As a fan of role-playing games and open-world sandboxes, I've long held a special place in my heart for the Elder Scrolls franchise. Since I was first introduced to the series with Morrowind back in 2002, I've spent countless hours exploring Bethesda's immense fantasy worlds in search of loot, adventure, and gorgeous views of the surrounding landscapes. It's that love for the series that inspired me to spend time with The Elder Scrolls Online despite one very embarrassing shortcoming in my gaming career: I had never played a massively multiplayer online game before, or at least not for any significant length of time.
I honestly couldn't tell you why that was. There's nothing about MMO games that I necessarily dislike; I just tend to prefer the freedom of solo adventuring over group raids and guild life. But I'm happy that I gave the genre a shot, because after 40 or so hours in The Elder Scrolls Online, I rather liked--though not exactly loved--my time with the game.
Much of that appreciation stems from the overall feel of the world. The Elder Scrolls Online does a great job of capturing the joy of existing within Tamriel, all those sights and sounds that make up a vibrant fantasy setting. My journey began on the bustling medieval streets of Daggerfall, though I quickly found myself exploring the windswept sand dunes of Stros M'Kai, the eerie swampland of the Glenumbra Moors, and the picturesque coastline of Stormhaven. And those are just some of the early-level areas. Even as I proceeded across the world map toward more challenging sections of Tamriel, I always felt like there was some fresh chunk of terrain to explore or some beautiful vista to take in.
The Elder Scrolls Online goes out of its way to immerse you in its world. It's not just the geographical diversity, either. A lush soundtrack provides a stirring backdrop to your adventuring, and a fully voiced collection of non-player characters bring each city and backwater hamlet to life. Sure, there are echoes of Oblivion in the repetition of voice actors, and the dialogue can feel a bit wooden at times, but the overall presentation goes a long way toward delivering a world full of characters rather than quest-giving cardboard cutouts.
The Elder Scrolls Online does a great job of capturing the joy of existing within Tamriel, all those sights and sounds that make up a vibrant fantasy setting.
And yet, throughout all my travels, I always felt a vague longing for the serendipitous discoveries of earlier Elder Scrolls games. Enemies always respawn in the same place, and there are no hidden cabins full of clutter to rummage through, no armor waiting to be discovered at the bottom of some lake--this just isn't a game that gives you much of a reason to wander off the beaten path.
That's something that took a while for me to come to terms with. The unpredictable exploration of Elder Scrolls games has always been one of my favorite trademarks of the series. The Elder Scrolls Online does give you plenty of interesting enemies to tangle with and the occasional treasure chest to happen upon, but compared to a game like Skyrim with all its environmental storytelling and unpredictable encounters, the world feels static. It's a beautiful place, but a sterile one.
So while I struggled to create my own adventures, The Elder Scrolls Online had plenty of its own exciting tales to tell. Rarely do its quests feel like tedious fluff; quite often, you're asked to navigate labyrinthine stories of backstabbing and political intrigue, fantastical creatures and bloodthirsty cultists, or cursed souls and tormented dreamworlds. What makes these quests interesting is that they're often complex, multipart sagas. You might take on the task of rescuing a kidnapped duke only to find yourself embarking on a murder mystery involving scheming werewolves, supernatural rituals, and the ripple effects of time travel. The main storyline is a bit of a mess, but it provides some lovely backdrops.The best quests are the ones that use just enough of the series' established lore to paint a vivid picture of the task at hand, though there are some--like the messy and ultimately forgettable main storyline--that tend to resemble overzealous fan fiction. But such missteps are infrequent and easy to forgive;
Today is a good day, friends. I say that not because I just won a contest for free kiwis, but because one of the games I always wished would come to mobile devices is actually coming to mobile devices! I absolutely love creative turn-based games on mobile and think that the genre is the best suited to be played on the smaller screen and on the go. So without further ado, let me tell you which game I will be playing diligently when it pops on the Google Play Store: The Banner Saga!!!
If you haven't heard of it, I don't blame you because you might not be familiar with PC games. It was released early this year on Steam and has gone on to garner some really positive reviews and a metacritic score of 80. Not bad for an indie developer. The game will allow you to live out your viking fantasy in a turn-based action RPG that also includes choice-based decision making and dialogue, similar to Mass Effect. What else is there to say?
It has quite a unique sense of style to the graphics, one not seen in many games, but it does look really good. The game will also feature over 25 playable characters. You will be able to choose to play as humans or the aforementioned vikings, called Varl.
If you are interested, and in crazy anticipation as I am, keep an eye on this website for further details regarding The Banner Saga. I'll be sure to bring you all the latest updates and release dates whenever they surface. Developer, Stoic, has only mentioned "summer" as a vague release timeframe for iOS, Android and Windows tablets. Till then, enjoy the heat!
Watching gangster movies and reading true-crime novels are two of my favorite pastimes. Noir in general is possibly my favorite genre, and I stand with my HD colleague Melissa Parker when she says that the noir resurgence in gaming is a wonderful thing. I've been jealous of my Apple-devotee friends for their ability to play Overkill Mafia for a while now, so I was thrilled to discover it had migrated to Android this week. It's not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but it's manna from heaven for noir fans like me.
In Overkill Mafia, you play as a Prohibition-era mobster who looks suspiciously like Al Capone. Like Capone, you begin the game as a newcomer to the Chicago crime scene. Unlike Capone, you're apparently taking on a billion gangs at once on your own. There are a variety of campaigns to complete, each of which consists of 20 waves of enemy mooks that are trying to rub you out. There are also "Reputation Battles," in which you fight endless enemies until you die, and the "Best Shooter in Town," in which you strive to get as many headshots as possible before your time runs out.
Before you get into any of that action, though, something has to be said about Overkill Mafia's graphics—specifically, how unbelievably gorgeous they are. If you like the Sin City black-white-and-red aesthetic, you're going to get a big kick out of Overkill Mafia. The art is incredibly detailed and retains a lot of what I love about period-piece noir comics like Road to Perdition, which works really well in this context. And that's not even mentioning the animation, which is smooth, crisp, and delightfully gory (I really dig the tiny splatters of blood that appear whenever I kill one of my rivals).
The other part of Overkill Mafia's design I really appreciate is its sound—but that's not nearly up to par with its visual design. I began salivating when I heard honest-to-God voice acting in the game beyond simple grunts and screams, but the lines are often clunky and poorly delivered. More importantly, the music is nice, classic jazz, but tracks often overlap jarringly, so you'll hear a dramatic piano fall when you die while the jaunty melody plays on underneath. And most terrible of all, when your health falls to critical—as mine so often does—your character will begin taking raspy, horrifying breaths that disturbed me so much I had to turn off the sound altogether.
