With the Major League Baseball season in full swing, it won't be long until we see the All-Star Game, and of course, the Home Run Derby that ties into it. With this in mind, the league decided to get into the celebration early with
Download The Amazing Spider-Man 2: MLB Home Run Derby 14 for iPhone and iPad, which features all the grand slam hitting action of last year's game, but with several refinements.
Here are some tips that'll have you blasting a few out of the park in no time!
How do I play MLB.com Home Run Derby 14?
There are two control schemes to choose from - one involves a one-touch system where you hold down your finger to guide the bat, then release when the ball is over the plate; the other involves two fingers, with the first aiming the bat and the second doing a manual swing by tapping the screen.
Out of these, the first control method works best, and we suggest holding your finger just below home plate and moving it around to figure out where you want your bar positioned. This way, you'll see the ball coming and prepare to swipe accordingly. The second method doesn't work as properly as it should.
When it comes to hitting home runs, wait until the ball is right towards the plate, then take a shot. Sometimes it'll be a grounder; but other times, you'll blast it over the fence and add to your total.
The goal is to get as many home runs as you can before you build up 10 outs from pop flies and hits that don't clear the park. It can be tricky at first - and the opposition you're up against can be fierce - but keep practicing and you'll be a pro in no time!
What items are available for purchase in MLB.com Home Run Derby 14?
There are four general areas for shopping - bats, gloves, cleats and power-ups. Gloves and cleats are merely for appearance, and don't really change much of the batting experience. However, the power-ups can make a difference, including items like Eagle Eye (which shows the trajectory of the pitch so you can prepare for it), Power Boost (so you stand a better chance of hitting the ball for a home run) and Contact Boost (giving you a better chance to hit the ball).
As far as equipment goes, you can purchase better bats, which provide a greater chance at hitting the ball with power and accuracy. If you prefer, you can save your MLB bucks for more players, though you'll need quite a few bucks to acquire the heavy hitters. As for ball fields, definitely go for your hometown favorite - or Boston's park, which is rather nice.
How do I earn coins and bucks in MLB.com Home Run 14?
Win contests, that's how! Even if you don't score first place in home run contests, you'll be able to clean up on coins and bucks in a lower position. Plus, you'll earn extra bucks by completing certain Achievements in the game, such as hitting into a particular section of the field or blasting consecutive home runs. Go for them before you attempt to make a purchase using real money.
What happens when I run out of tickets in MLB.com Home Run 14?
You'll start with five tickets and spend a ticket each time you enter a new Home Run Derby tournament. Once you're out, you'll either need to wait for them to fill back up (in like an hour's time or so), or pay some money to refill right away. The choice is yours.
Do I need to pay for anything in MLB.com Home Run 14?
This game provides plenty of batting fun for no charge, but if you're a serious baseball fan - or just want to get back into the swing of things right away - you can invest in some MLB bucks, ranging anywhere from $1.99 for 25 all the way to 1,000 for $35.99. Coins are also available separately for purchase, but you'll earn enough of those over the course of the game.
Take a piece of paper and draw a simple 2D environment on it, like you might find in an old-school platformer. On one end of the environment is your starting point, and at the other is your goal. Now, take that paper and cut it up into a bunch of smaller pieces, and then shuffle and rearrange them completely, leaving some gaps and creating some overlap between pieces. Can you still trace a path from the beginning of the paper to the end, moving as if the environment were still whole?
This is how you move around in Where Is My Heart, a game that's equal parts simple and disorienting. Move to the right, and you might find yourself in a panel to your left. Jump up, and you might land on the bottom left of the screen. It takes the very simple elements of moving and jumping and makes them far more interesting (and difficult) simply by shifting your perspective, and the result is a puzzle game that's not only unique, but also smart enough not to overstay its welcome.
Just walk from left to right? That seems easy enou... oh.Your goal in each mazelike mosaic of a stage is not to put the level back together, but rather to guide a family of three lost monsters through the pieces to the goal, collecting hearts along the way. You can switch between them with the tap of a button, which lets you take them into different directions or makes them work together to get past obstacles. (You might need, for instance, to stack them on top of each other.) This basic concept is tricky enough. Levels that would be very simple (not to mention very short) if properly arranged become labyrinths when mixed up like they are . But often, the mere ability to find what direction leads where isn't enough to reach your goal.
In their basic forms, each of these monsters is essentially the same. They all walk and jump at the same speed and same height, and have no special abilities. However, certain levels allow the monsters to evolve into special forms. The brown monster becomes a rabbit that can double jump. The black monster develops the ability to see an alternate landscape, with platforms where there previously were none or holes where there were once walls. The orange monster develops the trickiest (but also the coolest) skill: it can rotate the panels of the level around, which allows it to jump from one panel to another in ways that were previously impossible.
You thought looking into a broken mirror was disorienting.Every level in which some or all of these skills appear is carefully designed to take full advantage of them. Each monster's ability has a purpose, and only by working together do they all get home safely, whether that's done by activating switches unreachable by other monsters or temporarily splitting up and reconvening elsewhere in the stage.
If this sounds like it might hurt your brain, rest assured: it does. It's amazing how disorienting it can be to have your perspective messed with in this way, but it's equally amazing how much you can adapt. You quickly learn to carefully test your movement, stepping just barely out of one frame to try to see if you also show up in another, and you might find yourself frustrated, mentally shifting the mixed-up panels around, trying to make sense of them. There's a very goo d chance that you (like me) will have to resort to trial and error as you stumble through each stage, but that's ultimately OK. There's no penalty for making a mistake, save a trip back to the beginning of the stage for whichever monster met its untimely end. But with every leap you take that ends up on spikes or in a pool of water, you learn just a little bit about your surroundings.
It's amazing how disorienting it can be to have your perspective messed with in this way, but it's equally amazing how much you can adapt.
Where Is My Heart is a bite-size experience, lasting only a couple of hours (not counting bonus levels or the challenge of collecting every heart in every stage). This is to the game's benefit, though, because it ends just as the gimmick is growing tiresome. There are moments when it's more frustrating than fun--being lost, after all, is rarely a pleasant experience--but even then it's hard not to apprec iate how far the developers have taken such a simple idea. If these monsters want heart, this game is full of it.
