The firefights weren't that bad. I'd actually say they were pretty fun. I got it for $6.99 when it came out as well. What was bad was all of the climbing/platforming parts of the game that seems to be recycled over and over across Gameloft games. They're boring as hell and pretty much filler content. The graphics were definitely top notch for the time though.
This week's game impressions: Extraction This is my GOTW. I find the controls to be extremely intuitive as is. I don't it's a game where you're meant to aim by yourself. I really like the upgrading system. Adds a lot to the game and replay value. I'm looking forward to getting through the lengthy campaign advertised at 4-5 hours. Looks like the missions should have quite a bit of variety as well. The graphics and sound effects are both pretty top notch as well. Great job putting in the multiple save slots. Really wanting to see more games include the feature. It's a bit lame seeing the inclusion of iAPs for in-game credits, but I don't think they'll be vital for getting through the game from what I've played for seasoned players at least. You're getting a killer package for just $0.99 though. Very surprising price point. Apparently, it's not even a launch deal. I'm looking forward to GC being added in though. Crystal is pretty much the equivalent of a dinosaur-computer in terms of iOS social networks. I'm sure the devs will be adding it in. Highly recommended for the dollar and as I said, my personal favorite for the week. AoZ Anniversary Not much to say about this one. It's the same great game AoZ was except with improved visuals and a bit more content. $0.99 is probably the best price point since it doesn't really bring much more to the experience to warrant the same cost as the original game. Anyways, the game is probably still my favorite DSS on the AppStore. How the lives work is just simply awesome. Having a defined amount of health is a thing of the past. I also like how weapon collection works. It's great that they just drop randomly instead of having to earn them. Besides all that, the amount of enemies that'll be on screen at once makes the game extremely hectic as a survival DSS should be. On top of all that, there's an enormous amount of survival maps to play the game on. Awesome controls, awesome weapons/upgrades. Props again. The campaign mode is nice. It'll probably last about an hour with the addition of the new levels. Nothing too special here. The boss fights are pretty fun, but the levels are pretty much survival mode except with a defined amount of enemies. Nothing wrong with that though so this really is a survival DSS. You'll have to play through the campaign once to unlock all of the survival maps anyways. Barry says tons of funny shit, the dialogue is pretty hilarious, and the voice-over is awesome for when Barry actually says something. If for whatever reason you never got the original game, make sure you grab it now. Highly recommended for a dollar. Bullet Time Really wanted to like the game since it's actually quite a competent DSS with an actual campaign. First off, it crashes way too often on the 4th gen. iPod. That's probably due to the visuals. They're pretty awesome. Anyways, I was pretty surprised that it turned to be a freemium title after having looked forward to it for weeks. The difficulty in the game spikes up so quickly that iAPs will become a must. I noticed the wasn't a difficult level titled "easy." Now I see why. Looking through the iAPs was pretty disappointing. Not much separates the store from Gun Bros. Even if you play the game a shitload, you're not going to have access to the premium equips since they cost premium credits, which is earned at an insanely slow rate in the game. The coop mode should make things easier though. Going to give the game another go tomorrow and try out the multiplayer. With the content the game provides, I would have gladly paid $4.99 for the title if it had reasonable priced equips/items and no iAPs, especially since it includes coop. I'm sure it'll make a lot more money with the current pricing model. You might as well give it a try for free in any case. Edit: Turns out you actually get a good amount of resources by just playing the game. As long as you spend wisely, you'll get through just fine without spending anything. Definitely try this out. Chickon Meh, the game is pretty subpar. After enjoying the Galcon series greatly due to the multiplayer (best online game from late 2008 to early 2009), I have to say that this is quite a downgrade. Besides having a ridiculous premise, the game only has single player. Not only that, it's a freemium title, so I'm expecting the difficulty level to spike quite quickly. There's nothing new gameplay-wise either from the Galcon games. The