So yes, it looks good (and sounds OK ometimes), but do those good looks translate into good gameplay? The answer is that's not always the case, especially in free-to-play games, but Overkill Mafia plays as slick as it looks. The controls are simple and intuitive—aim your gun with your left thumb, shoot with your right, switch by scrolling up and down with both. It can be frustrating when you try to shoot and accidentally hit an item button instead, especially since items are so expensive (more on that later). But for the most part, I got used to that after a half hour of playing.
The biggest source of aggravation in Overkill Mafia is its aiming system, which is haphazard at best. Instead of the usual FPS aiming reticle, you are instead looking down the barrel of whatever gun you're using at the moment. That's fantastic for immersion, but much less fantastic for trying to hit very tiny areas of the screen. One of the best parts of the game comes when you shoot "support boxes" to get power-ups, an addition that makes the shooting-gallery style of play start to feel like a modern update of those rad 90s Tiger Electronics shooting games. But when you have to actually cover your target with a bulky gun and hope you're shooting the right pixels, the game's demanding precision starts to get downright annoying. That's the default, though; there are other reticle options, naturally, but nothing with any satisfying degree of precision.
That said, the problem is not insurmountable — but it is pretty tough. The other side of Overkill Mafia is upgrading "Capone's" wardrobe and arsenal with resources earned by completing waves and unlocking achievements. Cash and liquor are your currency for purchasing items and gun upgrades. Liquor is the freemium "diamond" equivalent, except it does double duty here. Instead of just speeding up wait times or buying you more time in combat, booze is also essential for buying some items and upgrades. You can only get a few liquor bottles at a time, unless you're willing to pay. Luckily, the liquor prices are surprisingly reasonable, and will last you for a while. Prices for the game's best equipment cost so much liquor and cash that they're prohibitively expensive, but buying them isn't strictly necessary—at least not until you attempt the highest-level campaigns.
So Overkill Mafia escapes our pay-to-win boycott just by the skin of its teeth. Don't tell anybody, but even if it hadn't, I'd probably still keep playing. It's such a neat presentation of the shooter genre within a storytelling oeuvre I adore that I just can't stop myself. It's certainly not my pick for Game of the Year right now, but it's a fantastic option for anyone who wants to play an FPS on the go. Overkill Mafia makes me confident that noir-themed games are sure to be a staple in mobile gaming for years to come. `
We're big fans of Nintendo games, but we're even bigger fans of playing games we love on our iPhone and Android devices. Nintendo holds a special place in our hearts as our first love when it came to console video games. Wouldn't be the perfect marriage to have some of our favorite Nintendo's titles crafted for mobile? We know we're a long way from seeing Nintendo games officially released for Android and iOS, but it doesn't hurt to dream. We're going to share some of our favorite Nintendo games that we would like to see on the iOS and Android platforms.
Super Bomberman 2
SB2 is the second of five video games in the Bomberman series developed by Hudson Soft. It was released for the Super Famicom/SNES in the U.S. during 1994. It is the only Super Bomberman game without a two-player Story Mode. Not a visually breathtaking game, Super Bomberman's treasure was in its competitive gameplay. We still have fond memories scrambling to power up our bombers to trap opponents.
Its simple gameplay makes it very easy and ideal for touchscreen devices. Playing Battle Mode would literally be a blast facing off against four of your buddies on a team, or every man for themselves. Arguably one of the most competitive and fun multiplayer games for the SNES to date.
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out
Released in 1987, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out is one of the best games released for the NES platform. This game is so great even Mario had to make a cameo as the referee. Considering that Mike Tyson was considered one of the greatest boxers of the time, it was fitting to former Nintendo president Minoru Arakawa to use his name and likeness in this epic boxing adventure.
We can already see this on iPhone and Android devices. It would utilize the accelerometer to quickly move little Mac from side to side to dodge, and directional swipe controls to block and punch. Upgraded graphics on a mobile device will make this game a success on the mobile app stores.
Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64 is a must have on mobile devices. As a kart racer, you control one of eight selectable Mario characters (Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Wario and Donkey Kong) who race on various themed tracks that vary in shape. Having a few different playable modes (Grand Prix, Time Trial, Versus and Battle), Mario Kart 64 will keep you entertained for hours in a competitive racing battle. In it, you'll make use of various power ups to either propel your character to the front of the pack or deploy weapons to dismantle your opponents.
Seeing this on a mobile device would be a virtual birthday for us. Just having the ability to gather around with your friends and face off on your mobile device would be an epic experience. Mario Kart 64 is one of the games that will benefit from the resolution found on mobile devices. Using the accelerometer to slide and maneuver and touch controls for movement, Mario Kart 64 would compliment any mobile device and make a great addition to the App Store racing category.
Star Fox 64
Known for being the first video game that used Nintendo's innovative Rumble Pak, which is a feature commonly used in today's video games, Star Fox 64 would benefit from the technology used on mobile devices to make this 3D scrolling shooter really shine. One of our favorite features of the game is the ability to pilot various vehicles, from a tank called the Landmaster or the submarine called the Blue Marine, to offer variety from the standard Arwing spaceship.
Here's another game that delivers a great multiplayer experience, supporting up to four players simultaneously. It comes with three multiplayer modes: a point match in which the player must shoot down an opponent a certain number of times, a battle royal in which the last player not shot down wins and a time trial to destroy enemy fighters. The multiplayer modes will bring an element that hasn't really materialized on the mobile market.
GoldenEye 007
Considered one of the best first-person shooters ever, GoldenEye 007 features both single and a multiplayer modes. In the single-player mode, the gamer takes the role of James Bond through a series of free-roaming 3D levels. Taking quite a few elements from the Bond film series, GoldenEye deploys gadgets found in movies such as Live and Let Die.
Stealth is a significant element of the gameplay; frequent gunfire can alert distant guards, which will activate alarms that will trigger an infinite barrage of spawned enemies. Golden Eye 007 would benefit from a similar gameplay mechanic seen on the popular stealth-action title, Republique.
Developer Arc System Works is best known for its fighting games, which include favorites like BlazBlue, Guilty Gear, and Persona 4 Arena. But the company is much more than a fighting game factory; it also creates and publishes numerous smaller games of varied genres. Magical Beat is an initially intriguing puzzle game with a striking retro visual style and a musical hook to its color-matching gameplay. This challenging and enjoyable Vita exclusive has all of the fundamental qualities of a sleeper hit--but ultimately hits a bit of a flat note.
Magical Beat is a falling-block game with a rhythm-based twist. While this description probably brings to mind the beloved puzzler Lumines, Magical Beat is quite distinct from that game in several ways. For starters, gameplay is always done in versus format, pitting you against either a human or a CPU-controlled foe. The object is to match up chains of three or more colored, anthropomorphic blocks called "beatons" in any combination of vertical or horizontal directions to send attacks over to your foe. Unlike most puzzlers of this sort, the blocks don't fall on their own: you rotate and move them above the field to your liking before pressing a button to drop them directly into the field. Prepare for a rhythmic challenge.
