With the recent announcement that Diablo would be making its way to consoles, gamers have been looking for something to satisfy their hack-and-slash needs on their iOS device. Gameloft recently released the fourth installment of their dungeon crawler, Dungeon Hunter 4, and less than two weeks after, Gamevil has come out with their first foray into dungeon crawlers with Dark Avenger [Free]
Dark Avenger is all action with little in the way of overall substance. As of this review, there is only one playable class, the Templar, with a second class “coming soon”, the Ranger. Despite having only one type of character at the moment, the game gives you three save game slots. You're tasked with killing bad things from bad places because... well, it's a game without a story. Perhaps because some evil convenience store clerk looked at your grandma the wrong way and now you're exacting sweet revenge.
Delving into the game proper is as easy as choosing your character and selecting your mode. Single player consists of progressing through multiple levels, all within the same basic environment. The virtual joystick is dead simple to use; one joystick on your left controls movement and direction, while the icon on your right controls attacks. Tap it once for a basic attack, tap it up to three times for a combo attack.
Horn [$6.99] creator Phosphor Games is working on a World War Z movie tie-in game, IGN reports on its mobile blog. It's scheduled to hit mobile devices this May 30. Details on this one are few and far between, but the teaser trailer IGN secured does shed some light on what this thing will be packing. Notably, it'll have zombies. Also, helicopters. And human arms. And crowbars. Here's the trailer:
Bad movie tie-in games (and even worse zombie games for that matter) are incredibly common on the App Store, so it's probably very wise to keep your expectations in check on this one. Don't get us wrong, it'd be neat to if Phosphor can pull this off, but it seems like time and money are always short on these sorts of projects especially given the typical scope of mobile games and the relatively low development budgets that App Store price points even allow.
Eli and I opened up a lot about the movies that made us cry while we gave Trigger City [$0.99] a spin the other afternoon. If you don't know about it, it's a retro-inspired brawler that plays pretty much just like... a retro brawler. In the game, you're tasked with punching and kicking a bunch of bad dudes while eternally moving to the right. Sadly, there's not much more to see here outside of a currency system. Basically, you get cash for beating up folks and then you can use that to buy permanent boosts and new combos.
I'm not a big fan of this. It's pretty clear that a lot of love went into the look and sound and feel, but it fails in delivering a reason for me to feel like I need to keep fighting and moving to the right. It's kinda hollow, in a way.
You can see for yourself in our look, which includes a lot of real talk.
Blitz Brigade [Free] is a class-based, competitive shooter that takes a lot of cues from other class-based, competitive shooters like, say, Team Fortress 2 and Battlefield 1943. It's a Gameloft joint, so it's more copycat than original and it's loaded with a ton of free-to-play features, including the ability to buy gems to respawn instantly in battle. I'm guessing the free-to-play part specifically is going to turn folks off. I get that. But, I've gotta say, this isn't a terrible shooter as far as touch device shooters go. Also, the matchmaking and network functionality actually works consistently, which is pretty rare for these types of games.
Eli and I gave it a spin the other afternoon. We killed a bunch of dudes and we also got to drive around in a tank for a few seconds. More importantly, we met a man named Bobby. He was a good man (or a spy), that Bobby:
Blitz is free, so the barrier to entry is pretty low. Give this a shot if you're in the mood for a shooter and can stomach virtual controls and the design wizardry that comes with it. Oh, and if you see Bobby, tell him we said "Hi!"
Foursaken Media's castle defense third-person hack 'n slash mashup Heroes and Castles [$1.99 / Free] has just received another massive update adding all sorts of new goodies to the game. You might remember that we thoroughly enjoyedHeroes and Castles when it came out in January, and the very next month a huge version 2.0 update hit which sweetened the deal even further by adding a competitive multiplayer mode, a single-player Siege mode, and a trio of brand new character classes to play as.
Today's update, which is significant enough to be called version 3.0, again adds a trio of new characters. First off is a female Assassin which gives you a sneakier way to dispatch your enemies. Next up is a Barbarian who has a unique "risk vs reward" attribute that seems him getting stronger as his health gets lower, which should make for some interesting tactics. Finally there is a Druid who uses nature and various kinds of spells to augment the units under his control. The Assassin comes free for everybody, while the Barbarian and Druid are unlocked using gems like the rest of the characters in the game.