The Hamburg-based studio Daedalic Entertainment, together with developer Chromatrix will be releasing their puzzle game Deponia – The Puzzle and Edna & Harvey (The Puzzle for iPads and Android tablets) The is said to offer 96 puzzles background themes form the Deponia trilogy, and as well as the Edna & Harvey series. The game will also have three different modes in the single-player version. In the classic Search & Find mode, players have to find the right puzzle pieces for a given field as quickly as possible in order to earn maximum points. Additional drag & drop modes, rotating puzzles, and a variety of difficulty levels ensure that even puzzle pros will have tons of fun.
iOS users will have a first crack at the game as it will be released tomorrow, but fear not Android users, Deponia is set to be available at the Google Play Store on June 12th.
With X-Men: Days of Future Past doing impressive numbers at the box office, GlitchSoft opted to pay tribute to the original comic book that inspired it with Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past, now available for mobile. This game goes back to the good old days of hack-and-slash action, as Wolverine and other X-Men characters take on a powerful army, led by the devastating Sentinels.
Think this comic book adventure might be too much to handle? Don't worry, we've got the tips needed to make you feel as smart as Professor X.
How do I play Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past?
This is a hack-and-slash adventure, plain and simple. You'll play as one of five X-Men characters and beat up thugs that stand in your way, while collecting XP and health orbs to avoid succumbing to their attacks. Along the way, you'll be able to use said XP to unlock additional special techniques, which come in handy while facing boss characters, such as the Sentinels.
The game uses on-screen directional buttons to control your character's movements, along with jump and attack buttons, which feature swipe techniques for special attacks. The controls are actually pretty good, and respond most of the time to your commands. You'll have no problem getting through this game.
What characters are available in Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past?
So far, there are five. You've got adamantium-clawed Wolverine; the spry and powerful Shadowcat; the laser-shooting Cyclops; the devastating iron fighter Colossus; and the spiritually sound Scarlet Witch. Three more characters, Storm, Polaris and Magneto, are expected to appear in the weeks ahead.
You can switch between these characters at any time, but your best bets for the game are either Wolverine or Colossus. They're powerful enough to bring characters down quickly, and you can also use them to reach higher ledges as well as the smaller characters. They're your best bets overall, though you can certainly experiment with the others.
How do I power up characters in Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past?
Over the course of the game, you'll collect experience points one of three ways - by beating enemies, smashing orbs scattered throughout each stage and by walking into XP stations, usually located in higher points of a stage. Once you have enough, you'll be able to look over each character's abilities and unlock or enhance them by selecting to spend XP on them.
The best place to start is with Wolverine and Colossus, the two best characters in the game. Unlocking Wolverine's new slash techniques and Colossus' powerful ground pound attacks will go a long way into clearing the area of enemies. They also do massive damage against boss enemies, even if they appear to be unbeatable at first. Fill up on your XP, then go to town on spending. If you're unsure what a certain attack does (or how to execute it), simply read the description. It provides all the details for you.
How do I unlock additional costumes and comic books in Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past?
These items are usually scattered over the course of each level, so we suggest exploring. Look for alternate areas in each stage, and go ahead and visit them to access the comic books. You'll also earn alternate costumes this way, including Wolverine's classic yellow-and-black duds. GlitchSoft has gone a long way to making sure these characters look just like their comic book counterparts.
Do I need to pay for anything in Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past?
No. The $2.99 price will cover the cost of admission (for now - no word on the three additional characters costing extra just yet), and it's a fairly good platformer, especially if you're a fan of the comic books or the film. Load up, bub.
Exploring Gotham and fighting crime is fun and all, but for TT Games it was time to change things up and add a little variety in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham by sending players… into space. That's right, strap into your very own batrocket with the dutiful Robin at your side, as you launch into space with your Justice League friends to confront the nefarious Legion of Doom.
The story picks up from where Lego Batman 2 left off, but but we're told you don't need to have played it to get a sense of what's going on. Just know that Braniac is up to no good and it's your job to stop him and his crew as you explore the different Lantern worlds. The demo that was shown focused primarily on Batman's Batcave and the Justice League Watchtower, where Batman and Robin got to blast enemies to bits in space. TT Games wanted to add some new experiences to the series, so the space combat looks like a shoot 'em up, where you weave and dodge things from all directions and fire at anything that moves while picking up items to upgrade your weapons.
When it comes to the traditional platforming and ground combat stuff, the gadget wheel provides easy access to the super heroes' many suits and abilities. Cyborg turns into a washing machine that is not only hilarious and convenient, it's stealthy too, allowing him to get past security. I've always enjoyed the series' sense of humor and look forward to the full game when it's released later this fall.
I don't really know what to make of a game like Game of Legions. When I play a game like this, it makes me think that the developer is either pumping out simple games for a quick buck, or he/she is a new developer that is starting out small. Judging by the lack of games by developer, Traptics, on the Google Play Store, and a quick Google search revealing their new website, I am inclined to assume it's the latter. So I'll forgive them and, in fact, praise them for a reasonably decent and polished game. Just, don't expect anything big from it, and you will be fine.
Normally, match-3 games are most popular among females and ultra-casual gamers. Unfortunately, the premise of the game caters to an audience that are neither. Game of Legions sets itself up in the medieval fantasy realm with armies of barbarians and champions. I don't really know if there is an underlying story, but if there is, it seems to be insignificant and forgettable, as evidenced by my lack of memory of one. This kind of setting is prime for fantasy and medieval fans who, let's be honest, want more to do than simply matching 3 or more icons in a row. They want an enthralling period drama that ultimately culminates in boss battles of epic proportions. They want to scream "THIS IS SPARTA!" or say things like "Winter is coming", or something like that. A purpose is what I am talking about.