It's that part about dropping them of your own volition that helps set Magical Beat apart from the pack. As you play, a meter with a small bar inside of it sits alongside the field, and the bar shifts up and down in tandem with the stage's soundtrack. To successfully drop your pieces onto the field, you must press the button when the bar is within the blue area at the meter's center. Do this, and your pieces successfully drop; fail, and the beaton pieces break apart and fall in random places. Watching the meter itself is something of a hindrance, however. Instead, you should pay careful attention to the beats of the song, dropping your pieces when you hear the appropriate sound cues.
To beat your opponents, you need to be aggressive, creating combos and giant chains of same-colored beatons. There's a delay, as in Lumines, before the same-colored blocks you match up actually disappear from the playfield, allowing you a few precious seconds of time to set up a few more three-or-more chains of beatons before they all vanish. Unlike in Lumines, however, there's no visual cue for when the pieces will vanish from the field, meaning you need to pay extra attention to the music to get a sense of how long you have to create chains. The more chains you make--and the larger the clusters of eliminated beatons are--before they vanish, the more field-obstructing crud drops on your foe's side of the screen. If said junk piles up beyond the top of the arena, you win. Don't get those demons angry. You wouldn't like them when they're angry.
The drop restrictions and the hard time limit for combos combine to create a challenging--but fun--puzzle game that requires you to not only be quick with pattern identification and decision-making, but also have a keen ear for timing. You also can't go straight into panic mode when you notice one column of beatons growing dangerously high, lest you drop offbeat and wind up making your problems even worse.
While the game feels great once you get the hang of it, the learning curve is unforgiving; the tutorial is limited, and the difficulty of opponents ramps up quickly. One of the game's scant few options allows you to turn off the beaton-breaking penalty for dropping a piece offbeat, and though it does make the game considerably easier, it robs it of a quality that helps make it unique, turning it into just another fairly standard puzzle game. Character art usually comes down to either "modest" or "battle bikini."
You can't have a music-heavy game without a solid soundtrack, and fortunately, Magical Beat delivers on this front. There's a good variety of music offered of varying speeds and styles, and the speed of a stage's backing track can have a noticeable effect on gameplay. Many of the songs share a common trait: the use of Vocaloid synthesized vocals, the same technology behind Hatsune Miku. (In fact, if you're familiar with Miku's distinct "voice," you'll immediately recognize her in some of the tracks.) The songs are charming and catchy, and combined with the cute sprite graphics, they help create an upbeat, cheery atmosphere for fierce puzzle fighting. But even if the initial soundtrack isn't up your alley, beating the game once lets you play on stages featuring hard-rock tracks from Arc System Works' popular fighting games BlazBlue and Guilty Gear.
Unfortunately, that's about the full extent of interesting extra content in Magical Beat. The game features three single-player modes of ascending difficulty, each featuring a typical arcade-style progression of foes until you reach and beat the final enemy. There's no story or dialogue to speak of, just a parade of cute-looking characters whose fields you valiantly attempt to fill with junk. A fourth single-player mode allows you to pick your desired music and opponent difficulty for a single match. That's basically all there is for the solo experience; you can play as every character in normal to earn some bronze trophies, but even that isn't a terribly interesting incentive to stick with Magical Beat. A dedicated, non-versus single-player mode could have been a great addition to the package, but unfortunately, you won't find it here. Combat gets intense when enemies decide to gang up.
Multiplayer is where Magical Beat would theoretically shine brightest, and gameplay certainly does get quite fevered playing against a human opponent, provided you're OK with a limited set of match-creation options. On top of that, you can only fight local opponents; there's no online functionality built into the game. This makes finding competition significantly more challenging, and makes the already bare-bones versus mode look even more anemic. Yes, you can use a workaround like AdHoc Party to get past this limitation, but it seems ridiculous to need to do that for a competitive game in this day and age.
Magical Beat, while cleverly designed and audiovisually charming, feels stripped down. The game lacks the sorts of options and modes that help elevate a standard puzzle game to the level of cherished time-killer and competitive classic. Though a handful of nifty unlockables make for fun fan service, they don't add much to the threadbare single- and multiplayer modes. It's a real shame that this cute concert feels like it's over before it has barely started.
It's funny how well the match-three formula works for role-playing games. We've seen it applied many times before in other game releases, and now Gameloft is at it again with the release of Dungeon Gems, a worthwhile and free-to-play adventure where you'll have to use your card-matching wits to defeat enemies, while at the same time strengthening your players to keep up with tougher opposition.
It can be difficult to overcome, but we have some tips that will make you a Dungeon master in no time.
How do I play Dungeon Gems?
The game is divided into two parts. The first involves battling, and you'll need to link together cards with runes on a board in order to damage enemies. Obviously, the more cards and runes you link together, the better your attacks will be.
However, there's a small downside with runes. Similarly colored ones will launch focused attacks on enemies, while differently colored ones will have more powerful effects, but could cost you Action Points, making you weaker later in the battle.
As for the second part, it involves recruiting and buffing up soldiers in your party by sacrificing cards and spending money on gems to increase their overall strength and agility. You'll earn a few of these over the course of the game, but more impatient gamers may want to spend some money on a stockpile of gems.
How do elemental parts of battle work in Dungeon Gems?
It's basically set up like rock, paper, scissors. In this case, water defeats fire, fire defeats wood and wood defeats water. Meanwhile, when light and dark elements come into play, they'll cancel each other out, causing a counterforce and giving you the option to strike with an even harder attack.
Runes, again, can play a big part in this, but try to stick with similarly colored ones when facing a larger enemy. You'll want to save differently colored ones when you're surrounded or need to focus on more than one foe. Again, make sure you have plenty of Action Points when you do this.
How do I balance heroes in Dungeon Gems?
Over the course of the game, you'll have an option to upgrade to new heroes. In fact, over 200 are available, so be sure to diversify your party and make sure you have plenty of unique attacks on hand, with characters enriched with certain elements.
You can burn cards to help make characters stronger, but in this case, gems are the best way to go to increase their strength. Make sure to balance their attributes in the best way possible, and stockpile with Action Points so you can use special runes more often.
Be careful, though. As great as it is having a more powerful warrior in your group, they'll cost more energy points to employ in battle. From there, you'll either need to pay a few gems to fill it back up, or wait a bit for it to refill automatically (like an hour or so).
How do helpers work in Dungeon Gems?
You'll have the ability to have a helper tag along for a battle. Whether it's a friend who logged into the game or a total stranger, you'll want to do this. Not only does it provide secondary support against stronger enemies, but you'll also be able to earn friend points for each party, which can be turned around and used with your character. Rewards vary, depending on who you're facing.
