I've played and enjoyed a lot of role playing games over the years, but one genre I could never quite get into was the first-person dungeon crawler. Typically very non-linear and lacking the conveniences of modern-day RPGs in terms of tutorials and guidance, new dungeon crawlers always felt like titles that only appealed to gamers that were already fans. However, QuestLord [$1.99] doesn't elicit that feeling of being immediately overwhelmed that I seem to encounter with other dungeon crawlers. In fact, I'd argue that QuestLord's simplicity in both scope and gameplay, while probably a turnoff to genre veterans, makes it a great title for folks looking to get into the mix.
If you've never played a dungeon crawler, QuestLord is a first-person turn-based RPG with an emphasis on exploration. Players initially make a character by choosing from one of three races, each with different stats. In addition, depending on your selection, you're placed in a different location within the world to start. Regardless of where you start, you're immediately given the role of QuestLord and told to travel the world providing assistance to the populace of the Shattered Realm.
As you might imagine, a large portion of QuestLord's content centers around the various quests assigned by the NPCs. From the first task given, the quests do a good job of encouraging exploration and placing players near other quest givers as well as providing ample award for completion. However, the actual objectives definitely lack variety and mainly revolve around killing certain enemies once you reach a location. I also wdould have liked more in terms of story narration and scope as QuestLord's writing is somewhat weak.
Based on the above, you'd think QuestLord wouldn't have much to offer but that's not really the case. The game's emphasis on simplicity goes a long way towards making what it does offer approachable. Stats are divided into three attributes which boil down to attack, defense, and spell points and can be increased with each level-up. Meanwhile, the spell system is based on discovering new spells in the world, a nice incentive to explore every map. In addition, QuestLord also features a robust item system, with plenty of slots and equipment to find. I also appreciated the game's auto-map feature which not only shows the player's location in the world, but also within each individual map (some magical items will even instantly reveal said maps for you if for some reason you don't want to explore).
This all leads to a game that's very manageable in terms of quests, world-size and objectives. Without having to worry about some of the traditionally more complicated pieces of dungeon crawlers, I found it enjoyable to simply explore the world and see what I could discover. It sounds like a small thing, but I think this, combined with the relatively easy difficulty went a long way towards making QuestLord approachable.
While it seems to be a calling card for the genre, one area that I really didn't enjoy was QuestLord's visual style. While I do realize that old-school graphics are part of the charm with most dungeon crawlers, the visuals in QuestLord are a little too classic, with retro graphics that are highly pixelated and a menu/item system and control buttons that just don't look too good. Does it detract much from the experience? Probably not, but it's still something that needs to be mentioned.
Still, I give QuestLord a lot of credit for properly introducing me to a genre that I never really could get into. With a streamlined attribute and quest system, there's not a lot of depth that is traditionally found in other titles. However, it's for this exact reason that I think it succeeds for newbies like me. Assuming you're looking to give dungeon crawlers a try, I'd definitely recommend QuestLord as an introductory taste.
Have a love of adventure games and an hour or so to spare? You absolutely must take a look at Finding Teddy [Free / $1.99]. No, the name may not inspire confidence, but trust me, Look At My Game has published a real gem. It may not quite be the next Sword & Sworcery [$4.99], but that's not for lack of beauty or heart.
It begins with a childhood nightmare, a teddy bear stolen by something monstrous from the closet. The wordless little girl that stars in Finding Teddy is brave and curious, though, and she ventures in after it. From there it's a trip into a world of lovely pixels, terrifying creatures and magical music.
As with the best adventure games, the short time I spent with Finding Teddy was filled with moments of discovery. Some were of the traditional point-and-click variety—finding bits and pieces lying around and figuring out where they're meant to be used. This is the mixed bag it always is. If you buy into the game's logic all the pieces fall into place. If not, there are moments of dragging and dropping and aggravating experimentation.
In early January, Pixelbite Games released Repulze [$2.99], a futuristic style racer that – visually at least – evoked feelings of the classic Wipeout series. However, it played quite differently than Sony's beloved racers and rather than being a full-blown racing title Repulze was more akin to a time-trial arcade game. It was a simplified but very well done experience, one that we enjoyed a lot in our review, but for some racing game fans it didn't quite feel like enough.
That was part of Pixelbite's plan though, as the initial release of Repulze was just "Phase 1" and more content would be rolled out via updates based on player feedback and response to the game. That plan was set in motion today with the release of the Phase 2 update to Repulze. It adds 7 new tracks set in a new industrial wasteland environment, as well as new meta-challenge for each level to complete while you play.
