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Sunday

Review: Contract Killer: Sniper

Contract Killer: Sniper is the latest instalment in Glu's Contract Killer series, and I must confess that, even though I wasn't a massive fan of the previous entry, this new one has me intrigued.
 
I assumed that the focus would be much more on pure sniping, but as I've already seen in my hands-on video, that isn't the case - Killer comes with assault weapons and a base building element too.
How will Contract Killer: Sniper last over a full seven days of scrutinous investigation? What else does the game have up its sleeve? Find out as I play it over the course of a week and report back to you, dear PG readers.
First impressions
So yes, Contract Killer: Sniper is not, as you might expect, all about sniping. But there's sniping to be found.
Within minutes of loading up the game you're firing assault rifles into baddies, and pretty soon you'll start playing with futuristic electric weapons, chucking throwing knives, and shooting LAWs.
Maps reflect the weapon you're using, so where sniper rifle stages are set over large levels, areas where you're firing a machine gun are much more confined and contained.
You can jump from cover to cover, but it only seems to matter in the more close combat-focused scenarios.
So far I'm enjoying myself. Hunting for targets is super fun, the controls are responsive enough to get what you need to do done, and there's a neat slow motion effect that occurs whenever you put the last bullet into an evil-doer.
If there's a downside that's present after just a little while with the game, then it's that the story is already a complete write off - something about a shadowy NGO delivering justice when the law cannot because something something blah blah blah.
It's tripe, and the characters are one-dimensional, but I very much doubt anyone's coming to Contract Killer looking for narrative.

Five Mobile Fighters for iOS

It looks as though North America could well see a very important addition to its mobile gaming market in the form of fightstick maker Hori's Horipad, meant for making mobile fighting games absolutely awesome. Since the Horipad is making its Japanese debut this month, it's possible that after Hori hinting at a possible US announcement that we could be seeing it stateside as well. But what games should you get excited for? There's a veritable menagerie of fighters to get hyped for, so pick some of them up and get to practicing so you can slide into using the Horipad if it's releasing and trounce your competition.

Soul Calibur





This is an essential console fighter, with plenty to offer as its mobile form. It brought 3D fighting into the spotlight back during its original run on consoles, and the touch screen controls translate well even for those not so used to fighting games on the iPad and iPhone. Stick users will feel right at home, but even if you want to use a pad in the future you'll have that option as well. Plus, it's absolutely gorgeous, especially for a game of its age!
Download for iOS.

King of Fighters '98

King of Fighters '98 was an excellent fighter upon release, combining a smattering of familiar fighters and other well-liked aspects from the King of Fighters repertoire. It featured a wide variety of match types and fantastic action even all those 16 years ago. Now it's made its way to iOS to a new generation of fighting game fans, and thankfully, it's largely the same game -- just pocket-sized!
Download for iOS.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2

This pint-sized riff on the console fighter is one of the best fighters on iOS, and it's even cheaper than most. It features 56 familiar characters just as you remember them, as well as natural touch controls that would only be amplified with the Horipad. Plus, it's one of the only ways to take this classic fighter on the go with you.
Download for iOS.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Mortal Kombat is a venerable mobile fighter franchise, and this one is no exception. While it's devoid of the signature fatalities specific to this classic series, it still boasts plenty of fighters and the same great Mortal Kombat action you're used to. There's also a great online mode that lets you take the fight on the road, and you'll certainly want to.
Download for iOS.

Street Fighter IV Volt

This Street Fighter is an interesting riff on Street Fighter IV with specialized controls, excellent online multiplayer, and the same familiar Street Fighter combos and flashy animations you know and love. It's one of the best fighters currently available for the platform, and absolutely ripe for play with a Horipad!
Download for iOS.

Friday

Candy Crush Soda Saga iPhone Review

Candy Crush Saga is back for more delicious candy matching goodness with the long-awaited Candy Crush Soda Saga. It's a colorful amalgam of everything you loved about the original puzzler wih a hefty helping of frustrations that'll keep you glued to the same level for hours on end. With that said, it's still exciting to get hooked on.

The Good

This is an even better-looking Candy Crush saga with additional candy types and special "bubble bears" that look like gummy bears. You still have to match candy pieces, but you'll have to worry about little bottles of soda and float little gummy bears to the top of the board. The soda bottles aren't the only thing you have to worry about, either. Chocolate returns, along with honey, ice blocks, and more.
Frosted gummy bears are difficult to match as well, but add an interesting element of strategy to a game that was previously a series of combos that seemed the same time after time. The additional candies are exciting to see cropping up board after board, even if they are tough to get rid of.