It's free to try this feature out (outside of using energy points), so give it a shot!
Do I need to pay for anything in Dungeon Gems?
The game is set up on a free-to-play basis, so you may need to drop some cash for a few gems to refill your energy right away, or buy more to increase your warriors' strength. These gems can be purchased anywhere from $0.99 to $99.99, depending on how many you need.
Go through the first part of the game and see how many gems you earn before dropping some dough. Who knows, you might earn enough to get by without having to make a purchase.
Download Dungeon Gems: iPhone and iPad | Android
Mobile developer TapZen has thrown down the gauntlet, bringing its first title, This Means War!, to iOS devices with a simple goal: to dominate the mid-core strategy games space on smartphones and tablets.
TapZen is comprised of industry veterans with ample experience in creating both hardcore console titles (like Gears or War and Halo) and social free-to-play experiences (like Empires & Allies). It's that experience, says TapZen General Manager Amir Rahimi, that makes TapZen poised to take over the current market. Speaking with Inside Mobile Apps, Rahimi identified three major "waves" in the video game industry. The first wave was comprised of retail boxed products, and subscription-based MMOs. Then came Zynga and the rise of free-to-play games on Facebook.
"We believe we're entering the third wave of the industry, which is an interesting blend of the first two," says Rahimi. "We have the ability to have much deeper experiences from the first wave of games, but you also have this free-to-play and social structure that is incredibly wide in its appeal."
TapZen's philosophy, then, is to combine the in-depth gameplay found in traditional console products with "deeper social connections" that it says weren't possible during the second wave of the industry.
To achieve that, This Means War! has been built with hefty social features in mind. The base-building strategy game initially resembles others in the genre, but it's been designed with two major innovations to make it stand apart: large scale base-vs-base combat, and in-depth multiplayer battles.
The game's base building is rather conventional, and will feel "familiar" to players. Users collect two kinds of materials, supplies and red mercury, a powerful source of energy at the core of the game's fiction. Players collect these items from generators in their base, and can spend them on units and upgrades.
Combat sees users attacking other bases with their entire army, and their entire base on the screen at the same time as the enemy's. In other strategy base-building titles, users typically take a small group of troops into battle, in a reverse tower defense system, where only the enemy's base is present. In This Means War! however, the screen is split into two, with the player's base on one side, and the enemy base on the other.
A battle line rests between the two bases, and introduces a "push/pull" mechanic to battle, inspired by the likes of League of Legends and other MOBAs. Each battle requires a different strategy, based on the units players wish to deploy, and the units the enemy has available. Actual combat resembles a game of rock-paper-scissors, where units have specific strengths and weaknesses against others. It's those pros and cons that help players create the best army for each encounter.
For instance, sniper units may have long-range firing capabilities, and can hide behind tanks for protection, but they're also weak to direct attacks. Meanwhile, RPG units are great against enemy tanks, but an enemy helicopter can quickly eliminate them.
In This Means War!, it's not enough to simply recruit a large group of powerful soldiers and send them into combat without thinking. After all, the enemy's base is likely protected with bunkers for spawning new troops, turrets for protecting said bunkers, and more. That's why gamers can change their own base layout before actually starting battle, in order to protect certain areas or create a winning strategy.
This in-depth combat is present throughout the game, from the single-player campaign missions to the "random" multiplayer encounters. Users can attack their friends directly via Facebook or Game Center support, and the game tracks their stats and these "rivalries" over time. Players earn Power Cells, (the game's premium currency) when attacking friends, so consistent social play eliminates some of the burden normally placed on gamers to purchase currency with real money.
During its three month beta test in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, This Means War! reached a steady 4.5 out of 5 star rating on iTunes. TapZen is therefore optimistic about today's worldwide launch.
According to Rahimi, "[This Means War!] is the most deep and action-packed strategy game on mobile devices," and it's now available to download for free on iPhone and iPad.
When a successful children's movie gets a sequel, gamers should expect a licensed game companion. Dreamworks' Dragons: Rise of Berk is one of these. Players and fans, get ready to feed and train some familiar faces. Also, get ready to wait. Rise of Berk is a free-to-play building game. Players start out on the familiar Viking archipelago with Toothless, Hiccup and the gang. Cartoon-like text bubbles kick start the adventure. Quest revelation works well and should be particularly entertaining to fans. Achievements completed before clicking through the quest are still rewarded. Characters' comments are as funny as in the flicks, but without the voices.
Soon Toothless is off and flying, exploring nearby islands with Hiccup. Players can gather dragon eggs from the wilderness and hatch them on Berk. As with most games of this type, players must collect fish and wood to level up their dragons and environment.
Every in-game action takes time, as expected in building games. As players advance the wait times grow. Oh, you thought Toothless would be back in an instant with that new dragon egg? No way: he'll be back in half an hour. Oh, you wanted to remove that small rock in the meantime? It'll cost you twenty fish and ten minutes. You'd rather just put down another Viking hut? Oops, you're out of room! Better get rid of that rock. Like most building and breeding games, Rise of Berk is a balancing act of time, resource expense and level up requirements.
This is not a problem in and of itself, but when combined with the freemium model, it places Dragons: Rise of Berk in a group with games that attempt to take advantage of players' interest, investment, and impatience. In this case, players can skip sending Toothless out to search for dragon eggs and simply buy whichever dragons are unlocked with runes. Runes are the early-unlock currency: they can be used to speed up all actions, buy dragons or area expansions, and can even be traded for fish or wood. Runes, of course, can be bought via the Play Store for real world cash. So why bother to actually play the game at all?
If your answer to the above is "because it's fun," then keep in mind the real challenge is not to buy any runes at all. Runes are acquired by completing quests, removing rocks and unlocking rider dragons, as well as by annoying friends via Facebook. Toothless can even find the all-important runes when out searching nearby islands. If you play a miserly game and make sure Toothless explores as often as possible, you can store enough to buy the dragons that can only be acquired via runes. Like I said, players should be ready to wait. Rise of Berk has no other players or NPCs to beat, so pay-to-win doesn't apply as it does to games like Monster Legends, wherein players are bombarded with ads and one-click links to in-app purchases that would give them an edge over their opponents. Still, I admit I used about forty runes so far to speed a few processes along. I wouldn't recommend Rise of Berk for younger players, despite the fact that it will appeal to the youthful audiences of the films, because there is too much waiting in higher levels. Lock the IAP ability on your phone before you let your kids play this one – or any games even close to the pay-to-win model. Or better, don't download them at all.