One thing that I can praise the game for is the tutorial. It does a good job of telling me how the battles work. Basically, you swap two adjacent tiles to match 3 or more tiles of the same weapon icon together, which will unleash an attack on the enemy based on the location and type of the icons. Your goal is to penetrate enemy army tiles and hit the leader behind during your turn. At the end of your turn, the enemy regains all its army tiles and proceeds to inflict some hurt on you.
The strategic element of the battles is probably what sets this game apart and makes it interesting. Sword tiles do more damage against spear tiles but take more damage against axes. Spears do more damage to axes but is vulnerable against swords and, if you haven't figured it out, axes deals more damage to swords but takes a beating from spears. In addition, you can also summon a champion tile by matching 5 tiles of the same type together. Tactical thinking is important here because you only have a couple of moves before the enemy's turn. Like any match-3 game, stringing multiple combos in one move is particularly satisfying.
The game employs the same 3-star system for each of its levels. Only, in this game, they are called achievements and you get them by completing certain requirements such as not taking any damage, or getting X combos during that level. Depending on the achievements you obtain (and the number of kills), you get gold as a reward. The gold is then used to upgrade your army, the number of rows of tiles, your health, the number of gold you get, etc. This provides a nice incentive for people to replay the 20 levels and try to earn all the achievements.
You battle using the match-3 system, you get gold, you upgrade, you try to get achievements. Beyond that, the game doesn't really do anything else. There isn't much graphic beyond just a map of the world and weapon icons, but what is there is fairly decent to look at. The sound effects are okay but it doesn't really increase my excitement level to want to continue playing for a long period of time. Some kind of script, narrative or story could have been slapped on for more context. Characters and better effects could have been introduced.
Game of Legions is a decent casual match-3 game, and it is sufficiently polished that I did not encounter any bugs during my play test. The game is solid for what it does, but I don't get the feeling that it is striving to be more than what it is. So, you shouldn't either. For a free-to-play game, it is worth a try if you are interested in match-3 games with a strategic twist. It should keep you entertained in between better games or during toilet/lunch breaks.
From a traditional perspective, Drakengard 3 is not what you would normally consider a good game. It's severely visually outclassed, it has myriad bugs and issues, and the gameplay is fair at best and tedious at worst. The original game, released a decade ago on the PlayStation 2, was much the same way. But what made that game memorable was its distinctly dark and twisted story in a world filled with horrible happenings and broken, deplorable characters. It was a train wreck, horrifying to look at and experience, but it kept you playing to see just how much more awful things could get. Nothing ended well for anyone involved, including the player, but it was fascinating regardless.
And that's precisely what Drakengard 3 is: utterly fascinating.
The game takes place in a miserable fantasy world where goddess-like beings called "intoners" rule the land and keep the masses appeased with their otherworldly songs. That peace is transformed into a bloody mess when the oldest of the intoners, Zero, decides that her five sisters (all named after numbers) need to die for reasons initially unclear. Zero's attack on her sisters ends in abject failure and the death of her dragon companion, but a year and a reconstructed body later, she is ready and rarin' to kill her estranged siblings again. To aid her this time around, she has Mikhail, the reincarnation of her previous dragon, by her side. Unfortunately, a wise old elder dragon this creature is definitely not; Mikhail is an inept pacifist who calls for nonviolent resolution as he whines about his bodily functions like a first grader.
Side quests are timed and can get downrig ht brutal.Drakengard 3 is a hack-and-slash action game. Zero runs through mostly linear fields, defeating foes with combos and special moves derived from four different weapon types (swords, spears, chakrams, and combat bracers). She can guard, dodge, and cancel her skills into defensive maneuvers as necessary. As she defeats foes, a flower-shaped blood meter fills up, and once it reaches a certain threshold, Zero can enter the incredibly powerful and near invincible intoner mode for a very limited time. Unlike in other games of this sort, the blood meter doesn't have to be full in order for you to enter intoner mode, though its level does limit the amount of time intoner mode lasts. This adds a bit of strategy to fighting--should you use intoner mode for short bursts of carnage, or save it for bigger, powerful foes?--but overall, nothing about combat is particularly noteworthy. It's certainly functional, and there's definitely a satisfactio n to be had when going to town on a bunch of dimwitted soldiers and their giant monster companions, but it's a far cry from the likes of Bayonetta.
Every so often, however, Zero mounts her lovably stupid steed and uses Mikhail for combat. Mikhail's sequences are either Panzer Dragoon-style rail shooter sequences (though not nearly as well made as in that franchise) or free-roaming sequences where Mikhail can fight foes both in the air and on land. The controls in this mode take some getting used to, and many of these stages and arenas aren't ideal for large, bumbling winged reptiles to be battling in. Still, it's a welcome, if not always particularly well-designed, break from stabbing troops directly.
Mikhail might control like a truck on land, but he sure does roast 'em good.In fact, "well-designed" doesn't apply to most of Drakengard 3. The game is developed by Access Games, the studio behind the cult hit Deadly Premonition, and shades of that game's distinct clumsiness abound in Drakengard 3. Enemy models are frequently recycled, and, in some cases, they don't stand on uneven ground properly, leaving one, two, or even more feet just floating in midair. Textures are frequently so low-res that the game looks like a poor HD upscale of a PS2 version that never existed. Enemies and AI partners frequently get stuck trying to run past walls or off ledges. The combat camera appears to hate you and everything you stand for, going into bizarre angles and focusing on b arriers to the action out of spite. The frame rate fluctuates constantly, sinking to single-digit levels if a bunch of projectile-hurling enemies are in the area. I encountered at least two occasions when the game forgot to reverse Zero's controls after shifting the camera 180 degrees.
Yes, Drakengard 3 is a technical mess. But, in a weird way, that's part of its charm. If you're familiar with the previous games of creator Yoko Taro--the original Drakengard and Nier--then you're probably coming in expecting messy gameplay. You're not here to kill a thousand grunts; you're here for a weird, fascinating, and much bigger experience. And, to that end, Drakengard 3 is amazing.