one-lined app description does a good job in summarizing the game, connotatively that is: a lazy effort. Superman The game is pretty mediocre. It's really just a side-scroller that requires you to do a number of different tasks quickly in order to go for a high score. The included storyline doesn't do much for the game. At least the controls work pretty well. Not sure why the movement analog is jammed as close as possible to the bottom-left corner though. Nice look for the game with the art style. Everything looks nice except for Superman himself..it looks like he's melting or something. Not sure what's up with that. Also, not sure what's up with the volume. I have to turn the iPod volume up to half-way just to hear what I'd normally get from one volume bar. Once again, the game doesn't do anything special. Was expecting more, but it compares more to Thor and Captain America quality than Spider-Man. Still looking for another superhero game that even comes close to Gameloft's Spider-man. $0.99 is a fitting price in any case. ---------- Well, that's it for this week for me so far. Considering getting Space Tripper still. Probably will hold off on Minecraft PE until a little more is added though. Looks like the name is selling the game quite well though. It's already number 20 on the paid charts at $6.99, and it hasn't even been featured yet. It'll probably be in the top 10 by tomorrow afternoon and possibly top 5 if it's Apple's GOTW. But yeah, for this week, I recommend the new AoZ and Extraction as two great buys for the dollar, and you might as well try Bullet Time for free if you have 400 MB of space to spare. Hoping for better releases next week. This week was pretty mediocre after all the great releases we had from last week.
Junk Jack. As it stands, Minecraft does not translate very well to a portable device. Junk Jack does have some issues at the moment with the occasional crash, but they will be fixed shortly, and the game is brilliant.
For those of you who use AIM, the new update is freaking massive and seriously took it to the next level. Pretty much on par with the computer version now, possibly better.
I was looking into getting Carcassonne but was wondering how the multiplayer is and if it easy to find a game. Looking for a good online turn based multiplayer game. Is this worth it ? Thanks
Unless you hate boardgaming, you can't go wrong with Carcassonne. One of the most polished apps ever, and is still my most played online game to date. (I also play a lot of Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer online.)
You can if you want - they also run their own server with async play if you don't use GameCenter (and if you do, you can tie your Carc account to your GameCenter account...)
@Backtothis - I have been following your advice since I joined TA a while ago and you have never steered me wrong. Keep doing what you do man! Your posts are one of the reasons I find myself on TA day after day. This week I got AoZ, Bullet Time, Extraction, Ticket to Ride, Ravenmark, and Galazy Pirate Adventure.... kinda spent more than normal haha
In addition to what backtothis said, I would also suggest checking out Raccoon Rising and Katana Jack! Raccoon Rising is an amazing vertical platformer. The controls are responsive and the graphics are very nice. The difficulty level progresses nicely and the game leaves you wanting to play more of it (try and get all 3 stars). Imagine Ninjump, but with more control over your character, better graphics, and more depth. Katana Jack! is pretty awesome. It's the more modern, iOS version of Bomb Jack, and I have to say Tehkan/Tecmo would be proud, in a sense. The game was completely made on an iPad and it looks beautiful. Overall, it's a very fun and challenging platformer. It also boasts what may be one of the most complete feature lists: 90 levels with 15 finger painted stages, full Game Center support, HD graphics, 2 different game modes, iCloud, Twitter integration, universal, and iCade support. The only thing is the controls can feel a bit stick ayrshire times, but it doesn't really impact the overall greatness of the game. So, there you go, two awesome platformers released this week! Also, for Bullet Time, once I cleared my memory the game worked fine for the most part. The problem is that 4th gen iPod touches have half the RAM of the iPhone 4, so we need to clear the memory to play graphically intense games. I had this same exact problem when beta testing Ravenmark; the 4th gen iPod just couldn't handle all of the sprites at only 256mb of RAM. So, clear your memory and restart your device. Other games I'd recommend picking up are Mage Gauntlet (yeah, I know I'm late), Crazy Panda (awesome new spin on Puzzle games), and Blueprint 3D (the name pretty much says it all).