The Bad

This is Candy Crush we're talking about, and undoubtedly one of the most frustrating matching games this side of iOS and Android. The new candy pieces are difficult to clear as they are, and the game knows it. It takes some sort of sadistic pleasure in forcing you to try new boards over and over again until you're frustrated enough to pay for a way out. You're still working against a set amount of moves that you'll use up long before you complete a level, and you'll no doubt end up spending more money than you need to. Such is the nature of the beast, and Candy Crush.

The Verdict

This is a worthy successor to the original Candy Crush Saga with plenty for newcomers and old fans alike. Just don't be surprised if you end up with some cavities after playing for an extended period of time.
Download Candy Crush Soda Saga for iPhone and iPad.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf iPhone Review

The Warhammer series brings another card game into the mobile gaming space with Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf, an interesting squad-based strategy card game that's free to play. It's full of intriguing content, but you will eventually find that you'll have to pony up to enjoy it to the fullest.


The Good

This turn-based deck builder finds you taking turns attacking other players until a goal is met or you reach an objective on the map. With multiple objectives to complete, there are several goals to finish out with each level, and with each new squad member you're dealt a new hand of cards. You can play 2 cards per round, and the cards range from weapon and gear, as well as providing movement.
Of course, there's a lot more to the game than simply selecting and playing cards. There's a deep and intricate strategy system here that you'll need to take some time to appreciate. Luckily, it's simple to learn and control, and the touch controls make it very easy to get into the game in a manner that isn't immersion-breaking or frustrating to those just starting.

The Bad

Some maps can feel downright cramped, and the attack radius of several weapons don't allow you a lot of freedom. In a game that wants you to use one or two buttons to complete most actions, there are some that take several taps, and this interrupts the flow of gameplay.
Also, the aspect that seems par for the course in these types of games as of late is the F2P layer that will undoubtedly frustrate you. At some stages you'll be looking at being forced into upgrading and buying premium content simply to pass a level. When it's between completing a level and paying real money to do so, it's pretty obvious what the layman player is going to do, and it isn't "spend $20 on new content."

The Verdict

Space Wolf is a gorgeous and full-featured card battler with layers upon layers of strategic finesse that fans of the universe and genre will no doubt eat up. However, it relies on a hefty amount of "buy Y to do X" sensibilities, so if you can't get behind that, you might be better off with another strategy game.
Download Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf for iPhone and iPad.

Run Sackboy! Run! iPhone Review

We all know Sackboy as the iconic Sony PlayStation mascot, the star of LittleBigPlanet and thief of several hearts. The adorable little stuffed toy is finally starring in his own mobile title, and it's cute beyond belief. But is this endless runner an awesome new title or simply full of fluff?



The Good

Sackboy runs through three different and familiar worlds from the LittleBigPlanet games, which players wil no doubt recognize at the onset: The Canyons, The Gardens, and Avalonia. Throughout each area Sackboy must collect stickers, power-ups, upgrades, and even additional costumes. You need only tap the screen for Sackboy to jump and clear pits he needs to cross, though most of the fun lies within collecting hidden items that you can't get to during normal play.
Of course, there are enemies as well, and plenty of impedances to keep you from your goal. There's a wide variety of ways to ensure Sackboy doesn't reach the finish line, but it's pretty fun attempting to reach it just the same.

The Bad

There isn't much to set this endless runner apart from others of its ilk, and to be attached to the LittleBigPlanet name, there's a dearth of any real extras that would coerce players from the console big brothers over to play this game as well. It also suffers a bit from pacing.

The Verdict

If you're a LittleBigPlanet fan, there's plenty to attract you to Run Sackboy! Run, but it's nothing that's going to end up breaking the mold, unfortunately. It's a little disappointing, but it's serviceable. In the end, you'll probably end up missing the diversity of the regular LittleBigPlanet games.
Download Run Sackboy! Run! for iPhone and iPad.