The driving force for everything in Drakengard 3 is the main character, Zero. Zero is a nasty, nasty woman, mocking everyone within sight and berating Mikhail for his childish naivete at every opportunity. Yet, in a strange way, she becomes incredibly sympathetic. Her voiced reactions to the ridiculous plot twists, outlandish characters, and irritating gaming cliches frequently mirrored my own. It felt as though I were reacting through her involuntarily to the horrifying happenings of this sick, sad world. I actually felt like I related to her as the game progressed, which is not something I typically feel for antihero characters.
Like that Gigas boss design? You'll love seeing him reused ten more times!Part of the reason Zero's anger didn't turn me off right away, though, was that every human in Drakengard 3 is a horrible person. Zero's sisters are selfish and domineering, with personality traits that are immediately off-putting. Their disciples, whom Zero can recruit as non-player character helpers after defeating them, aren't much better, individually representing the traits of sadism, masochism, sexual hedonism, and narcissism. Their dialogue with Zero throughout the levels, and their interactions with her, are frequently amusing and well written, even if the same jokes get recycled too often. (I commend the localization team for its ability to come up with numerous entertaining penis euphemisms.)
The first playthrough of the game feels like a distinctly black parody of game story and design tropes, filled with awkward character interactions, bizarre non sequiturs, and a general disdain for everything Zero is forced to go through when all she really wants to do is kill her sisters and be done with it. There are odd little digs at things like Japanese character design, media censorship, and otaku culture. It concludes with a bizar re twist that seems disappointing at first, but shifts the story in an entirely different direction.
Much like Drakengard and Nier, this is a game where the multiple endings are a near essential part of the whole experience. The humor is played down as the game steers you along its alternate paths. On the way, it comments on game structure and the role of the player as both active participant and passive observer, and goes deeper into individual character backgrounds and relationships. It never stops feeling oppressive and unpleasant, but that's part of what makes it so interesting--so much so that when the game asks you to grind to get every weapon to open the path to the final ending (though, thankfully, not the downloadable weapons--that's too cruel even for Drakengard), you feel not just obligated to do it; you want to do it. It's laborious and unpleasant, and somehow Drakengard transforms it into something you willingly want to do all while knowing it pro bably won't be enjoyable in a typical gaming sense.
Intoner mode is delicious, speedy, confused-camera death for everything.Drakengard 3 is subversive in that way. I love how it has made me think about violence and what exactly makes characters sympathetic even when they're terrible. I love that the game portrays its female characters as assertive beings that desire and need sex on their own terms, instead of as sexual material doled out in-game as "rewards" for player performance. (In fact, the only time Zero discusses sex with her disciples is to either tell them to shut up with their innuendo or berate them for their poor performance in the sack.) I love how the onl y voice of human sanity is a nonhuman. I love how I can step away and think about how the concepts introduced in the alternate ending paths symbolize abstract concepts of gaming. I love Drakengard 3, warts and all. In fact, I think the warts might be part of what makes the game so appealing. It's a heavily flawed game, set in an ugly world and filled with despicable people. And yet, somehow it's beautiful.
Chase down villains in Batman & The Flash: Hero Run
Mobile game company GREE has announced the launch of Batman & The Flash: Hero Run on iOS and Android devices. The game combines the fast-paced gameplay of an endless runner with the strategy of an RPG and card collection experience, as fans of the DC heroes run through the city collecting coins to outfit themselves with better gear. As Batman, players chase The Joker through the streets of Gotham City, attacking thugs and avoiding oncoming traffic and construction barriers. As The Flash, gamers run through Gorilla City and must avoid rolling boulders and fallen trees. Eventually, players will unlock additional playable characters, including Catwoman and The Joker.
Gameplay sees users running forever away from the screen, swiping left and right to move their character between three running lanes. Gamers swipe up to jump over obstacles and down to slide under low-hanging barriers. While most items must be avoided, each character's enemies (like thugs or gorillas) can be attacked for experience points. Simply running into enemies is enough, but players can also tap on the screen to shoot them, earning even more XP.
Batman and The Flash can be leveled up separately, and outfitted with different pieces of gear. These 'gadgets' help players activate double jumping, extra health, super sprints and more. The higher the level, the more gadget slots players will unlock for use, but the gadgets themselves are use-limited items. Players can purchase additional units of "double jumps," for instance, using the free coins they've collected while running.
Eventually, gamers unlock the ability to fuse or evolve their character cards to unlock new powers for their favorite runner. The game features Facebook integration for sharing high scores with friends, and global leaderboards for a more wide-scale progress comparison.
Batman & The Flash: Hero Run is available to download for free on iOS and Google Play.
How many balls does it take to make a man happy? Well, normally I would say that two is sufficient. However, in this case, I dare say that 100 Balls satisfy my needs and then more! Okay, enough with the double entendre. If you didn't get the hidden joke in there, it's okay. After all, I am not here to give you a lesson on the male anatomy. I am here to tell you about a little gem of a game called 100 Balls.
You can be forgiven for not having heard of it before. I know it hasn't received much attention in the Android community. It did peak highly in the iOS charts for free games recently, so I did what any good game reviewer will do. I looked for it in the Google Play Store. Lo and behold, typical for anything on the Play Store, there are 100 different clones of the game available for your perusal. Now, the developer that brought the game to iOS is Giedrius Talzunas, but do a search for that name on the Play Store and you will find no results. So, I will just tell you about the one that I downloaded, and that I think resembles the iOS game the most, which is 100 Balls+ from Peach Fuzz Software. (Dear developer, you can thank me later for endorsing your clone.)
The premise of the game is simple, and one that anyone will get after 1 minute of playing without reading a lengthy manual. You are given 100 balls at the start and you have to drop them into 8 cups that are constantly revolving around the screen. If a ball drops outside of a cup, that ball is lost forever and you are left with 99 balls. If a cup goes by without a ball dropped in it, the cup will be lost forever and you are left with 7 cups. So the cycle continues until you either run out of balls or you run out of cups.
