As someone who can get pretty obsessive about both reading and video games, I keep expecting gamebooks to grab me by the throat. It seems as though they should be perfect for that: part game, part book, all gripping entertainment.
Most of the time, however, I find them a bit thin. Not enough game to really sink into mechanically, not enough book to really reel me in. Sorcery! [$4.99] managed to keep me up well past my bedtime, though. Inkle offers the same expertise they displayed in bringing Frankenstein [$4.99] to life to the task of drawing the magic of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! out onto the screen. At least in part: thus far, only the first of the four books of Sorcery!, The Shamutanti Hills, is available.
The journey through those hills is still a gamebook trip, no doubt about it. There are stats, interactive combat scenes and plenty of big decisions to be made. It's just that nothing feels restrained; nothing feels all that formulaic. Sorcery! goes big where needed, and the app shines for it.
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.
The setting and characters in Murder Files (formerly Blue Toad Murder Files) [$2.99] are bursting at the seams with English flavour, so when I first heard about the game, I wondered if it would have a similar feel to the Sherlock Holmes stories I've loved since I was a kid. Nope; not at all. Once I started playing, however, I found it to be very reminiscent of another, completely different style of detective story I also enjoyed in my earlier years. I remember devouring the type of books where a couple neighborhood whiz-kids on summer vacation would decide to start an amateur detective agency. During their search for, say, old Mrs. Johnson's missing cat, they'd uncover million dollar jewel heist or some such, foil the culprit, and maybe even make the front page of the school newspaper.
The recent iOS port of Murder Files--originally released for the Playstation 3 in 2009--features that same sort of fanciful storytelling and over-the-top mysteries. Despite the alarming body count that accumulates as the story progresses, the game maintains a lighthearted and cartoonish feel. You play as one of four detectives (including, appropriately, two whiz-kids on summer vacation) from the Blue Toad Detective Agency, sent to the small town of Little Riddle for some R&R between cases. But before you can even unpack your bags, you witness the cold blooded murder of one of the town's prominent citizens. A conspiracy unfolds, and you must put your sleuthing skills to work to unravel the mystery.
After a soft launch period that began in February, Gameloft's free-to-play class-based shooter Blitz Brigade [Free] has now been officially launched in the App Store. Originally announced in January, Blitz Brigade feels like the lovechild of Team Fortress 2 and Battlefield Heroes. It's a lighthearted kind of game, as opposed to the gritty, realistic nature of most shooters nowadays. Despite not being an entirely original concept, I'm actually surprised with how much fun Blitz Brigade has been so far.
As you'd expect, it's pretty freemium'd out, but not really in a gross or unfair way. It looks like you'll be able to earn everything the game has to offer just by playing, or if you're impatient or otherwise just don't mind dropping a few dollars on in-game currency you can purchase packs of gems to spend on basically anything in the game. The part that's annoying is that Gameloft takes every chance possible to let you know you could be spending that gem currency, so it's pretty in your face, but at least it doesn't appear to gate any of the content from you outright.
It's sad that so much time need to be dedicated to explaining how a game's pay model works, but that stuff aside Blitz Brigade is pretty darn cool. It looks nice, it plays well, and it's fun. The main dish is of course its online multiplayer, but there's also a good deal of single player missions to work your way through that'll pretty much walk you through all the different aspects of the game and its characters. The online connection has been a bit iffy but seems solid for the most part. If you've played any other Gameloft shooter you pretty much know what to expect.
I'll be spending the weekend playing some more of Blitz Brigade to dig in further, but I have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised with it so far, and our forum goers seem to be digging it as well. It's free so give it a look if you've been waiting for this type of shooter to hit your iOS device.
While the folks over at Big Bucket Software are busy cranking away at their next project, they've decided to show a little love to their previous iOS release The Incident [$0.99] and drop its price down to 99¢. What is The Incident? Well, imagine on any random day you're outside standing on the sidewalk. All of a sudden, stuff just starts falling from the sky. And by stuff, I mean just a bunch of weird stuff. Like refridgerators, cars, foam fingers from sporting events, garden gnomes… if you can think of it, it's probably falling from the sky in The Incident.
Your job is to avoid getting smashed by this stuff, but also continually stay on top of what eventually becomes a rapidly rising junk pile. What results is a fun and challenging arcade game that has stayed on my device since its original release nearly 3 years ago.