In addition to the new characters, a new 20 mission campaign has been added which continues on from the end of the first campaign, and is balanced for players who have beaten the first. It features a new beach environment and new enemy types. There are also several new ally units that you can utilize, like a long-ranged Hunter, heavily armored Dwarves called the Iron Helms to beef up your front lines, two new types of Wizards, and a very powerful (but very expensive) Dwarven Tank which sounds pretty bad ass. Speaking of ally units, you'll be able to level up your buildings and units by 3 additional levels thanks to the new update.
All of this new Heroes and Castles version 3.0 content will be available in versus and co-op, and there's a new multiplayer map to battle it out on as well. If you have a higher-end iOS device you'll also be treated to real-time shadows, and Foursaken has lowered the RAM usage on lower-end devices which should help with of the crashing issues some people had been experiencing. Of course, there's many other tweaks and fixes under the hood in this update too.
Heroes and Castles just keeps getting better as time goes by. There is a full-featured free version which will let you give it a spin risk-free, though the version 3.0 content in that version had a slight hitch and is still waiting for approval from Apple. Seriously, Heroes and Castles is truly awesome and players in our forums have been loving it since day one, check it out if you haven't done so already.
Cavern [$2.99] is a pretty traditional, top-down rogue-like. You might recall the name. It made an impression on folks back when it was released in 2011. Frustrating, game-ending bugs ultimately held it back, though, despite its neat ideas, great touch interface, and hip combat. Most of those issues have now been fixed. A flurry of recent updates, including a big 2.0 update, have made it pretty playable. We've been enjoying it so much, in fact, that we thought we'd share a run in the game with you.
Earlier this afternoon, I decided to school Jared in the art of perma-death in Cavern, which, in hindsight, was a pretty easy thing to do because all I had to do was die. But it sure was nice to walk around in the randomized dungeons of this game again and grab all sorts of loot. Poison, on the other hand, not so much fun.
If you're in the market for an iOS rogue-like game, you need to grab this. Just check out that video and see if it clicks with you.
Heads up: SEGA is doing a sale on three of its more notable recent releases on the App Store. From now until later this weekend, you can grab After Burner Climax [$2.99], Crazy Taxi [$4.99], and House of the Dead: Overkill [$4.99] for a couple bucks off their usual listing price. So, if you want to do something with either zombies, taxis, or jets feel free to go nuts.
Here's one of those handy before and now lists:
After Burner Climax - $2.99 -> $.99
Crazy Taxi -$4.99 -> $.99
House of the Dead: Overkill - The Lost Reels - $4.99 -> $2.99
Each of these games suffer from some of the usual issues that come from ports of games that were originally on machines with buttons (or steering wheels ... or joysticks), but generally speaking, they've been received well by folks.
The folks over at Butterscotch Shenanigans may be relatively new to the iOS scene, but they've already made some waves with their offerings. Known for quirky humor and bright, silly visuals, I was introduced to their crazy world with Towelfight 2, a game that we enjoyed. Recently, I had the opportunity to check out a build of their upcoming game, Quadropus Rampage which looks to continue the developer's amusing style in a different setting.
Where Towelfight 2 was a set adventure in similar vein to classic top-down Zelda titles, Quadropus takes the same action-oriented gameplay but puts it in a different setting entirely. Dubbed a 'Rogue-like platforming action RPG' by the devs, there's a lot of different elements at play in Quadropus that come together for a pretty fusion of genres.
Players start every run with a level 1 Quadropus at the entrance of a dungeon in search of baddies to kill. Dungeons are comprised of randomized rooms filled with enemies, pitfalls and an exit to the next depth (i.e. room/level). Thus, the goal becomes to kill all the enemies while avoiding the chasms, and move towards the exit to the next level. Killing enemies reward orbs (which act as currency), experience, which levels up your Quadropus, and new weapons and power-ups. Interestingly, falling off the ledges instantly take you to the next depth, but at a significant health penalty.
While it's theoretically possibly to avoid killing enemies and simply look for the exits, it doesn't seem recommended as you miss out on essential experience and possible power-up and weapon drops. This is especially important as deeper levels contain stronger enemies which will easily mow you down if you're weak. In true rogue-like fashion, players move from depth to depth until they eventually succumb, with the next run starting at the top with a beginning level character. However, Quadropus Rampage features two different systems for improving your Quadropus between runs.
The first, simply called Upgrade, uses the orb currency to upgrade a variety of attributes that persist between runs. Examples include attack, critical damage, and special move improvements. It's a relatively standard system and, when combined with the leveling system, doesn't seem to offer many surprises.