Each time the first cup goes a full revolution, the difficulty level will go up and the cups move faster. You are given 1 point for each ball dropped in a white cup. Later on in the game, the cups will change to a different colour. Balls dropped in a coloured cup will turn into that colour and will award you with higher points (depending on the colour) when dropped into the next cup. Phew, that was a mouthful!
The game exudes a similar addictive pattern to something like Flappy Bird. It hinges on a trial and error basis, and emphasizes high scores and multiplayer leaderboards in a how-far-can-you-go competitive nature. However, don't be fooled by its simple premise. There is definitely more to it than simply dropping balls into cups. Besides nailing the timing of the drop (which gets increasingly difficult as time goes on), you have to also consider how many balls to drop into which cups. For example, if you drop all available balls into one cup, you will not have any for the next one, and that cup will disappear. If you distribute the number of balls evenly so that every cup gets a share, you will have less balls going into the coloured cup.
So it is definitely a game that encourages you to think on your feet and find that middle ground. Do you want to get a higher score, or get a higher level? Do you feel more manageable playing with less cups (you can survive indefinitely with only one cup)? How do you cope with the increasing speed of the cups?
Of course, you can sign in to all the social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to compare and share scores. It's also definitely a game that can spark a conversation by the water cooler or get everyone around the table playing at the same time while waiting for lunch to be served at a restaurant. Whatever the reason, the game is totally free on the Play Store, so I suggest picking this up.
If Watch Dogs is to be believed, then a shocking number of Chicago residents are delinquents. As you roam the city looking to both right what is wrong and make wrong what is right, you hack into its citizens' smartphones and listen in on their conversations, and even tap into their computers and catch a glimpse of them as they enjoy their deviations in the supposed privacy of their own homes. Some of these Chicagoans are chronic masturbators; others are criminals and cannibals, ordinary to look at should you pass them on the street, but far from ordinary when they think they are alone.
Aiden Pearce is also far from ordinary, but he understands that privacy is a myth. The city has installed a computer system called ctOS that knows everything, sees everything, and controls everything. Aiden is a hacker. By manipulating ctOS's systems, Aiden can steal from your bank account, gain access to surveillance cameras, and even discover your pr ofession and learn where you went on vacation, or whether you're faithful to your spouse. Aiden's nefarious talents are valuable, and he once had no qualms about who he killed or robbed, as long as he delivered the information and earned his reward.
Do you think your identity is private? Aiden knows who you are and what you did. You'd suppose, then, that information is your most powerful tool in Watch Dogs, but this open-world game's joys come not from voyeurism and information brokerage but from chaos and destruction. Combat encounters are structured like puzzles: Aiden hunkers down and you survey the area, choosing whether to dominate your enemies with firearms and grenades, press against cover and distract your enemies so that you can pass by without raising their suspicions, or settle on a compromise, silencing enemies with well-aimed headshots and taking them down from behind with a swift takedown maneuver. But whichever style best suits the occasion or your mood, you're likely to cause a few explosions and toy with your enemies' heads.
How do you create such chaos? By overloading circuit boards, setting off guards' grenades remotely, or forcing pipes to burst beneath your foes' feet. Such control, right at your fingertips; thanks ctOS! When I felt particularly evil, I threw a distraction lure toward a circuit board and detonated the board as a nearby guard approached. He cried out in agony, and I was grateful that I had one less obstacle between me and my destination. But this kind of evil could feel even more heinous if I happened to glance at my victim's personal information before annihilating him. Oh--he was rec ently married. Or perhaps he was on antipsychotic medication. Occasionally, I would hesitate to put a bullet in a guard's head if I knew his wife was expecting a child, but I rarely had reservations about murdering a prison escapee. I was deciding whose life had greater value, and I'm grateful that Watch Dogs, in its own subtle way, led me to ponder why I would prize one man over another. With one snap moral judgment, I might decide to let one man live and another die. Unless, of course, I was under fire from every direction, in which case all bets were off.
Rage against the machine!I don't wish to overstate Watch Dogs' social musings, however. The game sometimes pau ses to grapple with quandaries about the trade-off between freedom and security in modern society, but rarely reaches any conclusions or digs very deeply. This is a game that allows you to hack into highway billboards and reveal age-old memes like "I can has cheezburger?" This is a game in which you eavesdrop on a man who couldn't ejaculate during a sexual encounter because his bladder was full. Such drastic tonal shifts prevent the story's early attempts at gravitas from sticking, leaving Aiden looking like a chump with little self-awareness, and leaving the player to wonder what really drives this vigilante, apart from the revenge quest that has him seeking to retaliate against unknown persons for the death of his niece. When his sister, Nicky, pleads with him to stop his pursuit, explaining that he's risking the safety of his remaining family, Aiden makes a promise he doesn't ultimately keep. Why he is so willing to seek vengeance while knowing he's putting his sister and nephew in peril is never sufficiently explored. Perhaps Aiden is addicted to the underground life he has come to lead, which has him staring at his smartphone's screen in the same way that I so often do, oblivious to what's happening around me.
I came to be more invested in the story once I'd assembled a small team of hackers and closed in on the conspiracy at the game's center. Watch Dogs' tale is at its best when it sticks to its Tom Clancy-style technospeak and leaves behind the revenge-story cliches that seem to power every tale about a man dealing with his anger over a female loved one. My devotion was not to Aiden, however, but to his friends Clara and T-Bone. One character describes Clara as a "punk-rock chick," but she's not so remarkable for her tattoos and knee-high boots as she is for her empathy toward Aiden and her patience for his stubbornness. And if Clara's type is punk-rock chick, then T-Bone is the Southern-fried genius, a down-home intellec t who thankfully keeps the Hee Haw language to a minimum.
In Chicago, the mean streets are even meaner.Aiden eventually matures, albeit too little and too late, and wonders aloud who should get to choose whose lives are less important than others. Shortly thereafter, that question still lingering, you decide if Aiden should be that person. By that point, it was clear to me what he must do, based on audio logs I'd found scattered across the city. I was glad I'd taken the time to learn what I did; finding those logs isn't required to finish the story, after all. And I was glad that Aiden at last was asking the same question I had many hours beforehand: Does the l oss of one life justify mowing down dozens or hundreds of men, and risking my own sister's life in the process? If only he had pondered such obvious concerns hours before, I may have been more concerned about his ultimate fate.