Check out our original review for more, but keep in mind that over the years The Incident has been updated pretty frequently to keep with the times. First it received an endless survival mode, iCloud progress syncing, iPad Retina Display support, and most recently iPhone 5 widescreen support. It really is one of those cool little games that's always fun to fire up and play, so if you don't own it yet then definitely consider grabbing it during this 99¢ sale.
Back in early March we told you about Zynga's upcoming Temple Run-style game called Running With Friends, which was just entering a beta period in the Canadian App Store. Early today, Running With Friends [Free / Free (HD)] bid adieu to its limited beta launch and is now available in the US App Store and internationally. VentureBeat has uploaded an official trailer, check it out.
So, endless runners, ya'll. By now you know what they are, you've likely played many different kinds, and here's a new one from Zynga. I'm not really sure what else there is to say on the matter. Running With Friends is free for iPhone or iPad, so you can just download it and try it yourself if you're dying for a new endless runner, or check out the forums for discussion.
Firaxis is best known for their excellent strategy game work on PC and consoles. At PAX East they announced their ambition to take the iOS world by storm with the release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown this summer. With much less fanfare comes Haunted Hollow, a sleepy, unassuming little turn-based strategy title. Behind its chibi-monsters and freemium veneer, Haunted Hollow [Free] is a digital board game that successfully marries the accessible strategy pedigree of its creators with the realities of iOS (pricing and playtime).
Your Victorian mansion sits atop a rise overlooking a small village. Heir of untold funds from wealthy ancestors you spend your time creating monsters to scare the villagers below. But what is that, another mad scientist on the neighboring bluff? In Haunted Hollow you are competing with a fellow monster maker to be the first to haunt every home in the village. To do this you will need to build up your mansion room by room and then summon monsters to do your bidding. Monsters like ghosts focus on scaring homes while those like the werewolf are used to fight other monsters.
Kingturn RPG [Free] ain't a looker. That was my first reaction to the game, as I suspect it will be yours. But for fans of tactics style turn-based RPGs such as myself, pickings are slim on iOS, so I gave the game a shot. I'm glad I did. Underneath the hood of this old beater lies a beautiful, well-oiled machine, and it won't cost you a penny to take a look for yourself.
For those not in the know, tactics games are a subgenre of turn-based RPGs, first brought to the mainstream by Final Fantasy Tactics (which itself has an iOS port). Tactics games see you leading a small host of heroes over a battlefield in turn-based combat against an opponent. They differ from typical RPGs in that a good deal of the strategy deals with the positioning of you and your opponent's soldiers, a bit like pieces on a chessboard.
Being a good tactician requires patience, but the dearth of tactics titles on iOS would test the patience of even the mighty Sun Tzu. Into that void comes Kingturn, a tactics title to its core. The prologue campaign is free, with the full campaign unlocked as a $4.99 IAP. Kingturn's gameplay owes much to its predecessor, Final Fantasy Tactics, but from the start the game begins to stake its own territory. The first thing you will notice is that this game is not merely challenging, but hard. Kingturn will try the skills of even veteran strategy gamers. Beyond the game's refreshing difficulty, Developers Mangobile have also brought some truly innovative gameplay elements to the table.
The roguelike is a timeless video game genre and helped shape the RPGs and dungeon crawlers we've known and loved for decades. But I've never played one that was a side-scroller. Not until WazHack [Free] anyway. Warwick Allison's WazHack has been around on desktop and Android for about a year, and has now made its way to iOS. I've only just barely scratched the surface of the game, but I'm already hooked.
The funny thing about WazHack is that it being a side-scroller doesn't really change its roguelike feel. You still explore a large, randomly generated dungeon; battle monsters in turn-based fashion; and collect all sorts of sweet loot like items, spells and weapons. Your overall goal is to plunge down to the bottom of the dungeon, retrieve the Amulet of Zaw (hey, that's Waz backwards!), and make your way back up and out alive.
Best of all is that WazHack is free to download and play (or free to play on the official website). Once you get to a certain depth in the dungeon, you'll be prompted to purchase a character class to unlock the full dungeon and continue on. There are four character classes (Knight, Wizard, Sorcerer and Huntsman with male and female versions of each) and each class goes for 99¢ as an IAP.
I like this system, as you can play as each of the different classes up to the cutoff depth as many times as you need, and then you can decide to buy whichever ones you really want. The free portion of the dungeon is more than enough to help you decide if WazHack is something you'd like to drop some money on, too.
I have a feeling there's lots more that I'll be discovering about WazHack in the days to come, but I was having such a good time and the players in our forums have been having such a good time that I felt the need to share it with you right away. But seriously, this thing is deep. With over 300 types of items and more than 130 types of monsters, not to mention the various unique attributes of each of the different classes, both male and female, and randomly generated dungeons, WazHack should be a very different experience every time you play.