In addition, there are now golden Toolkits spread around each track which can be collected and used to buy upgrades for your hovercraft. The first of these upgrades is called a Power Ripper and, when triggered with a boost, will let you rip through any craft that might be in your way or blast through the new barriers that block certain parts of the track that may lead to shortcuts or hidden items. There's also a new magnetic field track element that can boost you in the air and help you reach new areas of a track if you're rocking the proper polarity when you drive through it.
This update also adds the ability to save and replay ghosts of your lap times, a new bonnet camera view (basically a first-person bumper camera), and a fantastic new slide control option in addition to the normal tap and tilt options that are available. If you were not sure if there was enough to Repulze before to satisfy you, then maybe the new Phase 2 content will push you over the edge. A third Phase called Backlash is being teased as well, and has something to do with rockets, so even more Repulze goodness should be coming our way in the future.
Heroes and Castles [$1.99], Foursaken Media's visceral blend of 3rd-person action and castle defense, is already getting a huge content update, the studio has revealed.
First up is a brand new Siege mode that flips the script on the regular game and has you playing as the Evil forces trying to assault and take down the castle's defenses. This leads right into a new competitive multiplayer mode, where one player is Good and defends the castle and the other is Evil and tries to break through the defense.
This new competitive multiplayer mode will complement the current cooperative game style, and it sounds like a ton of fun. The Evil faction will come with four new classes of hero as well as their own unique economy system.
There are two new heroes coming to Heroes and Castles too. One is the Elven Ranger, which you can see below, and the other will be a Mage character. The current heroes will also be getting alternate skins, one of which you can also see below for the Knight.
On top of all the new content, Heroes and Castles is also getting a ton of all around fixes, but specifically in the area of making the cooperative and endless modes more stable. If you're curious to hear more on Heroes and Castles, then check out our review of the game or our forums for discussion from the community. This latest update has already been submitted so look for it to hit within a week or two.
We've been watchingFoursaken Media'sHeroes and Castles [$1.99] ever since we got wind of its existence shortly after the release of N.Y. Zombies 2[$0.99]. Departing from its comfort zone, Heroes is certainly its most ambitious title by combining both third-person action gameplay with castle defense and resource management. That sort of combo on iOS would be intriguing on its own, but Heroes and Castles also does an excellent job implementing it, making it another winner for the developer.
Simply put, Heroes and Castles is a game of third-person combat and castle/tower defense. Players control one of three heroes (each with their own attacks and moves) against a horde of undead looking to destroy your keep. As you play, you continually earn gold, which can be used to purchase buildings and recruit armies. Units come in various types, such as the archer which stays on your wall shooting from afar, the pikeman which has piercing damage or the peasant which are cheap but plentiful. Meanwhile, buildings range from essentials such as the gold mine (which increases your rate of gold accumulation) to arrow towers and ballistas (which target enemies) to even support structures which improve your units.
Mobile games have left their roots behind, no longer relying on entertaining us with a dozen variations of Snake and Bejeweled. Our habits haven't quite kept up. For every one of us that sits and plays an iOS game for hours straight there are many more who will never load up a game for more than five minutes in a sitting. That's reasonable: these games are a diversion on the go for most people. It's just a shame because there are games that can't be digested in five short minutes. Take Lucky Frame's Wave Trip [$1.99].
I didn't fully grasp Wave Trip until I played with the level editor. The studio's latest comes off like a competent cave flyer that makes pretty music—to Lucky Frame's usual impressive standard of pretty music, of course. The scoring rules seem a bit opaque, and you're never quite sure what's coming next. In fact, what's coming next seems to change each time you start a level over. But open up the level editor for a few moments and the whole game unfolds before you.
We've been waiting for Lucky Frame's follow-up to Bad Hotel [$0.99] since the studio announced its existence back in November, and as of today Wave Trip [$1.99] has finally arrived in the App Store. Like the developer's previous titles, Wave Trip has a clean aesthetic and game mechanics tied closely with music creation.
This is essentially a cave flyer like many you've no doubt played before, but every element in the game has a musical sound attached to it. So as you fly through a level collecting items and avoiding obstacles, a song is slowly and progressively building up until you reach the end of the level. By that time you've got yourself a reasonably complex, funky little tune. It's really beautiful as an audio/visual experience, but it's quite fun and challenging too with its 3-star system for each of the 25 song levels.
What's more is that Wave Trip comes with an extremely easy to use grid-based level creator, so you can make levels and upload them to share with the world or conversely download levels created by others to play yourself. You can even remix any of the included levels using the editor just to put your own spin on the default setups. It's pretty sweet actually.
Right now we are definitely digging Wave Trip in our brief time with it, and we'll continue to dig in to see how well the game parts of it stand up. When it comes to the visuals and sounds though, it's already easy to see Lucky Frame has totally nailed it. You can get more early impressions in our forums and you can snag your own copy of Wave Trip for $1.99 with the link below.