Watch Dogs' narrative may win no awards, but as an open-world playground, the game rightfully deserves to be mentioned with heavyweights like Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row. This playground isn't just loaded with stuff to do, as most such games are; it's loaded with lots of terrific stuff to do. I lost myself for an hour solving chess puzzles. Other times, I shot up aliens in several of Watch Dogs' augmented reality games. And still other times, I would locate remnants of QR codes painted on walls and overpasses, and hack from one camera to the next, looking for the angle that would let me view the entire code. Even the small est activities are fully engaging. Not only are the chess puzzles clever, but I listened to two women converse about job woes as I solved them, which gave me an additional dose of entertainment. The alien shoot-'em-ups occur on Chicago's busy streets, where I got to witness car-crash victims gesticulate in anger at each other while I fired my holographic gun at virtual aliens. And like several of Watch Dogs' core activities, lining up QR codes kept my brain cells buzzing as I experimented with cameras and moved to different positions, hoping to merge those painted patterns into a cohesive barcode.
Some of these Chicagoans are chronic masturbators; others are criminals and cannibals, ordinary to look at should you pass them on the street, but far from ordinary when they think they are alone.
Moving from one activity to the next often involves summoning a vehicle to a nearby location, or simply nabbing o ne from the roadside or carjacking an innocent driver as she pulls up to a traffic light. Those drivers will not be happy--in fact, they may even call 911 and summon the cops--but it's worth getting on the po-po's bad side if it means racing through the streets in Watch Dogs' sizable collection of automobiles, or zooming through the canals in a speedboat if you happen to be near the water. Vehicles are rather bouncy, but the loose physics make for ecstatic moments, particularly during chases. As you speed along, you can trigger steam pipes beneath the streets to erupt and take down your foes, or cause jams by hacking into traffic lights. My favorite method of escape, however, was to raise a drawbridge as I approached it. I would fly up the first span, soar through the air, and land with a satisfying jounce on the other side; my pursuers would be left behind, blocked from entry. I could practically imagine the coppers throwing their caps on the pavement and cursing my keen dr iving abilities.
My favorite moments behind the wheel were those I shared online with competitors. Watch Dogs' single-player missions and multiplayer activities are merged into one experience, and the game frequently and annoyingly nags you with opportunities to engage with others should you not seek those activities for yourself. It's almost always worth accepting those offers, however, particularly should you be invited to an online race, or even better, invited into a decryption match.
Chicago should increase its police presence in canals. You can get away with murder out there!Both modes are excellent ways to wreak havoc in the windy city. Online r aces offer plenty of ways to mess with your competitors. If you're trailing behind the leader and you approach a lowered blockade, raise it with the press of a button: your opponent bangs into it and snarls under her breath, and you cackle and rush into the lead. If you're crossing said blockade when another player raises it, you might bounce into the air and land on top of another racer. Should you activate the blockade too soon, you might end up obstructing your own vehicle with only yourself to blame. Open gates and close them behind you to throw off a tail, or hack a traffic signal and get him stuck in a jam. There are enough shortcuts, however, that there's no reason you can't gain ground after finding yourself on the wrong end of a blockade.
Decryption mode, in which two teams of four are confined to a portion of the city and seek to nab and hold on to sensitive data, is anarchy in its most captivating form. There are a few details that separate this mod e from its capture-the-flag cousin, the most important of which is that you only have to remain within the data carrier's proximity for a certain amount of time to steal the data. This allows data to be passed around even when you are in vehicles, or without necessarily directly engaging a carrier hiding on a rooftop above. At one point, I rammed head-on into a carrier riding a motorcycle, and I watched his body fly above my windshield before it soared out of view and landed with a thud behind me. A teammate then leapt into my vehicle's passenger seat, and we zoomed away while my comrade fired his rifle at a pursuing ambulance. The action is constant--and constantly on the move--and the shooting is as sturdy as you'd expect in any given third-person shooter. Whether you're dealing death by shotgun or by cement truck, it's difficult not to be swept up in the pandemonium, cheering or groaning with each unexpected development.
Aiden Pearce is good at shooting, good at sneaking, and good at hacking. What a Renaissance man!Online invasions are less explosive than other modes, and potentially more boring, depending on how the invasion goes. As the invader, you come close to your target, press a button to begin downloading her data, and wait. As the victim, you rush around or hack into nearby cameras, scanning the crowd for your invader. (You always see yourse lf as Aiden, but other players see you as a random Chicagoan.) Neither running around looking for your hacker nor avoiding her watchful eye is engaging on its own. But catching the data thief initiates a chase sequence that leads to Watch Dogs' special brand of pandemonium. Rolling over a sprinting invader with an ice cream truck is one kind of delight. My favorite experience in an invasion thus far, however, was leaping into the bed of my hacker's pickup truck as he drove off, planting an explosive, and detonating the explosive as I leapt to the ground. It wasn't a moment I planned--the stars simply aligned, giving me the chance to pull off a dramatic kill. Successfully completing an invasion earns you a currency called notoriety, but earning the skills related to notoriety is so easy that there's more reward in the chase than in the subterfuge.
You can simply ignore all these possibilities and remain a lone vigilante, of course, and doing so offers its own k inds of rewards. Infiltrating gang hideouts is much like performing many of the story missions: you search for a way into the danger zone and decide how best to proceed. The wonder of Watch Dogs is that any method is reasonable--and every method is enjoyable. The weak link is the shooting, not because the mechanics aren't great (they are), but because enemies are so quick to go limp--and even more so when you activate the game's unnecessary bullet time. But if, like me, you seek to express some creativity in your encounters, you'll enjoy piecing together a stealthy route and performing a hushed assassination when it proves necessary.
Decryption mode, in which two teams of four are confined to a portion of the city and seek to nab and hold on to sensitive data, is anarchy in its most captivating form.