Check out an older trailer from the desktop version to see it in action.
Something worth noting is that a couple of minor bugs are in this release version of WazHack. From the App Store description:
* Keyboard input on iPhone does not allow pop-down. This will be fixed very soon (1.1.5).
* Multiplayer does not work except by very circuitous means. This will take a little longer to get working - I may use GameCenter for this, but I would prefer that cross-platform multiplayer works, which will take longer.
Nothing major, but good to be aware of at least.
So, go check out WazHack, it's available right now and it's awesome. You can thank me later.
While most fans of Square Enix should be rightfully concerned with some of the recentFinal Fantasy mobile offerings, one area competently executed are their ports of preexisting console FF offerings. Final Fantasy V [$15.99], the latest port to grace iOS, thankfully continues the trend of offering improved versions of the classic RPG series. Offering one of the better implementations of the main series’ job system, FFV is a great game in its own right, successfully makes the transition to iOS and should be added to the collection of any nostalgic RPG collector.
Originally released in 1992, Final Fantasy V wouldn’t grace the US until its inclusion in the PSX Fantasy Fantasy Anthology in 1999 (and wouldn’t see a mobile release until the 2006 GBA Version). It’s a shame that US FF fans had to wait so long, because Final Fantasy V was a pretty good entry in the series. The overall story, which centered on a sealed evil looking to destroy the elemental crystals holding its bond in place, features a lot of themes and character development that would be utilized in later entries in the series.
There’re a lot of folks that have probably played FFV in some previous iteration and are wondering what the differences are between this iOS version and previous ones. Content-wise, FFV for iOS features the same additions as found in the GBA version. This means that players will find an additional end-game dungeon as well as four extra job classes that weren't in the original. While the additional content is purely optional, the additional job classes add some variety for players that haven't experienced the GBA remake.
The one area that does change significantly in this iOS port is the art style. Instead of using the classic, highly pixelated models of the original, FFV on iOS has a very smoothed art style, with the game looking closer to the recently released Final Fantasy Dimensions. In addition, the game features more artwork from original artist Yoshitaka Amano at a much higher resolution than previous versions. While I welcome the additional Amano art, I'm on the fence about the rest of the visual improvements. There's a lot of nostalgia and charm lost in the move away from the pixel graphics and the current look feels a little bland.
The rest of the additions, meanwhile, are positive in my book. The music, which is classic Nobuo Uematsu, has been remastered beyond the chiptunes of old but still retains everything that made the original soundtrack great. FFV for iOS also includes an auto-battle mode, which speeds up the wait time between turns and automatically uses the previous commands issued for every character. This one little addition does a lot towards speeding up the grind, which is always a concern with these early RPGs. Little additions such as the ability to pinch-zoom the in-game map are also nice touches.
It's always hard to review these classic FF titles on iOS because they're always essentially ports of ports of the originals. Just as was the case with the previously released iOS ports, Final Fantasy V is a no-brainer if you're an RPG fan and have not had the pleasure of playing it. The story, job system, and classic Final Fantasy gameplay are strong in this title and showcase the golden age of Squaresoft 16-bit RPGs.
At the same time, the changes to the visual engine and minor gameplay tweaks probably aren't enough to justify a purchase for fans that have already completed the game (especially on GBA). Although, there's still enough nostalgic appeal that odds are you'll probably buy it anyways.
We've been following along with the development of iMech Online [Free] since its first unveiling at WWDC last year, and over the weekend the game quietly launched for free in the App Store. Actually, to back up a bit, iMech was a game originally released way back in 2009 and was among the first iOS games to feature full competitive online multiplayer for up to 8 players. It was extremely impressive for the time, and iMech accumulated a dedicated fanbase of online players.
As can happen, the original development team broke apart and eventually iMech was removed from the App Store and its servers were shut down. A phoenix rose from the ashes in a sense, though, as some of the original team banded together and purchased the iMech IP and set forth to revamp and rerelease the game. And that's where we're at now with the release of iMech Online.
It's free to download and try iMech Online, and there's really no reason why you shouldn't. It has a fairly robust selection of mechs to choose from as well as a ton of customization options so you can trick them out with special abilities and weapons. It's a free-to-play title, though, so expect to need to grind away to earn some of this stuff or pony up some real dough to do it more quickly.
