Dead Rising Mobile
Now I'm just going to put this out there now; I've never played the console versions of this game. I've seen the odd snippet of them played and it did look great. From what I understand this is a "minimized" version of the game. I'll also start by refuting claims that this game has horrible controls. I've read numerous reviews that this game had bad controls but once I got my hands on it I couldn't see where people we're pulling these claims from. It's just like any game; once you understand how the controls and mechanics work you can manipulate them to work in the way you want them to. Maybe I'm just forgiving as I grew up in the 8-bit generation on classic consoles like the Sega Master System and Nintendo Entertainment System?
That being said I'm in love with this game. Run around a shopping mall doing missions for helpless-humans-in-hiding who are generally wanting some of the most mundane items (who needs a friggin' vacuum in a Zombie apocalypse?), picking up limited-durability weapons and slaying Zombies by the hundreds. If I had to describe it using other games I'd say it's like playing "Left 4 Dead" as a solo-survivor on the Dead Centre level in 3rd person view with a "Grand Theft Auto" feel behind it. Your weapon selection is pretty vast too: chainsaws, katanas, park benches (WTF!), lawn mowers, cleavers, 9mm pistols, hunting rifles, mannequins... the list truly goes on and on!
Now admittedly at first I was all like "This game is too hard!" and I couldn't even hit Level 2 or 3. Yes that's right, there's even RPG mechanics behind the game. And achievements on Game Centre! Like any Capcom game it's not too forgiving and you'll have to learn the hard way, generally resulting in restarting your game a few times.
Unless you have friends who own the game and you both use either Twitter or Facebook. Why? There's a mechanic that allows you to be "rescued" if you die by your friends on either of these social networks. If your friends have the game, are on the social network(s) and they don't save you in the two hours you'll then become a NPC Zombie in their game (you'll be seen with your gamer tag above your head in their game) and you can get revenge on them. At least that's how I understand it...
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| DEAD RISING MOBILE: Don't forget when you're out shopping... Shop smart - Shop S-Mart! |
Legendary Wars
I'd been looking at this game for some time before I finally took the plunge and purchased it. I'm a bit of an anti-critic when it comes to games. If it's got a 5 Star rating, or rave reviews, I'm generally the first to become sceptical. That and when it comes to iTunes if it's got a handful of 5 Star reviews that generally means one of two things: the game rewards you for rating the game in this way OR the mechanics are so simple that non-hardcore gamers get right into it. I'm not saying theirs anything wrong with that, but I'm a glutton when it comes to complex games and very, very rarely take on a game that has basic mechanics. Sometimes those 5 Star ratings are deserving though...
It's really hard to describe how this game actually works and what genre you would place it in. There's unit production and upgrading which could put it into the RTS category. There's in-depth storyline, character progression and customizable stats which could put it in the RPG category. There's a portion of the game that takes you from controlling an army to just a single character which would place that section of the game into the Platform category. Let's just say it's a RTRPG Platformer... because that just sounds excessively complex. And yes, whilst the complexity is there behind the game, the interface and gameplay makes this something that could be enjoyed and understood by anyone.
The game is set in a fantasy realm where you play the "good guys" consisting of Elves, Humans, Dwarves, Unicorns and other mystical creatures. On the opposing side you've got your usual array of undead to face; mainly consisting (so far during my story progression at least) Skeletal adversaries and Vampires. The majority of the gameplay consists of building units in three distinct rows and sending them forth, or standing their ground, to do combat with the opposition. Take out their "castle" to win the level and progress. Straight forward but addictive gameplay!
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| LEGENDARY WARS: Who knew that Zombies could be conversationalists? |
Contract Killer
Perhaps not the sort of game you might expect to be hearing amongst this mix. It is extremely new to the iTunes Store as well. I couldn't talk more highly of the game though; especially with a zero dollar price tag attached to it. The game is developed by Glu Mobile, one of the ex-front runners of the mobile phone gaming market before the iPhone hit the scenes. The game has so much polish and is ideally made to be played in a small 5-15 minute sitting whenever your fingers are getting the urge to play something.
The title of the game is pretty self-explanatory. Take on the roll of a "contract killer" and, well you know, kill people for money. Well not always kill them; once you get a little into the game you're forced to buy a tranquilizer rifle as well to take down some targets in a more humane manner. The game plays as a stationary first-person shooter generally propping the player on the top of a building or in some niche in a building. The target retical does sway slightly as you try to take aim with a cool-down-use "steady" button to take your shot. Some contracts ask you to take out a single target, others require you to take out small gangs. Oh and those guys all can shoot back at you too, this ain't no shooting gallery!
Graphics are amazing and what you'd expect from a top-end game. In fact if you had to pay for this game I'd still say it's worth the money. Doing contracts for people amongst the city costs energy, which is limited but regenerates, but also puts the contract giver onto a cooldown for normally 5 minutes, which is where the "freemium" gaming comes into play. You can spend credits to skip cooldowns or re-buy energy back if you are impatient. Like any "freemium" game the credits can be earned buy downloading other free or paid-for applications or outright buying credits.
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| CONTRACT KILLER: Pablo won't be coming home for dinner tonight... |
Undercroft
If I had to blame any app on my phone at the moment for taking the attention away from all the others then this would be the scapegoat. I'm a sucker for a good turn-based RPG involving party-management and have been since the yesteryears of playing Might & Magic; in particular "Gates to Another World" (II) as well as "Clouds/Darkside of Xeen" aka "World of Xeen" when combined (IV & V). There's also a blend of the original Lands of Lore game in there. If I had to place Undercroft somewhere amongst these I'd say it has a very distinct feel closer to that of Lands of Lore.
I actually picked this game up for free as well, it may not still be the case but I'd run and grab it now if it still is. Simply put you build your desired party of 4 adventurers from a combination of classes, differing in their abilities and proficiencies. You can randomize the characters if you aren't into the meta-game that is character creation; myself on the other hand I've been known to spend HOURS on creating characters when the toolkit is robust enough (I'll talk about Champions Online when I get the chance...).
The way the game starts is certainly not your typical RPG beginning: highly drunk in the local tavern your party end up betting with some local merchants a very large sum of gold that you'll be able to take on the tormenting undead of a neighbouring graveyard. The night fades out and you wake up imprisoned, being told that you ended up wreaking a bit of drunken-havoc resulting in one of the local's hen flocks going missing around town. Whoops! The quests throughout the game have a fresh feel with the old-school aesthetics surrounding them. This game truly is hard to put down; I've got 6 hours of gameplay into it and there is still no obvious end in sight yet. Simply brilliant gaming!
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| UNDERCROFT: Drunk again, Mohrlock was unsure if he really was seeing double or not. |
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