Watch Dogs isn't a full-fledged stealth game in the usual sense; you can't hide bodi es or tranquilize mafiosos. However, slinking from cover to cover is smooth and weighty, as if Aiden is Sam Fisher's bulkier cousin. I came to rely on a move I call "riding the cameras," hacking into one camera so that I might in turn hack into another until I was able to tag all of my enemies and devise ways of thinning the herd. Riding the cameras is also the primary way you hack into ctOS centers, each of which presents an environmental puzzle to solve so that you might reveal more hot spots on your map. Many of these puzzles are quite clever, though some story missions take the camera mechanics a few steps further, particularly a prison level in which you hack into guards' personal cameras and investigate from their perspectives.
One type of optional mission--the digital trip--deserves special mention. There are four digital trips in all, each one an expansive minigame explained away as an audio-induced hallucination. One of the trips is a fun bit of fripp ery in which you bounce from one giant flower to the next, remaining in the air as long as possible. The other three, however, could be fleshed out into full games in their own right, which is a testament to how good Watch Dogs' individual pieces are. In the best of these, you gain control of a humongous spider-bot, battering police cars and leaping up the sides of buildings from which you fire rockets at helicopters and pellet the authorities with machine-gun bullets. Games that have focused on wall-climbing have rarely made these acrobatics feel so intuitive, and I'd gladly see the spider-bot find its way into a game fully devoted to it. The other two digital trips--a stealth sequence in which robots seek you out, and a car combat game in which the highways are lousy with zombies--are almost as delightful, and all of them have their own skill progression trees. The trips are structurally simple, but their foundations are rock-solid and rich with possibilities.
You spend a lot of time looking through cameras. Luckily, there's often something creepy to find. Watch Dogs does a lovely job of keeping its many interlocking systems from becoming overwhelming, though some systems ultimately feel superfluous. You can buy different outfits, but they all hew to the same basic style; you can buy new vehicles for ordering on demand, but fast cars are perfectly easy to find. As a result, the economy is never as meaningful as it might have been; apart from a sniper rifle and silenced pistol I purchased from an ammo shop, I rarely went shopping, simply because I rarely needed to. Even hacking scores of random passersby begins to feel excessive: when you have access to everything, no one person or piece of information is special anymore. Precious little of that information is actually a gateway to a human soul.
Aiden's soul is still locked away, too, even though I spent dozens of hours with him. But while I can't say who Aiden truly is, I can confidently say that Watch Dogs is a lushly produced and riotous game with an uncanny ability to push you from one task to the next, each of which is just as fun as the last. This version of Chicago is crawling with a hyperbolic number of degenerates, and I didn't mind squashing pyromaniacs and slavers under my tires as I plowed through the streets chasing after a hacker, hip-hop beats blastin g from the radio. After all, the struggling mothers and homeless beggars wandering Chicago deserve some peace of mind, and doling out some street justice is a good first step.
Shadow Fight 2 mixes martial arts techniques with RPG elements to deliver a nail-biting 2D combat experience. You'll fight your way through numerous opponents, equipping countless lethal weapons and rare armor to create the ultimate champion. As the fantasy storyline unfolds, you will fight numerous unique enemies, challenge bodyguards and defeat evil demon bosses. In this guide, we're going to give you a few strategies for defeating the demon boss Lynx's Bodyguards.
Upgrade Your Character in Shadow Fight 2
Once you've leveled up, visit the character upgrade menu to select a few important upgrades for the upcoming battles. Some important upgrades include the Double Sweep maneuver, which lets you get in close to your enemy for a quick double sweep attack. Another upgrade we recommend is the Strong Head, which gives you a 10 percent chance to reduce incoming head damage by 50 percent. This is a must have upgrade that will help you avoid critical head attacks from your enemies. Don't forget a trip to the armor shop for some much-needed weapon and armor upgrades to help protect from the onslaught of opponent attacks. Without securing upgrades, Lynx Bodyguards will be impossible to beat.
How to Beat Shin in Shadow Fight 2
One of the first and easiest of Lynx's Bodyguard is Shin. Shin uses a kunai for quick short range attacks to dismantle his foes. Shin's strategy is to disorient Shadow with quick jumping maneuvers and head attacks. Quickly dispatch Shin with fast-paced combo attacks as he maneuvers around you. Using powerful attacks creates the opening that Shin is relying on for the win. Keep it simple with quick leg and arm attacks to secure the victory.
How to Beat Brick in Shadow Fight 2
Next is Brick, and his name is a reflection of his tenacity. Dual wielding batons, Brick relies on long-range power attacks to deal devastating blows to Shadow. Watch out for his aggressive punch combinations, as he favors a three-piece finish with a devastating foot stomp. Get in close with Knuckles and wither him down with quick punch and kick combinations focusing on his legs. Head hits barely phase Brick, since he recovers quickly and capitalizes on the opening from the powerful attack. Button mashing will not win you this match, but stringing together fast but simple combos targeting his feet will result in victory.
How to Beat Needle in Shadow Fight 2
Needle uses powerful mid-range attacks to literally poke holes in her opponents. Incorporating a lot of lunges to the upper body, Needle is very dangerous, as most of her attacks target the head or critical areas. This makes it very easy for her to make quick work of Shadow with a few well-placed hits. We recommend using the Steel Batons to keep her at a safe distance while focusing on delivering combinations to the head. You should deploy a relentless strategy in delivering punch combinations in repeated succession. Try deploying a three-piece combination starting with a Double Slash, followed quickly with a strong or upper slash. Learning to stream combinations together and assessing your opponent's openings will help in your climb over bodyguards to the demon boss, Lynx.
Now that we've given you a few strategies for the first three bodyguards, you now have a few tools in your arsenal for making these enemies consider another line of work. Remember to constantly upgrade your armor and skills. Most importantly, before you face off against these bodyguards, practice your moves in the dojo.
Vrooom Vrooom! On your marks, get set, goooo!