This game should be familiar to many hardcore folks out there. It does not offer any new additions to the genre. There's no breeding, no dragon combat, and players cannot take direct control of any dragon during training or otherwise. These aspects would make for a more interesting game. As it stands, Dragons: Rise of Berk is a standard building affair with a How to Train Your Dragon skin over it and the added insult of in-app purchases. Dragon training rewards patience. Conversely, impatience will punish the player's wallet. Anyone who is not a fan of both the building games and the movies would be better served patiently waiting for another game. .
Two creatures--one a fish, the other a bird--come together and then are pulled apart, their love undeniable, and the rules of nature difficult to overcome. Entwined tries to tell their story, but it is not very adept at communicating a sense of romance, though it is nonetheless calming on its own terms. The journey is short and comforting, a simple coalition of ambient beauty and pattern recognition. Yet for all its gentle delights, Entwined is also too ephemeral for its own good, its sweet whispers tempting you onwards, and then dissipating into the wind once the experience has ended.
On the right side of the screen, blue rectangles and triangles come together in the shape of a soaring bird; on the left, an equally angular fish swims along. The two flit through a tunnel swirling with abstract visualizations and glowing orbs. Each creature is only allowed to move within its own hemisphere, the right side representing the air, the left representing the sea. The two may come together at the top or bottom of the screen, where they each turn green and emanate a soft chime, as if their adoration for each other is so great that they cannot help but glow with excitement. As the bird and fish automatically travel through the vortex, blue and orange windows appear, and you are to navigate through them, seeking to reach a state of unity in which the two beings merge into a single wondrous creature. The bird is controlled with the right stick, and the fish with the left.
Entwined is awash with sound and color, and its primary goal is to lure you into a trance with its pulsating music and symmetrical patterns. The game is separated into nine stages, called lifetimes, each of which radiates its own kind of comforting energy. In the fourth lifetime, for instance, you travel through a rust-red cavern in which a steady synthesized melody keeps the tempo, and heaving guitars cry out responses to it. As the bird and fish float through their checkpoints, a drum beat sounds out, and the two creatures become part of the level's rhythm section. The placement of the windows creates a rhythm of its own, causing your thumbs to flick with urgency, in contrast to other levels, which require smoother thumb movement. Each lifetime finds subtle ways to mesh the gameplay's patterns with the musical accompaniment, though the gameplay itself doesn't greatly vary during the hour or so it takes to complete the story mode.
Ultimately, Entwined doesn't boast much diversity. The cylindrical structure of each stage may recall 2012's Dyad, but where Dyad made each stage a new opportunity to do something new, Entwined is relaxed and comforting, and at least in its story mode, rarely provides much challenge or variety. Left- and right-stick movements are typically parallel in the most obvious manners, and when they are not, one creature usually needs to simply stay in place while the other navigates through its checkpoints. Halfway through the game, I longed for a new idea, an unexpected pattern, or a more poignant thematic representation of the two characters' unfulfilled love. It wasn't until the last minutes of the final level when the lifetimes coalesced in any meaningful way, but the pretty visuals gave way to a tedious object hunt that sucked the joy from the screen.
Entwined is awash with sound and color, and its primary goal is to lure you into a trance with its pulsating music and symmetrical patterns.
Tunnel of love.
That hunt occurs in the same kind of denouement that ends each level. The two animals, finally united (in death, it would seem), bond and transmogrify into a fantastical fishbird that you control freely.
San Francisco-based Pixowl has launched "Grub," its newest free-to-play game on iOS devices. Grub is the follow-up to the company's popular Doodle Grub from 2011, and sees gamers completing gameplay levels inspired by the classic arcade game 'Snake.'
Using tilt controls, users navigate environments with the titular worm character, collecting apples and killing enemies like hedgehogs and wolves. Each level has a different challenge, from reaching a high score or eating large amounts of fruit to reaching a specific size as Grub grows. Grub supports Facebook, Twitter and Game Center for a social experience, as well as over 30 achievements to keep players striving for higher scores. Video replays are even available for users to show off their best moments.
We had a chance to talk with Adrien Duermael, lead developer & co-founder of Pixowl, about the development of Grub, and what's next for the company. Inside Mobile Apps: As a sequel to the original Doodle Grub, should players have experience with the first game in order to get the most out of Grub? Adrien Duermael: No prerequisites are required to play at Grub – except the desire to have fun!! The game is designed to be easily accessible by everyone. It is a family-friendly arcade game, in the spirit of the good old Snake game, which was played by all generations. Doodle Grub was originally created in 2010 as one of the first accelerometer-based games on mobile; we designed Grub to make it the best new snake game on mobile in 2014. Call it Snake 2.0 if you like.
Grub offers modern mechanics with an isometric 3D view, maps with enemies larger than the phone screen, very simple tilt device calibration and fast moves! The game concept is easy to understand, but the gameplay is hard to master!
One of the biggest differences from Doodle Grub is that with Grub, we built a new game experience based on levels and a progression on a map that you can compare with your friends.
We kept the recipe of success from Doodle Grub: cute drawings by the comic book author Laurel, and a small yet effective team for fast development and updates. IMA: What inspired the game's use of tilt controls, rather than virtual joysticks or buttons? Are there plans to add an alternative control scheme for users who may not prefer to tilt their devices? AD: We think one of the original, defining gaming features of mobile devices is the tilt. Pixowl wants to keep innovating on mobile and the features that set it apart from other gaming devices. When players play our game The Sandbox, they are creating pixel worlds by touching the screen. When the player plays Grub they control the hero by tilting the device: those two gaming experiences are unique. IMA: How can players spend money in Grub? AD: Players can spend the virtual coins they accumulate while they play, or buy directly in the shop, to upgrade Grub capabilities for maximum effect. There are 3 Power Ups: Use Spikes to kill the varied Hedgehogs and Wolves; Freeze them with the power of Ice, and use the Magnet to collect Apples and Coins. [Players] can also use them in the upcoming Survival Mode, to play longer or get another try to make a best score.
We are also selling the Grub plush toy [on our website].
We really want to make players enjoy the game and make it a must-have game for any mobile device owner. Remember when the old snake game was the only game on your phone. IMA: Can we expect any new content updates for Grub going forward? AD: We can add new content almost weekly!
One of the first updates will be a new survival mode as well as many fun power-ups to upgrade the capacities of Grub. Players can expect new enemies, new levels with challenging objectives and a new mode to customize their Grub character! Another update will feature a "quick play" mode which provides a "make the best score or try again" type of infinite gameplay.
We are so excited to see the community embrace Grub. Since launch, Grub has already done more than 1M installs in four days and it's been a top 10 free game on the App Store in more than 75 countries! We want to keep our fans entertained as much as possible. IMA: What's next for the team at Pixowl? AD: We are preparing the second version of The Sandbox, our award-winning game, which received more than 10 million downloads to date across all platforms and has an extremely active community of 500,000 fans on Facebook.