The second system, known as Masteries, are a collection of achievements that award special skills upon completing them. Skill examples include earning more orbs when defeating bosses, unleashing a damage-causing explosion when leveling up, or gaining health whenever moving down a depth. If achievement hunting for skill-ups doesn't suit your fancy, Rampage also has a premium currency known as doubloons which can be bought and used to bypass the achievement portion of Masteries (they can also be used to revive your Quadropus and continue a run).
While the game is still in flux (for example, the tutorial mode hasn't wasn't in), I'm really liking what I see with Quadropus Rampage. The game's rogue-like nature, which includes randomized weapons and an amusing naming system, adds to a game that seems to have a lot more depth than one might originally see. In addition, the IAP system, at least as currently implemented, doesn't feel onerous. Finally, as was the case with Towelfight 2, Quadropus is simply funny and share the unique humor of other B-Scotch games.
Quadropus Rampage is slated to come out in the next month and we'll certainly keep an eye out for it upon release.
Because we're always scanning the scene for games with sickest of sick tricks, Eli and I decided to give Djinn Works's Stick Stunt Biker 2 [$0.99] a shot. By titling alone, you probably already know what to expect. Yes, it's a stick figure game. Yes, it's physics-based. And yes, it has sick tricks. But here's something you might not know: it also doesn't have a rigid progression structure. Once you get access to a world, you can play every level in it, regardless if you manage to get one or even zero stars in a given level. Each win or loss is met by a loading screen that instantly sucks you into the next level, which is a nice pacing touch. A lot of these games make you retry and retry the same stuff over and over again, which for us tends to cause a lot of fatigue.
In this look, you'll notice that we can't quite pull of a sick trick. I swear, I could almost write a guide about how NOT to play this game. I'm pretty bad at it. Oh god, is this becoming a theme in TA Plays? It is, isn't it.
Anyway, you can grab Stick Stunt Biker 2 right now if you'd like. And if you still dig these kinds of physics games, you should consider doing so. The rapid-fire progression is a nice touch, plus the physics keep your bike really rounded to the ground. It just doesn't feel as loose and insane as its brethren, which is cool.
With the recent release of the excellent Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes [$4.99] on the iOS App Store, my heart fluttered quite a bit when I saw a game called Lego Star Wars The Yoda Chronicles [Free] pop up in the list of new releases. Was this a similar mobile version of the console Lego Star Wars games that I loved so much all those years ago?
No. It's not that, sadly. Instead, The Yoda Chronicles is more of a free-to-play, social, extremely light real-time strategy/action game that takes place in the Lego Star Wars universe. It seems a bit flimsy so far, but it's also not completely terrible, to my surprise.
You'll start by picking a side, either as a Jedi fighting for Yoda or a Sith fighting for Dooku, and then embark on a series of missions based on your choice. Missions take place in tiny environments from a sort of top-down view using a simple one-tap system to move your characters and vehicles around and interact with the environment.
The missions seem pretty straightforward, and involve things like killing certain enemies, collecting a specific item, and making it to an endpoint in the level. There's a 3-star grading system based on the missions you're able to complete and how quickly you're able to complete them. You can also collect studs by destroying enemies or items and then use them to build different kinds of vehicles at certain points in the level.
The missions may be standard fare type stuff, but they're bolstered by excellent CGI cutscenes in-between that tell the story of the struggles between the Jedi and the Sith. The Yoda Chronicles also has lovely 3D visuals and stellar music and sound effect, all straight from the Star Wars films and shows, naturally.
I was initially disappointed that we weren't getting the full-blown Lego Star Wars games from consoles, and I still am actually, but Lego Star Wars The Yoda Chronicles seems neat for what it is. I mean, it's free to download and there isn't a single in-app purchase in sight, so you've really got nothing to lose if you're a Star Wars fan looking for something new on your iOS device to occupy your time.
You can also play The Yoda Chronicles on the official Lego Star Wars website after May 4th ("May the 4th Be With You," get it?) and if you log in with your Lego ID you can even keep your progress up-to-date between the iOS and web versions as well as unlock special bonuses for doing so. Finally, later this summer when the game hits Android a new batch of levels will be released doubling the current amount of levels.
Rockstar Games brought a surprisingly playable touchscreen port of their classic Grand Theft Auto: Vice City [$4.99] to the App Store back in December, and for the first time since release they've dropped the price of the game from $4.99 down to just $1.99.
Vice City is the second iteration of the fully 3D, open-world sandbox GTA games and was released way back in 2002. It goes hard with its 1980s, neon, Scarface-meets-Miami Vice theme and follows your protagonist as he starts out as a low-level thug and works his way into the crime boss of Vice City.