As you can imagine from its title, i-Free's I am Vegend: Zombiegeddon [$1.99 / Free] doesn't take itself seriously. Blatantly spoofing tons of references from popular mobile gaming titles, Vegend also employs this philosophy in its gameplay, combining action with tower defense elements from a multitude of sources. While this leads to a game that should be innately familiar to those that have played iOS tower defense titles, Vegend still manages to leave its own mark as an enjoyable and amusing game worth checking out.
I Am Vegend tells the tale of a zombie apocalypse that threatens to destroy the whole world. It's up to the 'Vegendary Heroes,' a group of vegetable heroes to take on the enemies and save the world. Players control the Vegendary Heroes in a pseudo-tower defense like manner with each mission giving you control of up to three Heroes. Players switch between each hero and simply tap on the screen to aim and fire each of their weapons. Each hero also has to reload between volleys, encouraging folks to utilize each of their three heroes strategically as weapons are reloaded.
The whole roguelike thing can seem kind of intense—the permadeath, particularly. It's all struggle and strife and the near-inevitable fall. It's hard to relax when you know each and every move could be your last, after all. Dungelot [$1.99 / Free] makes the whole formula much simpler.
It's the mythical casual roguelike, in fact. Yes, you will die. You will die often. On the way to those deaths, though, things will be relatively relaxed. Combat is simple. Inventory management is simple. Exploration is a matter of flipping tiles and seeing what's underneath. It's almost perfect for the world of casual mobile games.
"Almost" sounds ominous, but there's only one thing seriously holding Dungelot back right now: there is no save system. Now saving isn't always a roguelike thing, but it's kind of a problem when you switch to another app and your game is gone. Or when there's a crash and your game is gone. Or when… well, you get the picture.
I'm almost embarrassed to admit just how much time I've spent playing True Skate [$1.99] since its release this past October, and it was easily one of my favorite releases of 2012. It really captured the essence of skateboarding and testing the limits of your own skill and imagination, and the satisfaction that comes with some complex and cool tricks. We thought True Skate was great in our review, but definitely craved more.
Developer True Axis is getting ready to just that, and deliver more to True Skate fans by way of a brand new level. It's an indoor skatepark with tons of different transitions, including a full halfpipe, but there are plenty of rails and street-inspired obstacles scattered about as well. You can see the first work in progress screens of the new park below.
True Axis is hoping to have the new skatepark available by late February as an in-app purchase for somewhere in the realm of a dollar or two. Along with the improvements the team has made to the transition physics and lip behaviors in previous True Skate updates, this new ramp-heavy park should be a lot of fun. Late February really can't come soon enough.
When 11 Bit Studios released Anomaly Warzone Earth [$1.99 / $3.99] on iOS in 2011, we were blown away by its unique 'tower offense' take on a genre that had grown stagnant. Fast forward a year and a half later and the first sequel to the acclaimed game has finally arrived. While Anomaly Korea [$3.99] continues to impress with the same great gameplay and concepts as its predecessor, folks looking for more than cursory improvements may be a little disappointed.
If you haven't had the pleasure of playing Anomaly Warzone Earth, I'd suggest checking out the review of our 2011 Game of the Year Runner-up for a succinct description of the general gameplay. I recommend this because Anomaly Korea plays like its predecessor in all respects. Players still lead a convoy of vehicles through enemy territory, destroying towers and clearing a path towards objectives and exits. Meanwhile, the same upgrade and power system provides limited customizability in terms of the vehicles deployed and the abilities used.
Wow, this is awesome news. One Man Left's fantastic arcade title Tilt to Live [$2.99] and its iPad-only counterpart Tilt to Live HD [Free (HD)] are both receiving updates that will take their previously local-only cooperative multiplayer modes online using Game Center. If you're unfamiliar, Tilt to Live is an avoidance game that has you tilting your device to avoid a barrage of nasty red dots. It uses this base mechanic in several different modes, each having their own unique feel and style making for one of the best arcade games available on the App Store. We summarized the whole Tilt to Live experience pretty well when the game went free earlier this month (which it still is by the way).
The Viva La Turret paid expansion that hit Tilt to Live in late 2010 was updated a couple of months later with a really interesting co-op component, called Viva La Co-op. Connecting locally via Bluetooth, two players could work together with one controlling a mega-turret laying waste to all the incoming baddies and the other person nimbly moving around the play field collecting the spoils of the downed enemies. It was an incredibly fun mode, but required having another person physically there with you to play. With this new update, now you can get your co-op on using Game Center to team up with random players or invite friends from your friends list.