However, the game's new developer Mobula has tried to ensure there's nothing that's "pay-to-win" about their upgrade system, so even if you are new to the game and not quite fully-equipped just yet you can still match up well with those who are. Also they're using a League of Legends-inspired rotating system which gives you a selection of different mechs to try out each week, so you can check them out before committing to investing time or currency into them.
So far I've only spent a small amount of time with iMech Online, but it feels like there's a lot of potential here. I like the amount of different mechs and customization options, but with just one arena and a simple deathmatch game type it feels very basic. We'll see how it continues to evolve, but for free I think it's definitely worth the time to check out. Also, there's a discussion thread in our forums if you want to drop your own thoughts or suggestions on iMech Online, or just find some folks to frag.
The term “4X game” is either scary or foreign to you if you are not a strategy gamer. Even if you are one, like myself, they can still be daunting. With Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy [$6.99 (HD)], Big Daddy’s Creations has attempted to make this genre more accessible. Based on a complex board game of the same name, Eclipse simplifies the the 4X genre by providing guided, limited options and a set game length. That is not to say it is simple, but it has elegant European design; imagine Masters of Orion and Settlers of Catan had a baby.
What is a 4X game you ask? It stands for the four basic actions you can take in this type of game: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate. Examples include Starbase Orion on iOS and Heroes of Might and Magic on PC. In Eclipse you take on the role of one of several alien or human races with the goal of building your empire over 9 rounds. By exploring and claiming sectors of space, researching technologies, and engaging in combat with other players you will earn points which will contribute to your empire’s overall reputation. There are also other actions to take like engaging in diplomacy, building new ships, and upgrading those ships that round out the experience.
It does seem like there is a lot going on (and there is) but Eclipse is focused in its approach. Each round you have a limited number of resources to work with based on planets you have colonized. Materials allow you to build spaceships, fighters, and other constructs. Out of materials? Ok, then those options are gone. Science allows you to research new technology which can help you colonize new sectors of space or outfit your ships. Do you have enough science to research this round? Maybe only once, ok that’s easy to plan out.
Lastly you have money which determines how many actions you can take that round and how many sectors of space you can control. Clearly knowing how much you can do each round keeps you focused. This is the secret sauce that makes Eclipse so palatable as a grand strategy game. Rather than giving you freedom to control every unit you have in play each round, you are funneled into taking whatever actions you can fit in.
Of course, this is not solely an economic game, there is also deep space combat. As you explore the galaxy you may encounter “Ancients” which are a remnant of the former controllers of the galaxy. You also may spar against other players as you attempt to invade their territory. Combat in Eclipse is basically done by a roll of a die, but smartly the designers don’t show you some cheesy dice rolling animation. Instead there is an interesting combat animation as ship goes against ship.
Eclipse also features a very cool ship customization system that is as easy as dragging and dropping. As you research new techs you will get things like bigger guns, better armor, and faster engines. You can upgrade your ships by adding these different techs to what is already on the ship. It has become apparent after playing this game for the past week that ship construction is a key strategy in winning the game.
The sleek UI design given to both upgrading and combat is carried throughout the app. There is a lot of information to process and access, and it could have been a nightmare to access it all. Luckily, this is some of the best UI design I have ever seen. You always have a view of the galaxy at large and can quickly access trays that contain the other information you need to know. For what is at its heart a port of a board game with about a gazillion pieces, Eclipse is designed so well I am not sure you would have known it was based on a board game if I had not told you.
Staying true to the goal of a grand space opera, Eclipse can handle up to 6 players. This can be all human players gathered around your iPad as you pass it around like some sort of deep strategy peace pipe. Of course, finding five friends that can all be together at the same time can be challenging. The game features AI opponents which may be the main way to play the game. They are challenging at each level and play differently to help you perfect your skills.
For example, the peaceful AI will never invade your territory allowing you to learn the game without having to defend yourself. This builds up to the hardest AI which starts with an advanced spaceship and is very aggressive. For the brave at heart there is also asynchronous online play. So far there has always been a healthy crop of opponents from around the world to choose from. The system even allows for private games and features in-game chat. There is even a public chat lobby which has a very early StarCraft vibe. Our forum community has been loving Eclipse since its release as well.
Eclipse is an accessible and polished strategy game that feels at home on iOS. This is not a casual game, but if you have been interested in the 4X genre or strategy gaming in general, this is a great place to dip a toe in. Even with the game's excellent tutorial, it requires some repeated play to really master. If you are ready for a grand space strategy epic, this an amazing specimen on iOS.