Thursday

Hands-on with Anki Drive - the AI-driven slot car racer for iOS and Android

Cast your mind back to Apple's 2013 keynote and you might remember something called Anki Drive. It was a sort of Scalextric of the future, which used your iPhone as the controller, and computer AI instead of slots to keep the cars on the tracks.
It's now out in shops - it's actually been available for some time - but in the run up to Christmas we decided to get our hands on it and see whether this is actually worth putting on your list.
Your entry point to the world of Anki Drive is the starter kit which contains one massive great mat (measuring 260 by 106 metres, so good luck fitting that in your house), two cars, and all the charging cable junk.
You can buy more cars and different tracks separately.
You'll also need the app - it's available for free on the App Store and works with most iPhones and iPads. There's also an Android app but it's not compatible with many devices currently. Plus, you can't do multiplayer between iOS and Android.
App
Setting up the game is refreshingly straightforward. As long as Bluetooth is turned on, your phone will automatically find and pair with nearby Anki Drive cars. Players can then pick cars they want, and leftover vehicles can become AI racers.
Then it's just a case of setting up a game mode - you've got race, battle, and practice, putting the cars on the starting line, and saying go.
The cars all move forward by themselves, turn into corners, and try to avoid other racers. Your control is quite limited: you can change the speed, but you're never in danger of flying off the side of the track like in scarelectrix so you'll generally go flat out.
You can also steer, sort of. Tilting your phone left or right will move your car from the outside lane to the inside or back again. But while the speed change is practically instant, this is less responsive so it's not good for quickly evading cars or snaking between lanes for better corners.
Anki Drive
Then there's the real meat of the game: combat. You can fire weapons and use tractor beams and unleash other items to slow down and temporarily disable rival racers so you can get ahead in the race.
But you're really going to have to use your imagination here. The cars have little LEDs that flash when you're shooting weapons or getting shot, and your phone makes plenty of noises, but the rest is just in your brain.
You can also upgrade your car and equip different weapons and boost your stats, and there's a whole upgrade path to work through. Luckily, you can balance all the cars back down to the lowest shared level before a race so everyone's on a level playing field.
From a technical perspective, Anki Drive is very impressive. The game works pretty well, the cars stay on course most of the time, and the vehicles react quickly to being shot or you dropping their speed. As a robotics demonstration, it's quite the feat.
But I didn't actually find the game itself that much fun in play. As a racer, it's pretty dull and you don't feel like you have all that much control over the outcome of the race. Everyone just goes flat out, veers into the inside lane, and then waits until the laps are over.
Cars
It's supposed to be about battles, of course, but that just doesn't quite work.
You just see little lights and noises and then your car stops for a few seconds which can get super annoying. That's a limitation of the system of course, your car can't drop little mines or shoot tiny bullets like in the toy's advert. But as it stands, it just feels flat and repetitive.
There are also technical issues, like having to keep looking down at your phone to see what's happening or make sure your thumbs are over the right buttons, or the pitiful 20 minute battery life of the cars.
You may find there's some fun to be had with Anki Drive, but probably not enough to warrant rolling up and unrolling this massive mat every time you want to play, dealing with the battery life, or paying the whopping £150 price tag for the starter kit.
There could be a good game in this technology, but Anki Drive isn't really it. You might have a laugh on Christmas morning and enjoy figuring out how it all works. But I bet it will sit in your cupboard, collecting dust, in 2015.

World of Warriors iPhone Review

Mash-ups and crossovers have become a popular media outlet in recent years. Movies, games, and television have all had different characters team up together to fight a common goal. It's human nature to fantasize about different characters teaming up and seeing what would happen. Imagine if all of history's greatest warriors were at your disposal. World of Warriors helps you realize that vision.

The Good

World of Warriors is an RPG fighter in which you assemble warriors and leaders from across the globe and time to fight for you. It's almost like card collecting. You spend money to buy warriors, but you don't know which fighter you are going to get. There are different gems you use to buy warriors so the rare gems give you rarer fighters. All the warriors are level based and can be upgraded and augmented with new skills. There are a lot of warriors throughout history and they are historically accurate as well, so it's a bit of a learning experience as well. They give you the fighter's name, where they are from, the time period, and their army or clan. The game is also fairly light-hearted. The characters have a cartoony look and for all fighting and swords being wielded the game can be enjoyed by kids and adults. The gameplay is fairly unique you pick your team of warriors to battle another team. The attacks are a lot of quick timing events. When your warrior attacks you have to tap the screen at the right time so your attack will be stronger or weaker depending on the timing. There are a few different timing events depending on the fighter, but its basically all about lining up a moving bar with a line on screen. The game also utilizes a rock-paper-scissors mechanic in which each warrior is assigned an element and does more or less damage depending on the element they are fighting.

The Bad

The game has many of the same problems that most free to play games have. The in-game currency system for buying more warriors is skewed so that there are not a lot of rarer gems given to get the better warriors, so you need to purchase them with real money. The energy system is also a real pain as in most free games. You play maybe five matches and you already need to wait for your energy to recharge to play another fight and of course you can pay more money to avoid the wait.

The Verdict

World of Warriors is a unique RPG, that combines a bit of a fighting game feel with turn based combat. It has a lot of historical accuracies and it gives you a lot of content for the free price. It has many of the pitfalls that most free games have though, (ads, freemium add-ons, and in game currencies) which holds it back from being an incredible title. The game is still very fun though and is definitely worth a try.
Download World of Warriors for iPhone and iPad.