We're excited to dive in and try out the new "Viva La Co-op" online multiplayer, but as of this writing the update has yet to hit the US App Store, we've only gotten word of the update via an email from the developers. But, not one to want to waste time, I figured I'd let the cat out of the bag as soon as possible, so if the update isn't showing for you just yet it will soon, for both the iPhone and iPad versions of the game. Oh, and the iPhone version is also receiving widescreen support as part of this update, something that makes me very happy indeed. Get online and partner up for this new and improved Tilt to Live experience.
You've probably already made one big, incorrect assumption about Matchblocks [$0.99 / Free], so let's get this out of the way: it's not a match-3. Yes, it does look a lot like one in its poppy, colorful way, but it's that other kind of matching, the kind where you see a color or pattern and parrot it. You know, the Simon-kind of matching.
There's a little Tetris in this bad boy, too, as you frantically try to clear the screen while more and more blocks fall from some mysterious world above. These are good, strong inspirations. Importantly, they're not Bejeweled. It's pretty great that One Minute Games (Commander Pixman [$1.99]) has made a game that I haven't played before. It's even better that it's fun.
My arm still aches from last night's marathon run. This game is not designed with RSI sufferers in mind, certainly. Sequences of squares fall from the top of the screen, and there is a row of colors at the bottom. To play, you tap the colors on the bottom in order to match the blocks that fall. When you match a full sequence, you clear it.
It's hard to believe that it's been over three years since Mountain Sheep's Minigore [$0.99 / $1.99 (HD)] hit the App Store. While the game started out small, it'd see multitudes of updates, making it one of the first "big" dual-stick arena shooters to hit iOS. Fast-forward to today and Minigore 2: Zombies [$0.99] looks to come out of the gate with tons of content, along with small refinements to the arena shooter formula. Unfortunately, fans looking for significant innovations will probably need to look elsewhere as Minigore 2 is really more of the same.
If you're one of the few that have never heard of Minigore, you've probably at least played its genre: the dual-stick arena shooter. Minigore 2 continues the genre trend, placing players in moderately sized levels with the goal being to survive and destroy every zombie that gets thrown into the mix. Taking out the opposition earns 'souls,' which act as the game's single currency. In addition, weapons, health kits, and four-leaf clovers (which still activates character powers) can also be found, giving players a leg-up on the opposition. Each level culminates with a boss battle that showers the player with rewards if the boss is defeated. At this point, missions can either be restarted with harder foes (a new 'night') or players can move on to a new level.
Today Brad and I sat down and did something that's never ever been done on TouchArcade before: we played a video game with zombies in it. I know! It's crazy. However, I think there might just be something to this whole "zombies in video games" thing, and it might actually catch on someday.
The zombie game in question is Mountain Sheep's Minigore 2: Zombies [$0.99], the long-awaited sequel to one of the App Store's most notorious dual-stick shooters. You see that? It has "zombies" right in the title, so you KNOW that it is in fact a video game with zombies in it. I really appreciate that.
Anyway, Minigore 2 itself is actually an excellent little dual-stick shooter. Its core mechanics feel extremely similar to the original: run around mowing down wave after wave of enemies using various weapons, and try not to get overwhelmed by the horde and meet your demise. It was these finely-honed mechanics that defined the original Minigore, and they're just as solid as ever in this new sequel.
Where Minigore 2 really differentiates itself is with the stupid amount of customization and upgradeable items Mountain Sheep has piled on top. Every game played nets you coins - at a decently fast rate too - that can then be used to purchase a variety of new weapons, consumable power-ups, and tons of different playable characters. These can then be upgraded further using coins, making you stronger and more resilient to the constant onslaught of zombies (among dozens of other types of enemies, I might add).
Everything comes together really well, and Minigore 2 feels like a true sequel that has improved upon the original in every way. Oh, and the visuals are fantastic, too. Not only can there be well over a hundred enemies on screen at once, but the blood effects in this game are bonkers. That is, if gore is your thing. I mean it is directly in the title of the game, and all.
I've played and enjoyed a lot of role playing games over the years, but one genre I could never quite get into was the first-person dungeon crawler. Typically very non-linear and lacking the conveniences of modern-day RPGs in terms of tutorials and guidance, new dungeon crawlers always felt like titles that only appealed to gamers that were already fans. However, QuestLord [$1.99] doesn't elicit that feeling of being immediately overwhelmed that I seem to encounter with other dungeon crawlers. In fact, I'd argue that QuestLord's simplicity in both scope and gameplay, while probably a turnoff to genre veterans, makes it a great title for folks looking to get into the mix.
This all leads to a game that's very manageable in terms of quests, world-size and objectives. Without having to worry about some of the traditionally more complicated pieces of dungeon crawlers, I found it enjoyable to simply explore the world and see what I could discover. It sounds like a small thing, but I think this, combined with the relatively easy difficulty went a long way towards making QuestLord approachable.