Thanks, that means a lot man. Nice pickups. Looks like you got some older games as well. ---------- Interesting features by Apple this week.. Awesome seeing Amazing Breaker at the top of the charts. Looks like Minecraft is doing great at $6.99. Currently number 4 on the charts. Quite a few of the other new releases are doing well too.
thanks backtothis for the impressions. Convinced me to get extraction, and informed me about bullet time also picked up raccoon rising, heard great things.
Woah, awesome. Also, love your comments on this week's game impressions. That something new you've been doing or just a one-time thing? Been busy so haven't been able to check out this forum as much recently, but your post definitely got me caught up quite well
What? You definitely need to check it out if you're into casual puzzle games like Angry Birds. Highly recommended man. Check out the lite version at least. That's at the top of charts too. The game has been out for quite a while, but it didn't get much attention when I first bought it. Really glad to see how far it's come. Yeah, there's chatrooms, picture messaging, quiet hours, and more. Very awesome update. Completely new interface and icon as well. I actually started last week. Here's last week's post if you're interested. It was definitely a better release week: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=1996930&postcount=22847.
lol this has happened to me like 10 times this week. I type a reply. then, I come back to TA like a couple hrs later and find out i never sent it -_-
Crimson: Steam Pirates for iPhone The game plays a lot like Steambirds, but there's ships instead of planes. However, the game has a lot more depth. Tons of different ships along with crews that give different abilities to the ships. 24 levels if you buy the iAP, which gets you the last 8 levels. It comes with 2 pass-and-play maps as well. Steambirds was pretty fun so this should be a step up due to the additional depth and because it's story-oriented. Great for the dollar or two if you get the iAP. ----- Still thinking about getting Space Tripper and WELDER.
Like I said before, WELDER isn't worth the price tag for what it has to offer. Plus there are better word games for free. I'd also suggest looking into Dicto which is coming out soon; it looks like an awesome new word game. It's, actually, my most anticipated word game at the moment! Update! -Yeah, so I just wanted to retouch on the the Bullet Time crashing. So, I've played it quite a bit more and after clearing my RAM and restarting my device, I haven't experienced any crashes. Geez, this game looks great and I have to say it's a great alternative to Extractionroject Outbreak if you don't want to pay a dollar. In all honesty, it might be better, but I haven't decided yet. Bullet Time does offer achievements, co-op, integrated community (which I love), better controls, and better graphics (this is my personal opinion). Hmm, maybe I have chosen; Bullet Time does beat Extraction. Also it's free, yes it does have IAP to get crystals, but it's not like a Glu Mobile game where you need to buy them to really enjoy the game. I would've bought this game, in a heart beat, if it wasn't free. -I put more time into Katana Jack! and it's a very good game. Once you play a lot, the control system gets a ton easier. i do believe that an update could make them a bit less sticky. -Crazy Panda is my little discovery of the week. I've been playing that some more and it really is a nice refresh in the puzzle genre. i like that it has two game modes: a classic puzzle mode and an accelerometer mode. -Blueprint 3D is awesome. I'm slowly making my way up the ranks. I'm currently in the top 35% on the leaderboards and I plan on being higher within the next couple of days. What I will say is, the game does get repetitive after a while, but it still seems to be quite fun. -Raccoon Rising is the game I've played the least so far, but it quite fun, as I mentioned in my earlier post. I will be putting some more time into it and updating! I don't know if it's just me but I wish Halfbrick (Age of Zombies) would take a note or two from Mountain Sheep (Minigore) when it comes to controls! Nonetheless, if you don't own the original AoZ, I'd suggest picking up AoZ: Anniversary. ***SIDE NOTE*** How I play games for impressions: I generally reserve one full battery cycle for a specific game. After my battery dies, I play a different game. I find that this is the best way for me to put an ideal amount of time into playing games I bought plus other things that I have to do. I don't always follow this method, as I'm only human, but I try and stick to it for the most part. [[EDIT]] Man, I've been meaning to say this forever, if you want a great Zuma clone get Sparkle. It beats anything else in the AppStore by a mile.