For its 10th anniversary Vice City was released on iOS with some cleaned up visuals and some subtle tweaks to certain missions and difficulty levels. While the original Vice City is designed for the many buttons of modern gaming controllers, the virtual buttons actually work surprisingly well on iOS and we really enjoyed the touchscreen conversion in our review.
If you're a GTA fan that for whatever reason hasn't picked up Vice City for your iOS device yet, then now is your chance to grab it for more than half-off. It's fun for what it is, and it's kind of a miracle a game like Vice City can be carried around in your pocket nowadays. As always, more information and discussion of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City can be found in our forums.
If you spin the clocks back to GDC (which feels like ages ago even though it totally wasn't), we actually had our pepperoni-greased hands all over Gamevil's Dark Avenger which is due out this evening at 11:00 PM Eastern, or potentially way earlier if you're in Europe or Asia. We took some extensive hands-on video of the game, which still feels representative of the release version of the game:
In a nutshell, Dark Avenger is another crack at a mobile version of Diablo. They were beaten to the App Store by Gameloft's recently released Dungeon Hunter 4 [Free] and I'm super curious to see which will end up being the champion of this proverbial dungeon crawling cage match.
Impressions on our forums generally seem to be positive, although multiple members have mentioned that the game feels a little flat. That echoes my experiences as well, although admittedly I'm very curious to see if/when the game opens up at all to anything more than mindless monster mashing.
It's been almost a year since last we saw an iOS port of the successful LEGO series. While we've yet to see the likes of LEGO Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean grace Apple's platform, the folks at Warner Bros saw fit to show some DC universe love with LEGO Batman: DC Super Heroes [$4.99]. Hampered only by spotty controls, DC Super Heroes is an otherwise great port bringing a fresh coat of paint to the classic LEGO gameplay formula.
Unlike the previous LEGO ports we've seen, DC Super Heroes actually features an original narrative within the DC comic universe. While the game focuses at the onset on the escapes of Batman and Robin (along with the usual villains) other heroes, such as the iconic Superman, get weaved into tale. Of course, being a LEGO game, players eventually have the option of playing as a wide variety of DC icons, with over 80 playable characters (along with create-a-character minifigs) available for the unlocking.
Gameplay, meanwhile, is pretty familiar if you've played any other LEGO games. Like others in the series, DC Super Heroes combines platforming, puzzles, and decent amount of brawling. In addition, there's also ample opportunity to collect studs, which are used to unlock the myriad of characters and extras available. While DC Super Heroes does offer a few new twists, such as some additional depth with the various Batman and Robin suits that expand powers, gameplay largely remains unchanged and fairly linear. That's not to say it's a bad thing, as LEGO games have typically been highly approachable while offering tons to do. DC Super Heroes certainly doesn't disappoint in this regard.
Another new addition to the iOS LEGO ports is the inclusion of Golden Bricks, which can be purchased via IAPs. While the game's additional characters and extras can still be unlocked with enough studs, progression, and collectibles, golden bricks can be used to sidestep a lot of the stud grinding and unlock items a lot faster. In this regard, I didn't really mind the IAP as most LEGO games are a bit too grindy for my tastes and golden bricks could be used to speed up some actions of the game.
Maybe it's due to the freedom of an original story or because the universe history is so deep, but I really enjoyed DC Super Heroes from a thematic standpoint. From the onset, you're treated to the epic tunes of the Danny Elfman Batman theme and the game is full of little nods to various facets of the DC Universe. In addition, the large swatch of playable characters means fans should have plenty of options in playing their favorite characters (assuming said characters have the necessary super powers to pass the level). The fact that the game features full voice acting (a first for iOS) also goes a long way towards making the story more enjoyable.
Spotty controls have been an issue with LEGO iOS ports in the past, and unfortunately they continue with DC Super Heroes. Previous LEGO games offered players either virtual buttons or touch-based movements. While DC Super Heroes is the first port to offer players both options, I still had some problems with both. The touch-based scheme is the more intuitive of the two options, but there's a tendency to tap errantly on enemies/environmental items on the smaller iPhone screen (although it works better on the iPad). Virtual controls, meanwhile, work as mediocre as one would expect. That's not to say the game isn't playable, but it's definitely the weak link for the game.
Control issues aside, DC Super Heroes is a welcome addition to the few LEGO games currently on iOS. In fact, I'd say it's the better LEGO game currently on the App Store considering the wider appeal of the story combined with the decent visuals, awesome music, and familiar LEGO gameplay. Suffice to say, LEGO fans have little reason not to check out DC Super Heroes, while anyone else interested in a light-hearted adventure should take the plunge.