The Sandbox puts players into a virtual sandbox where they can use more than 150 different elements to craft entire virtual worlds. Basic elements like water, soil, sand, glass and more complex items like humans, zombies, robots, dinosaurs, wildlife, animals and much more are used to create varied pixel universes, physics simulators, contraptions, electronic circuits, chiptunes music, stunning pixel art masterpieces, chain reactions and even game levels! To date, more than 750,000 user-created worlds have been shared in the Online Gallery.
The Sandbox 2 and another new title, Garfield: Survival of the Fattest, will both be released in Fall 2014. IMA: Anything else you'd like to add? AD: Two gaming industry veterans recently joined our board of advisors – Ed Fries, the cofounder of Xbox and former chief of Microsoft Game Studios, and Randy Breen, the former CEO of SGN. Pixowl, together with these two visionaries, will continue to develop original, character-based games that appeal to wide audiences.
Calling Shovel Knight "old-fashioned" isn't derogatory. Rather, its brazen re-creation of established conventions only proves that some ideas, no matter how dusty they may appear, are engaging no matter what era we're in. There's no expiration date on immediate combat in which smart positioning is as important as deft attacks, or branching stages that hide secret passageways for those anxious to quench their inquisitive flames. Shovel Knight doesn't add anything novel over what we've seen in countless older games; it doesn't reinvent its core concepts into a decidedly new experience. Rather, it shows just how exciting a traditional adventure can still be, making technological innovations seem superfluous when pure fun is all you crave.
Everything in Shovel Knight can be classified as old in one way or another. The story, in which two fearsome knights are separated by a malevolent force and one (the man) must rescue the other (the woman), belongs to a bygone era. Simple aesthetics owe much to the visual design and musical scores from when sprites and MIDI were still the dominant forms of artistic expression. And beyond those surface details lie references to the progenitors of Shovel Knight's exploits. The knights who serve as bosses borrow heavily from the robot masters of the Mega Man series, complete with their own descriptive quirks that dictate not only their attacks, but the traps populating their stages. Towns that you duck into could have been pulled from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (though there is thankfully no one named Error present). And you'd be forgiven for mistaking your pogo attack for Scrooge McDuck's from DuckTales.
Rather than relying on conjuring pleasant memories from a simpler time, however, Shovel Knight is fun because its many components are well realized. Take the combat as an example of where Shovel Knight proves its worth based on its own merits. Combat within this platformer, for example, is position-based because knockbacks are so prevalent. Not only can enemies shove you into bottomless pits with a timely attack, but striking baddies with your shovel also nudges you toward the nexus. It's a system that demands careful planning even though your repertoire is limited. Attack too soon or late, and you're liable to meet an untimely end, so the precision needed to survive unscathed pulls you in to the life-or-death showdowns.
Some ideas, no matter how dusty they may appear, are engaging no matter what era we're in.
Pits are the number one danger you face. Mistiming a jump is a common occurrence, especially when there are enemies waiting for you to make a mistake, so the majority of my failures came from careless stumbling. Generous checkpoints ensure backtracking is kept to a minimum, and though this eliminated frustration, the prevalence of safety nets meant I was rarely forced to alter my strategy. Mere competence is enough to get from one checkpoint to the next, which was disheartening considering how punishing similar games have been. It's difficult to strike that balance between challenge and accessibility, and Shovel Knight leans a little too far to the latter side.
Whining that Shovel Knight is slightly too easy doesn't seem fair considering how much I enjoyed venturing through every stage. However, because I so rarely feared for my life, I never felt the need to master every item that I unlocked. Sure, I could have made clever use of my invincibility cloak, or figured out a way to use a thunderous punch mid-battle, but there was no need to delve deeper into my tactics. I relied on my standard strike, pogo attack, and fireball for much of the adventure, so though puzzling out how best to defeat each foe was still enjoyable, any variety was my own doing rather than the game's demand. That sadly remained unchanged even in New Game Plus. Patience and precision are enough to vanquish any stage, so much of my inventory remained unused, and my strategy never wavered.
These problems didn't become apparent until I revisited stages. Games cut from a retro cloth tend to hold my attention for dozens of hours as I hunt down every secret and master the many confrontations. But there was no such draw here. Still, during my first time through, the stages were fluid and dynamic, presenting so many architectural and adversarial changes that I was continually enraptured. Seeing disinterested hamsters attached to propellers made me laugh with joy, and matching wits against shield-bearing knights provided many humbling outcomes. Braving the darkness of one level and the wind of another demanded different skills, and never knowing what awaited me in the next screen kept me slightly unhinged. What madness would be expected of me? Would I have to eliminate the spirits haunting a house? Or navigate platforms while magma poured from above? Shovel Knight's bountiful charms are so immediate and satisfying that I couldn't stop myself from forging ahead to see what else lay before me.
The branching level design also beckoned. Shovel Knight is strictly linear, except if you have an inquisitive nature. False walls give way to myriad places where bountiful treasure is stored. A sharp-eyed individual should find half of what's out there the first time through, but even after visiting each stage multiple times, there were still a handful of tricky items that I couldn't locate. The reward for uncovering a secret is mostly intangible--the money from treasure chests doesn't matter once there's nothing else to buy--and though I drew great joy from trying to secure every bit of treasure initially, my interest waned as time elapsed. The core action wasn't as exciting on repeat visits because with so few surprises waiting for me, and no need to vary my strategies, I was lulled by predictability.
So, Shovel Knight doesn't hold up upon a second and third playthrough. That's a black mark if you're keen on starting fresh after the credits role, but there's no shame in lessened impact on repeat visits. There is one element that remained gripping no matter how often I played it, though: boss fights. These are pattern-based affairs that test your reaction time, punish your recklessness, and make you feel incredibly powerful once you come out on top. These encounters are the one situation that I had to make use of my expansive inventory as I searched for an item that would give me the upper hand. I would toss deadly balls to deal massive damage, use a magic sword to glide through the air unscathed, and turn invincible when I needed a breather. And when the difficulty ramped up in New Game Plus, I was brought to my knees more often than I'd like to admit.
No matter which era it had been released in, Shovel Knight would have been embraced. Its inherent charms are timeless. Shovel Knight is a good reminder that game design does age but can never die and that simple mechanics can still be immensely satisfying. But this is not another classic. History echoes forth in everything that Shovel Knight does, but while its inspirations offer compelling moments decades after they were first released, this adventure loses its impact all too quickly. Much of what draws me to games of this ilk are repeatedly playing through them, differing my tactics to become more efficient at whatever challenges lie before me. Without that aspect present in Shovel Knight, I was left with an "is that all?" feeling when the well ran dry. Shovel Knight is a memorable re-imagining of what I grew up with, but doesn't have the longevity or inventiveness to be great in its own right.
