatch. perhaps these will be future additions but for now, you should get a good 30 minutes of enjoyment out of deathmatch. Probably a lot more if you really like HALO.
All in all, NOVA isn't necessarily a bad game. I think it's a bit disappointing that it wasn’t better. When are we going to see story telling on the iPhone like we do in games like Half Life or Deus Ex on a PC or console? If you play through the whole single player game and give multiplayer a shot, the game should give you a good 2 or 3 hours. It also offers some achievements and other rewards for playing the game that will give some people enough reason to replay it. Overall, N.O.V.A is decent in a pinch but I doubt I'll run back to it anytime soon.
Overall Value for it's $6.99 price point
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sábado, 19 de diciembre de 2009
Doom: Resurrection Review
Cost:$6.99
Publisher: ID Software
Buy now on
Doom: Resurrection is a tough game to judge. It has quite a few good qualities but one major downside, especially when comparing it to other first person shooters on the iPhone. That downside, depending on who you are and how you enjoy playing games, could be considered a big one.
The specific downfall is one that plagued early iPhone games. You control the crosshair and the aiming of your gun but you have no control over your movement. If you have ever played House of the Dead or any other "rail shooter" you know what I mean. Your character moves around a lot but you are not the one doing the moving. If you can get past that hurdle, Doom can be a pretty good experience.
First off, the graphics are great. Pretty clean cut and if you ever played any of the original Doom's, you will ap0preciate that all of the textures and graphics have been vastly improved. The sounds are creepy and can give you a decent idea of what type of monster you’re facing before they even show up on the screen.
The monsters also do vary quite a bit. There are at least 8 or 9 different monsters in the game and if you count some variations, even more. Each of them moves differently, sounds different and takes a different amount of damage. The variation is nice and makes the game more interesting as you move along. The game play is also varied by the boss battles that ensue through several portions of the game. The boss battles really are generally much tougher and a couple of them may take you a few tries. Thankfully the checkpoint system doesn’t make you start too far back.
The controls for the game are very good. The one I ended up using was motion based. Depending on which way you turned the iPhone, the crosshairs move with you. Calibration resets at the beginning of each level and can be reset at anytime through the option menu. It's easily the best control system on a FPS that I have seen but since it’s a rail shooter, it can't be compared apples to apples.
Though the game only has a single player mode, it is quite long. I was able to play it for just about 3 hours so before finishing it. There isn't really much replay value for the actual campaign, especially since this game plays on rails (literally). There are a few things you can do after beating the game. There are several interesting challenges built into the game along with some maps you can play separately from the campaign. The amount of content packed into Doom: Resurrection puts other games like Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies to shame. If you get past the shooter on rails limitation, you will find yourself having a very good time indeed.
Overall Value for it's $6.99 price point
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
Publisher: ID Software
Buy now on
Doom: Resurrection is a tough game to judge. It has quite a few good qualities but one major downside, especially when comparing it to other first person shooters on the iPhone. That downside, depending on who you are and how you enjoy playing games, could be considered a big one.
The specific downfall is one that plagued early iPhone games. You control the crosshair and the aiming of your gun but you have no control over your movement. If you have ever played House of the Dead or any other "rail shooter" you know what I mean. Your character moves around a lot but you are not the one doing the moving. If you can get past that hurdle, Doom can be a pretty good experience.
First off, the graphics are great. Pretty clean cut and if you ever played any of the original Doom's, you will ap0preciate that all of the textures and graphics have been vastly improved. The sounds are creepy and can give you a decent idea of what type of monster you’re facing before they even show up on the screen.
The monsters also do vary quite a bit. There are at least 8 or 9 different monsters in the game and if you count some variations, even more. Each of them moves differently, sounds different and takes a different amount of damage. The variation is nice and makes the game more interesting as you move along. The game play is also varied by the boss battles that ensue through several portions of the game. The boss battles really are generally much tougher and a couple of them may take you a few tries. Thankfully the checkpoint system doesn’t make you start too far back.
The controls for the game are very good. The one I ended up using was motion based. Depending on which way you turned the iPhone, the crosshairs move with you. Calibration resets at the beginning of each level and can be reset at anytime through the option menu. It's easily the best control system on a FPS that I have seen but since it’s a rail shooter, it can't be compared apples to apples.