You know you're an O.G. iOS gamer when you've got fond memories of the original array of Ngmoco games. I'm talkin' Dr. Awesome, Word Fu, Mazefinger, Rolando, and the Topple series. After all, there was a time when it was totally fair to say that ngmoco were well on their way of being the "Nintendo of the App Store" or whatever other cheesy phrase you wanted to assign to a developer that was continually raising the bar of what you could expect of iOS gaming. For better or for worse, the free to play explosion happened along side the release of Eliminate, and, well, here we are.
In the aftermath of the free to play apocalypse, the DeNA buyout, and all the other weird junk that's been going on in the lifecycle of ngmoco a few of these classics have been pulled from the App Store as they originally existed, or replaced with strange Plus+ laden free releases. However, per a recent interview with our pals at 148apps, Topple 2 is on its way back.
As explained in our review, Topple 2 is a block stacking game that is/was a ton of fun. From our review:
The premise of the Topple series is simple, you stack blocks of various shapes and sizes to reach a set altitude goal within the provided time limit. Blocks can be rotated to fit better in to the existing stack and the game makes excellent use of the accelerometer. If your tower of multicolored blocks isn’t as sturdy as you would like it to be, tilting the phone left or right causes your stack to lean, potentially giving you the extra bit of stability you need in order to not send everything crashing down.
It'll be interesting to see how the game stacks up now, as admittedly a lot of the original appeal of games back then revolved around the fact that it was super-nice to see titles that were cleverly designed to be iPhone games instead of just being games that run on the iPhone. It was a serious distinction that anyone around for the inception of the App Store likely will remember all too well.
Update: Aaaand it seems Topple 2 [$0.99] is now out. It's 99¢, and filled to the brim with Mobage stuff pressuring you to sign in, link your Facebook, and all that. Oh, and it has up-scaled blurry non-Retina assets. And advertisements for CSR Racing on the title screen and ads that load on the world map screen in between levels. Le sigh.
So at about this time last week we were letting you know that Paradox Interactive's nautically-themed turn-based strategy title Leviathan: Warships [$4.99 (HD)] had jumped the gun of weekly Thursday releases and had launched early in international markets with a spot on the shelf of the US App Store reserved for 11pm EST that night. Except… that never happened. Due to several bugs and a completely non-functional online multiplayer, Leviathan: Warships was pulled several hours later.
If you're a Paradox fan in the PC world then this is all just par for the course. They have a reputation of releasing buggy games initially, but also have a pretty great track record of updating and fixing them in a somewhat timely fashion. In the end, Paradox's games typically end up being great, and the rocky road to getting there is all just part of the, uh, "fun" I guess.
Well, as of today, Leviathan: Warships has returned to the App Store, and it seems all online multiplayer connection issues have been fixed. However, according to some players in our forums and elsewhere, it still seems there's quite a few bugs or oddities taking place in the game. I mean, you didn't think Paradox would get everything worked out in the very first patch, right?
Despite its issues, though, it sounds like people are still enjoying Leviathan: Warships a lot so far, warts and all. I'm sure Paradox will continue to chip away at the game's problems and release further updates down the road, but if you're used to this sort of song and dance and aren't scared of some bugginess, then you can mash away at the link below and check out Leviathan: Warships on the iPad for yourself. For everyone else, we'll continue to keep tabs on the game's issues and are currently working on a full review, so keep an eye out for that in the near future.
There's no escaping it: multiplayer on a single iPad is pretty much always a full contact sport. It's all hands and fingers everywhere, ducking and dodging to see under and around your opponent and clear to your goal. You can try to fight it, to keep everything very organized so everyone stays in their respective corners. Or you can embrace it, as Alistair Aitcheson has with Slamjet Stadium [$2.99 (HD) / Free (HD)]
Slamjet Stadium is pretty chaotic in its Solo mode, in that crazy future bloodsport sort of way. Playing bumper cars with a soccer ball, more or less. Then you add a second player on the same screen, and things get downright aggressive. This is a game that encourages players to steal their opponents' units if it helps. Anything goes, though you really ought to stop before your opponent gets physical. It's probably not supposed to be that sort of bloodsport.
Each player (or team) controls two units, slingshotting them to try to get a small ball into the other team's goal. The stadiums are claustrophobic. Four bumper car-style units is a crowd, and anything more would be impossible. Half the battle is avoiding your own goal, and the rest is making the best of the arena.
As someone who can get pretty obsessive about both reading and video games, I keep expecting gamebooks to grab me by the throat. It seems as though they should be perfect for that: part game, part book, all gripping entertainment.