Backflip once, front flip once, crash, start again, double backflip, land, and off you go! That's sort of the sequence of events that you will likely encounter in Trials Frontier. If you are a biker fan, you will likely have heard of the Trials series, a game about rad motorbike stunts and crazy landings that you will want to tell your friends about. Now, a month after the release on iOS, Trials Frontier is finally speeding in to our beloved Google Play Store.
From what I have gathered from my time with the game, it seems to have retained and improved upon many of its predecessor's awesome graphics and physics. Created by Ubisoft, one of my favourite developers, the game oozes with quality and sheer polish. I have not encountered a single bug with the game, and just like its other games, there's plenty of content and unlockables to keep you coming back for more and more.
The controls this time around seem to really favor mobile devices. From what is written on the Play Store page, Ubisoft has built the game from scratch specifically to suit mobile devices and its virtual controls. Using 2 virtual buttons on the bottom left, you accelerate and you break. Another two virtual buttons are located on the bottom right to tilt your bike front and back. That's where the stunts come in. When you're in the air, you tilt your bike forward to perform a frontflip and back to backflip.
However, I don't seem to be getting the dangerous vibe from doing stunts and backflips. In fact, the game only allows you to perform back and front flips, and none of the crazy wheelies and flying stunts that these games are accustomed to. This is one area I am deeply disappointed in, as I had really wanted it to be a Joe Danger kind of game. It has left a sour taste in my mouth and gives me the impression that something is just lacking. Danger should have been a big part of a game like this, you know, swinging your bike over your head and around your waist as you get back on your seat just as the wheels touch the ground. Where's that?? http://ift.tt/TxTz8N
Luckily, the rest of the game is good enough. There are always quests to keep you occupied as you unlock new areas and maps to traverse. On some maps, you even get to race an AI. The game also features a bronze, silver and gold achievement for each map, so that's another reason to replay. As you complete quests and maps, you also get bike parts that can be used to upgrade your bike, and build new bikes with different stats that favor different types of maps. Leave it to Ubisoft to know how to add depth to a game.
Hey, if you are a real bike fan, this latest Trials offering from Ubisoft is bound to scratch that itch for a good mobile bike racing/stunts game. If you are still hesitant, well, the game is absolutely free, so there is really no harm trying it out for yourself by clicking here.
Mobile and tablet touch-screens are ideal for card games, and there are a lot original titles and ports to choose from on both app stores.
Here's our guide to the best free to play card games for the month of May that should have a place on every iOS or Android owner's device. Make sure you download these 10 games.
10.) Charades! Guess Words and Draw or Doodle Something Taboo Tilt Your Heads Jump Up with Friends Free (FatChicken Studios)
The developer says: Logos Quiz is a game full of fun that consists on guessing the names of hundreds of logos from different companies. To achieve this you have a lot of clues that you can use to help you complete the game. You can also ask your friends if you don't know the answer! Challenge them to see who know more logos!
Download Logos Quiz Game: iPad & iPhone
9.) Zynga Poker - Texas Holdem (Zynga Inc.)
The developer says: Play Zynga Poker LIVE against 6+ million daily users. More than 60 million hands won daily.
Download Zynga Poker - Texas Holdem: iPad & iPhone | Android
8.) Solitaire TriPeaks (GSN.com)
The developer says: With more than 180 levels and islands, Solitaire TriPeaks is the ultimate free solitaire game. Enjoy warm beaches, challenging solitaire gameplay, and WINNING BIG in our tropical TriPeaks paradise!
Download Solitaire TriPeaks: Android
7.) UNO & Friends - The Classic Card Game Goes Social! (GameLoft)
UNO, the world's most beloved card game, introduces a brand-new free social experience! Play the game that's Fast Fun for Everyone!
Download UNO & Friends: iPad & iPhone | Android
6.) GSN Casino - Wheel of Fortune Slots, Deal or No Deal Slots, Video Bingo, Video Poker and more! (Game Show Network)
The developer says: The world's BEST casino app - free slots, bingo, poker, and blackjack!
Download GSN Casino: iPad & iPhone | Android
5.) Reign of Summoners 2014 (Kan Hong/Free Card Games)
The developer says: Come join a "world" which the everyday people do not see. Become the foretold prophecy bringing balance in a TCG world challenged everyday by ambitious summoners of brute force and magic! Summon creatures to help you on your Quest, take control of the Believers, Outcast, or Hellion Race. Join a clan and brace yourself for intense battles that will shower you in fame and glory! Take advantage of Various Events which will truly test a Summoner's awesome powers!
Download Reign of Summoners 2014: iPad & iPhone | Android
4.) Big Fish Casino - Free Slots, Blackjack, Poker, Cards & Bonus Chips! (Big Fish Games, Inc)
The developer says: Big Fish Casino gives you the chance to WIN BIG in Slots, Blackjack, Texas Hold'em Poker, Craps, Roulette, and more! Play live with your friends, with all the thrill of Las Vegas! Sit down, relax, have a drink & some chips - on us. We've got gorgeous games and millions of friendly people to play with for FREE!
Download Big Fish Casino - Free Slots, Blackjack, Poker, Cards & Bonus Chips!: iPad & iPhone | Android
3.) Injustice: Gods Among Us (Warner Bros)
The developer says: Build an epic roster of DC heroes and villains and get ready for battle in the INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US mobile game from NetherRealm Studios. INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US is a free to play collectible card game that allows you to build a roster of playable characters, moves and powers and enter the arena in touch based 3 on 3 combat.
The developer says: If you like Windows Solitaire, you're going to love this app! The same classic Windows Solitaire game plus the ability to control card movements naturally by just swiping or tapping the cards on your iPhone/iPod touch/iPad and Android.
Download Solitaire: iPad & iPhone | Android
1.) Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment, Inc)
The developer says: Pick up your cards and throw down the gauntlet! In Hearthstone, you play the hero in a fast-paced, whimsical card game of cunning strategy. In minutes, you'll be unleashing powerful cards to sling spells, summon minions, and seize control of an ever-shifting battlefield. Whether it's your first card game or you're an experienced pro, the depth and charm of Hearthstone will draw you in.