Though the game only has a single player mode, it is quite long. I was able to play it for just about 3 hours so before finishing it. There isn't really much replay value for the actual campaign, especially since this game plays on rails (literally). There are a few things you can do after beating the game. There are several interesting challenges built into the game along with some maps you can play separately from the campaign. The amount of content packed into Doom: Resurrection puts other games like Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies to shame. If you get past the shooter on rails limitation, you will find yourself having a very good time indeed.
Overall Value for it's $6.99 price point
Overall Value:
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Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies Review
Cost: $9.99
Publisher: Activision
Buy now on
Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies is a FPS built in the vein of the other Call of Duty games. The script; Nazis have turned into Zombies and apparently want to eat your brains. You need to kill them to survive. First person shooters have been tried on the iPhone with a varying degrees of success. COD: Zombies has its ups and downs. The ups would easily outweigh the downs if it only the game included more value for the money.
The game includes both single player and multiplayer components. The single player mode is built on the idea of killing zombies, lots of them. In fact, the mode revolves around the idea of continuous swarms of zombies trying to break down barricades and killing as many zombies that make it through. You run around the house, spending the points you earn for killing zombies on new guns and to open up new portions of the house. If you think it sounds really basic, you would be right but it is also a great deal of fun. The problems lie in the fact that there is simply one level in the game and just the one single player mode (survival mode). Inevitably you will die; it’s just a matter of trying to make it as long as you can before a zombie kills you in cliché zombie fashion (again with the brain eating).
Activision promises new maps and levels but unfortunately they will charge for the additional maps they release. In other words, you are spending 10 bucks for 1 mode and one map. A steep price to play in my option. That being said, the controls are great and offer 3 different control schemes for killing zombies. In an iPhone FPS, nothing is more important than fluid controls and one of the three control options is likely to be a good fit for you.
Multiplayer is hit and miss. The online component usually has games available where you and 3 additional players try to fight off the advancing zombie horde but unfortunately disconnects are common. The game also offers Bluetooth and local Wi-Fi options. The only multiplayer mode offered is co-op which is fun and welcome in most FPS, but no deathmatch mode means replay value is less than it could be.
If my reviews only dealt with the graphics, controls and the sound of an iPhone game, Call of Duty: World at War Zombies would be rated much higher. As it is, the value just isn't there and the money you spend on this game could be better spent on several other, lower cost games. That all being said, if you have the money and are looking for an hour or two diversion (and not much more), Zombies is a top notch fit.
Ratings for this game at $9.99
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
Publisher: Activision
Buy now on
Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies is a FPS built in the vein of the other Call of Duty games. The script; Nazis have turned into Zombies and apparently want to eat your brains. You need to kill them to survive. First person shooters have been tried on the iPhone with a varying degrees of success. COD: Zombies has its ups and downs. The ups would easily outweigh the downs if it only the game included more value for the money.
The game includes both single player and multiplayer components. The single player mode is built on the idea of killing zombies, lots of them. In fact, the mode revolves around the idea of continuous swarms of zombies trying to break down barricades and killing as many zombies that make it through. You run around the house, spending the points you earn for killing zombies on new guns and to open up new portions of the house. If you think it sounds really basic, you would be right but it is also a great deal of fun. The problems lie in the fact that there is simply one level in the game and just the one single player mode (survival mode). Inevitably you will die; it’s just a matter of trying to make it as long as you can before a zombie kills you in cliché zombie fashion (again with the brain eating).
Activision promises new maps and levels but unfortunately they will charge for the additional maps they release. In other words, you are spending 10 bucks for 1 mode and one map. A steep price to play in my option. That being said, the controls are great and offer 3 different control schemes for killing zombies. In an iPhone FPS, nothing is more important than fluid controls and one of the three control options is likely to be a good fit for you.
Multiplayer is hit and miss. The online component usually has games available where you and 3 additional players try to fight off the advancing zombie horde but unfortunately disconnects are common. The game also offers Bluetooth and local Wi-Fi options. The only multiplayer mode offered is co-op which is fun and welcome in most FPS, but no deathmatch mode means replay value is less than it could be.
If my reviews only dealt with the graphics, controls and the sound of an iPhone game, Call of Duty: World at War Zombies would be rated much higher. As it is, the value just isn't there and the money you spend on this game could be better spent on several other, lower cost games. That all being said, if you have the money and are looking for an hour or two diversion (and not much more), Zombies is a top notch fit.
Ratings for this game at $9.99
Overall Value:
Graphics:
Sound:
Controls:
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