Valiant Hearts: The Great War is one of the most human and sensitive games about war ever released. Set during World War I, the game is more about the personal struggles of its characters than it is about the larger historical details and political realities of the devastating conflict. It takes a few small missteps, but the game successfully couches grim truths in a story with endearing characters, gorgeous art, and moments of jubilance and adventure, making its tale about how war destroys lives accessible and appealing to players of all ages while still giving the war's tremendous human cost the acknowledgment it deserves.
The game begins by making it clear that this isn't a simple tale of good vs. evil. Karl is a German citizen living in France with his wife and newborn son, but as the war breaks out, Karl is forcibly separated from his family and sent back to Germany, where he must join the war effort. Meanwhile, his father-in-law, Emile, is conscripted into the French forces. Neither of them are motivated to enlist or fight; rather, as is so often the case in war, they are ordinary people who are swept up in conflicts beyond their control.
Over the course of the game, you play as both Emile and Karl, as well as a Belgian nurse named Anna and an American named Freddie who enlists with the French forces. These characters aren't traditional action heroes; the older Emile, for instance, has to scramble and struggle a bit to hoist himself over obstacles, and instead of running and gunning their way through the game's side-scrolling stages, characters solve a series of environmental puzzles to proceed.
These puzzles cleverly find many different ways to combine simple elements like tossing objects to distract enemies, pulling levers to activate machinery, and issuing commands to your devoted canine companion, Walt, and they're just challenging enough to be engaging and satisfying, without being so difficult as to interfere with the story's momentum. And throughout the stages, you can find collectibles that shed light on the historical realities of the war, illuminating the miserable conditions soldiers engaging in trench warfare had to live with, for instance, or the ways that the war affected the rights and workplace responsibilities of women.
You spend a lot of your time in Valiant Hearts helping people.There's a lot of death in Valiant Hearts, but very little direct violence. You do occasionally have to clobber an unsuspecting enemy soldier from behind, and you may blast a few planes out of the sky in one sequence, but most of your time is spent helping people rather than attacking them. You provide first aid to the wounded, rescue people trapped in buildings, and give a soldier a nice, clean pair of socks. In this game, you are not a killing machine. The war itself is. There's an appropriate feeling of futility that comes from charging into battle again and again and seeing soldiers on both sides fall in droves to artillery blasts and machine-gun fire. Things become increasingly grim as the game and the war progress, and a late-game stage set during the hopeless Nivelle Offensive is particularly hellish.
It's not all grimness and death, thankfully. There are scenes of beauty, too, like a sequence that takes place on a starry night in Paris just as the war is beginning.
Google held their annual conference where they reveal their future plans, Google I/O. There they revealed a new TV initiative they call Android TV – a version of Android that is specially designed gadgets that will deliver TV content and gameplay.
Thus they go in the footsteps of the new initiative to commerce giant Amazon, which earlier this year launched a new television program that is also made to be a gaming console. Amazon Fire TV suddenly opens for gaming when you buy the specially designed hand controller, which is not supplied with the TV.
They seem to choose the same solution with its new Android version designed for television experiences, but in typical Google philosophy, the system is used by other manufacturers as well. And here they have chosen to ally themselves with game equipment specialists Razer, known for focusing on core gamers.
- The new widget, powered by Android TV will stream movies and music and have other apps for large screens in addition to having extra focus on gaming, according to the press release of the Razer without explaining what it means in practice.
Almost no details of specifications are revealed but Razer has good experience in both mouse, keyboard and hand control for players. Electronics manufacturers like Sony is rumored to be ready to adopt the system. Sony already has a good foot in the Android system with its tablets and mobile phones.
Google also has even produced a special box that adopts the system, which is intended for developers and is uncertain about to be sold on the open market. It is not unlikely that they choose the same solution with their mobile phones and tablets in the Nexus series.
Small specs are not yet known whether the new devices shall adopt Android TV, but according to reports, Google's own box will have an Nvidia Tegra 4 chip set. This is a well-known graphics processor which is used by newer tablets, and is also used by Nvidia's own handheld console, Nvidia Shield.
Android TV is not the first attempt Google have made to conquer the TV living room – some may remember Google TV, which can not be described as anything but a failure. Right enough, Android TV will be compatible with Google TV, according to Google. Last year they also launched the Chrome Cast – a HDMI stick to stream content to your TV.
The new initiative which uses Android TV will be scheduled for launch in the autumn of 2014.
This is an interetisng product from Google, so expect more news about it in the future!
If you based quality strictly on appearance, EA Sports UFC could be a lock for the top spot, because EA Canada's first crack at a mixed martial arts project captures the atmosphere of a real event. Hard liver shots mirror a pebble being thrown into a still pond, the impact causing skin to ripple across the body. Bruises and cuts form and worsen over the course of a fight, and veins bulge as fighters desperately work to break out of tight guillotine chokes.
It's beautiful violence, but once you grab a controller, the wonder of the gorgeous character models and stomach-churning thuds of punches and kicks quickly wears off. That's because one of the most essential elements of the sport is almost nonexistent inside this virtual Octagon: tension. Where THQ's UFC series allowed each moment of a fight to seem equally dangerous for both combatants, EA Sports UFC's poor balancing makes the moment-to-moment action feel too safe, too often. Vicious knees that would send even the most granite-chinned veteran tumbling to the canvas often land without much effect, and while a fully mounted position on the ground tends to result in either a stoppage or easily won round in real MMA, single-button escapes cause dominant positions to feel flimsy. You don't have to make the fighter you create look stupid--but it sure does add entertainment value.
Each fight in EA Sports UFC starts on the feet, and for the most part, that's where they stay. The stand-up game--despite its preference for flash over finishing power--is the best way to play. Jumping off the cage and landing flush with a flying knee is devilishly satisfying, while parrying a jab and answering with a devastating overhand-right is enough to get you out of your seat. It can take quite a bit of work to end a fight, but individual animations, whether you're throwing bombs standing up or transitioning on the ground, look natural. If all you want to do is meet in the center of the Octagon, bite down on your mouthpiece, and swing until someone's lights go out, you're at least rewarded with proper hit detection and satisfying contact.
Frankly, it's just about the only way the AI and most online players care to engage. That's because there's no venom in a strong wrestling-based attack. A real fighter rarely flips his opponent over while pinned on his back to land into a prevailing mount, but it happens frequently in EA Sports UFC. Reversing someone who just worked hard to drag you to the mat and trap you in a bad spot shouldn't come from a few swift rotations of the right stick, and while I'd love to be able to move into side control and dig a few well-placed knees in the midsection of another fighter, it's often too difficult to hold anyone down long enough to produce any significant offense. It was love at first clench.