If your haven't seen Crabitron [$2.99 (HD)] in action, you owe it to yourself to check out this TA Plays. Two Lives Left's Crabitron is fast, funny, endless but kept remarkably fresh with boss fights and classic game parodies, and has spot-on controls that make it one of the most iPad-native games I've played.
In hindsight, a game that takes advantage of the multi-touch screen by asking you to use your fingertips like chopsticks makes perfect sense, and the kaiju (giant monster) theme really suits that mechanic. If the original Rampage captured something about the potential (and limitations) of the arcade technology of it's day, Crabitron does the same thing for the iPad, very much including the Mini.
It also, and seemingly unintentionally, sports really good single-device cooperative play.
Most of the games that offer single-device multiplayer on the iPad are turn based. There are a few with simultaneous competitive play, like Shufflepuck Cantina [Free / $0.99] and the HD version of Fruit Ninja [$2.99 (HD)], but only where the controls can be kept to separate parts of the screen, to avoid input confusion.
By default, one of the challenges of playing Crabitron is trying to use both claws effectively at the same time. It's hard to do anything fancier than having one claw mirror the other. But share your tablet with a friend, and the challenges change. Now you can each focus on your own claw, but you have to worry about what that other claw is doing. This can lead to almost Spaceteam [Free] levels of confused shouting. Even the fact that the claws can get tangled due to input confusion if they're pressed together feels more like a feature than a flaw.
Perhaps best of all, players of widely varying skill can play together. This is the only videogame I've found that I can play with my toddler without one of us quickly getting frustrated or bored. It's amazing, really. So far, my high score for the game is from a run I started with him, played a little by myself, continued with my spouse, and then finished alone.
The biggest problem with Crabitron's co-op potential is that it doesn't mesh well with the game's coin-based upgrade system. You can upgrade each arm separately, but upgrades are costly, permanent, and irreversible. Thankfully, there's no IAP grubbing: you can buy a coin doubler or a tripler, that's it.
It feels like he devs were preparing for the possibility of needing to release Crabitron as a freemium game, but took the risk of charging Happy Meal prices instead, something they deserve credit for.
Regardless, it would be a lot more fun (especially in co-op mode) if you could choose different claws or abilities for each game. Fixed-upgrade systems, with their roots in RPG character customization, tend to feel really player-specific.
To be fair, I don't think I'm playing Crabitron "as intended," it just happens to be a heck of a lot of fun this way, a bit like the tricycle that became cooler when you figured out you could ride it backwards downhill. Just don't hold Two Lives Left responsible if you injure yourself. Whether or not you've got a friend (or toddler) to play Crabitron with in this unintentional co-op mode, you really need to check the game out as Crabitron is a perfect example of how to intelligently craft a game for the iPad that really could only exist on the iPad.
If you're a longtime iOS gamer then you probably remember Lego Batman: Gotham City Games, the first Lego Batman game to grace the App Store. You also probably remember that it was an uninspired collection of mini-games that was a far cry in terms of enjoyment from its console counterpart. These are painful memories.
Well, it's been more than four years but perhaps there's finally a chance for redemption with Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes, set to hit the App Store in the US in just a few hours. We'll be looking forward to checking it out then, but even already you can tell that this is a far cry from that other Lego Batman game.
First off, this is a full 3D action title, similar to the console Lego games and even Lego Harry Potter [$4.99] on iOS. You'll run around doing 3D platforming and light puzzle solving, all the while beating up on both bad guys and objects and then collecting the sweet, sweet Lego studs that are left behind, which are then used to buy different characters and other goodies. Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes boasts an 80 character roster, and not surprisingly it looks like you can buy studs as IAP if you desire.
Controls are also always a concern with a game like this, and Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes offers two different options. First is your standard "Classic" virtual stick and buttons setup, and second is a streamlined "Touch Screen" option which simply has you touching where you want the character to go and tapping items to interact with them.
If you liked the iOS versions of Lego Harry Potter then chances are you'll dig this latest Lego Batman incarnation, as it seems to be in the same vein. Or, if you just like Batman and other DC heroes, you'll probably get a kick out of it too. Add it to your TouchArcade [Free] app Watch List to be alerted when it hits the US later tonight, and check out our forums for even more impressions and discussion.
With the recent announcement that Diablo would be making its way to consoles, gamers have been looking for something to satisfy their hack-and-slash needs on their iOS device. Gameloft recently released the fourth installment of their dungeon crawler, Dungeon Hunter 4, and less than two weeks after, Gamevil has come out with their first foray into dungeon crawlers with Dark Avenger [Free]