Mr. Particle Man iPhone Review

Particle Man, Particle Man, doing the things a particle can. What he's like is totally important since this is a review of the iOS title. It is, in fact, a sequel to the title Ms. Particle Man, which came out in 2012. It's an old-school throwback that brings the challenge in droves, while channeling Pac-Man and other arcade titles we love so much. But buyer beware: It's super difficult.

The Good

Mr. Particle Man is divided into stages that look a lot like familiar titles like Bubble Bobble or Pac-Man, with your goal being to get to the exit as quickly as you possibly can. If you get hit by something, you die. If you get sent back to the beginning of the stage, you lose your bonus. This wouldn't be so bad if you also had to contend with boss fights here and there, which impede your progress to the exit.
You also fight with maneuvering your character properly around the board, which can be quite frustrating. You must play around with momentum to make Mr. Particle Man move, and that in itself ups the challenge considerably. If you take your finger off the screen for too long, he'll also explode. There's a method to the madness, though, and finding it is half the fun.

The Bad

There are over 100 stages that you'll have to trudge through, but they do end up feeling the same near the end, especially given the fact that an overwhelming amount of frustration will likely keep you from continuing when you die over and over. There's also not much going on on-screen to keep you occupied and the levels are quite drab.

The Verdict

Mr. Particle Man is an interesting riff on classic arcade titles, with plenty of challenge and difficulty. You may not always like where the challenge comes from, but it's there just the same, and if you can surmount it you'll find plenty to like about the game. Good luck!
Download Mr. Particle Man on iPhone and iPad.

Wednesday

Angry Birds Transformers: Tips and Tricks

Angry Birds Transformers is a fun-filled, entertaining game, that features Rovio’s Angry Birds mixed with everyone’s favorite robots in disguise from the 1980′s The Transformers. The Autobirds and Deceptipig’s actually team up together to take down an enemy threat. So before you transform and roll out, be sure that you read on these tips and tricks.
  1. Target the weak points and TNT crates – this may not be your standard Angry Birds game, but the one thing that Rovio has not changed is, those pesky pigs still love to hang out on top or in those structures. Remember if a structure has glass be sure to target that and shoot it  down first, if a structure has wood it may take a few shots to shoot down, but eventually it will go down (depending on what character that you are using it may go down quicker) if it be stone, then just shoot the pig. And if a structure has a TNT create just that down.
  2.  Learn your Transformer’s Strength and Weaknesses-  There are over 20 transformer characters for you to use, and all of them have different weapons and skills. Take for instance Optimus Prime may be quick on his feet, but his shots are weak, and Heatwave may be a slow as a tank, but his weapon is powerful, and all structures will go down in one shot. So take the time to learn each character’s strength and weakness.
  3. Pigs, Pigs, PIGS!!- There may be times where you will have one or more flying pigs that will shoot at you, so until they are disposed of, shoot them down, otherwise they will continue to shoot you down until your health will be depleted.
  4. When in doubt call for help - When you are on a level and those pigs seem to overwhelm you, just call on your partner for assistance, when you call them, they’ll make an entrance which will cause a large enough shock-wave to take down all structures. And even though your partner will be with you for only a short while, once the meter is filled up you can call on them again.
  5. Collect coins - If you need to upgrade a character and are short on coins, be sure to visit the game when you can, because you can collect coins from the areas that you have already visited.
  6. Upgrade and Recharge - In order to keep your transformer ready in the fight, be sure that you upgrade them when you can. If you take on a level that is too hard, your character won’t survive for long. So if you have the coins to upgrade your character then do so. And if transformer is low on health, take the time to recharge them, keep in mind that both upgrading and recharging transformers take time.
  7. Be kind - If you’re playing as an Autobird or Deceptipig, and if your partner is an Autobird or Deceptipig, always thank them, because when you do, they and you will  end up receiving rewards.

Disney's Big Hero 6

At some point in time, film tie-in games on mobile won't consist of only endless runners and match-3 games. That time is not now.
Disney has released Big Hero 6 Bot Fight which isn't, as the title may suggest, a fighting game. No, don't be misled, this is a match-3 puzzle game as straight as they come.

You match Power Cells in a grid, connecting colours to trigger attacks, and combos for bigger ones. Simple as that.
But you can also collect hundreds of bots, level them up, and evolve them with rare parts. You also have to select a team from your bots to fight for you.
It's just a shame that the actual fighting, well, isn't fighting at all.
Still, there's nothing wrong with match-3 games. It's just that they're so common, and Disney really lays the word "fight" on thick here.
If you're wondering, the film that this game is tied in with, Big Hero 6, hits the cinema on November 7th.
You can download Big Hero 6 Bot Fight for free on the App Store, Google Play,  and the Windows Phone Store.
The game has optional IAPs.