The grappling game is muted for the most part, but submissions can be a viable option. If you can reach and maintain a dominant position, grabbing a limb or your opponent's neck leads to a minigame that determines the success of a technique. A giant octagon appears on the screen as the defending fighter looks to push one of the four corners far enough to break the hold, while the jiu-jitsu practitioner fights to hyperextend the limb to force a tap. Stamina, along with the individual fighter's skill with a particular move, determines each scramble's success, and if you can actually stay on the ground long enough to find an opening, submissions are a valuable weapon.
Baffling design decisions aren't exclusive to the offensive side of the game, either. Players can slip and parry punches, but when it comes to blocking strikes, holding a single button stops high, middle, and low blows. Fighters can't regain stamina when in a defensive stance, making it unwise to continually hold your hands up to defend your noggin. Yet the lack of multiple levels of blocking reduces the effectiveness of intelligent combinations. Throwing a flurry of low kicks, digging into the body, and then surprising your foe with a fight-ending head kick is a strategy that often works in both real MMA and THQ's Undisputed series, but unless your dance partner decides to let go of the block button, all of these strikes in UFC are too easily blocked.
A real fighter rarely flips his opponent over while pinned on his back to land into a prevailing mount, but it happens constantly in EA Sports UFC.
The AI isn't exactly defense-minded, so standing and banging is an almost surefire method for success. I managed to capture the lightweight title by knocking out each contender in the first round while playing through the game's career mode, which throws your customized character into the Ultimate Fighter reality series and follows him to the end of his career. Without fail, I walked to the center of the cage, blocked incoming strikes, threw heavy leather whenever there was an opening, and ended the fight without the need for judges. I never lost a single fight, and this was all on the game's hard mode.
Starting as an untested prospect and fighting your way to the top might sound like an appealing single-player offering, but unfortunately, climbing the ladder is a slog. Training camps between individual fights are padded with dull training exercises and awkward video clips from real-life fighters. Current stars of the UFC patting you on the back in between fights comes off as both gimmicky and unnecessary, and while it can be fun to improve both your stats and your stockpile of techniques, the tutorial-esque drilling sessions are an uninspired chore. Click above for more images of EA Sports UFC.
Online play is your best bet for competitive, interesting matches. I experienced only brief periods of lag over the course of more than 30 fights, and while I still rarely saw opposition shoot in for a takedown, there was at least a bit more diversity inside the cage. The career and online modes are the meat and potatoes of the experience, and it's not exactly a filling dish.
The graphical foundation is in place, but there are too many flawed combat systems to call this a strong debut for what's sure to be an annualized series. EA Sports UFC manages to make only certain aspects of MMA both fun and functional, forcing most fights to play out in a familiar, brawling fashion. Even if you do enjoy swinging for the fences, there's just not enough content here to justify the full retail price. It might look the part of a world champion, but EA Sports UFC will need a great deal of fine-tuning before it's up to snuff.
When it arrived for the Vita in 2012, Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack offered a challenging and sometimes puzzling romp through around 30 levels of sci-fi mayhem. A move to consoles two years later hasn't changed much about the source material. The blob still responds beautifully to your commands, and the design still feels fresh, but there are some disappointing new issues too.
This is in many respects a straight port, with necessary adjustments to bring it to a larger viewing surface and some tweaks to puzzles where they make sense. The game still begins as you, represented by a little blob of jelly with attitude (note the spikes), escape a cage and begin terrorizing a scientific research building. During the platforming stages that follow, the unnamed goop slides, hops, and even flies through mostly sterile environments populated by lab equipment, security systems, picnicking astronauts, whales, and tasty civilians. The whole time, it consumes anything smaller than itself, until eventually there's not much left that qualifies. As in the PlayStation 2 classic Katamari Damacy, backtracking to old obstacles and adding them to your own mass feels joyful.
Mutant Blobs Attack boasts an attractive art style that wouldn't have been out of place in magazine and billboard ads during the '50s. There's a washed-out look to a lot of it, with little splashes of color that mostly center around the antihero you control and the food he can consume. On the Vita's screen, the aesthetic was especially lovely, and it looks terrific now even on a substantially larger display. The kooky soundtrack works as nicely coming from television speakers as it does a handheld unit, and the cutscenes between stages remain adorable.
Unfortunately, the game's control scheme didn't translate as well as its audiovisual components. The blob itself performs admirably, and he possesses abilities that allow you to also manipulate the environment to solve puzzles. Not much precision is required in the early going, and there aren't major penalties if you make a mistake (especially since the developers were smart and placed frequent checkpoints throughout every stage so that you never have to tackle more than one challenge at a time), but the puzzle design in later stages grows more devious, and it's easy to get fatally fried by a laser even when you know what you're expected to do to survive.
Backtracking to old obstacles and adding them to your own mass feels joyful.
In one case, for instance, you need to cross a wide area with laser beams serving as its base. The way to accomplish that task is to manipulate a series of four floating, C-shaped platforms. You can press shoulder buttons to toggle which one you are trying to manipulate, and moving the right analog stick then allows you to direct the architecture's movement via telekinesis. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to start moving the wrong piece at the wrong time, and that's fatal for the ball of goop in your charge.
Other situations might find you rotating giant wheels while the blob works through them. On the Vita, this was again handled with finger slides and felt natural. With a controller's analog stick, environmental responses to your commands are often jerky. Gears and turrets either barely adjust or move with such gusto that you accidentally squash your otherwise resilient character. Nearly effortless precision is a thing of the past. It was easy to take for granted, and now it's gone. Click above for more images.
Bonus stages also provide less of a thrill, now that you interact with them by way of a new control scheme. The stages take place from a top-down perspective. Previously, you would tilt the Vita to direct the path the slime followed as it slid through the environment, scarfing down objects and quickly gaining mass. Sometimes you also had to swipe along the screen to manipulate barriers. Here, all you have to do is tilt the analog stick and the barriers are absent. The challenge is gone too, and with it much of the satisfaction that came from surviving another minigame interlude.
Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack was and still is an enjoyable platformer, regardless of the device on which you play it, but it's difficult to recommend this new release to anyone who already has access to the superior Vita rendition. The attractive aesthetic and the light puzzle elements that made the original release worthwhile have returned mostly unscathed, but the control limitations this time around hurt the experience, and that's a shame. Hopefully, vengeful slimes everywhere will forgive the developers the infraction.
The Elder Scrolls Online goes out of its way to immerse you in its world. It's not just the geographical diversity, either. A lush soundtrack provides a stirring backdrop to your adventuring, and a fully voiced collection of non-player characters bring each city and backwater hamlet to life. Sure, there are echoes of Oblivion in the repetition of voice actors, and the dialogue can feel a bit wooden at times, but the overall presentation goes a long way toward delivering a world full of characters rather than quest-giving cardboard cutouts.
