Reviews
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Hasta la Yippie-ki-yay, Creep!

By Seán O'Sullivan - May 23rd, 2013

fc3bd-1

At the tail end of a console generation that’s fallen into a cycle of safe iterations on formulas that provide predictable successes, it’s amazing that Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon ever saw the light of day.

The first of many trends that Blood Dragon bucks is the naming scheme – this stand-alone first person shooter has no narrative link to last year’s excellent Far Cry 3, despite its liberal plundering of its many assets and gameplay systems. Blood Dragon is best likened to that artefact commonly seen in the late 90s – the heyday of fan-made ‘Total Conversions’ of popular PC games – in which the source material is twisted and shaped into something new, even if some elements have clearly just been painted over.

Read the rest »


Worth iTrying
Juggernaut: Revenge of Sovering

By Jorge Figueiredo - May 22nd, 2013

sovering-1

Juggernaut: Revenge of Sovering is a free-to-play fantasy game from the folks at Mail.Ru. This strange, grindy hybrid of turn-based fighting and strategy is not your typical iOS animal; but it is definitely entertaining and easy on the eyeballs. An entertaining and goofy trip to be sure.

Read the rest »


Reviews
Soul Sacrifice

By Jorge Figueiredo - May 22nd, 2013

ss-1

Marvelous AQL’s and SCE Japan Studio’s Soul Sacrifice for the Playstation Vita is a grim tale of sorcery and woe that forces you to make decisions more often than is comfortable – which makes the game even more intriguing and challenging. With a heavy story mode, a pile of cool characters and a solid combat mechanic, Soul Sacrifice is a great deal of fun, if not slightly depressing (due to the nature of the plot) and repetitive (game-play).

Read the rest »


Worth iTrying
Mazement

By Jorge Figueiredo - May 20th, 2013

mazement-1

Have you every played the original Labyrinth game? I’m not referring to a videogame; I’m talking about the physical game in which you guide a silver ball through a wooden maze by using a tilting mechanism, avoiding pitfalls in the form of holes that will cause your marble to fall. If that is a game that you have enjoyed (or the thought of playing something with that description brings a smile to your face), then have I got a new game for you to try out. Wronghut, a development company from Finland, has created an iOS game called Mazement that does a fairly good job capturing the allure of Labyrinth.

Read the rest »


Updates
Alien Hive
Blitz Mode

By Jorge Figueiredo - May 19th, 2013

ahblitz-1

Last month I posted a review for Appxplore’s sliding puzzler: Alien Hive. Last week, Appxplore announced a new mode for the game called “Blitz Mode”, in which the player has only 60 seconds to attain as large a score as possible. This update is free (for both iOS and Android), and is an even more addictive version of a game that I was already playing far too much for my own good.

Read the rest »


Review
Strike Suit Infinity

By Jorge Figueiredo - May 18th, 2013

ssir-1
“Stay on target. Stay on target.”

Who likes mechs? Ah. I can see that a fair number of you like the idea of being able to pummel the crap out of things housed in the relative safety of a giant robot. Now how many of you would like to kick some butt in a transforming space mech? Yes, I thought so. Well, partners: gather around and let me tell you about the little purchase that you are about to make called Strike Suit Infinity by Born Ready Games.

Read the rest »


Review
Zombie Tycoon 2: Brainhov’s Revenge

By Jorge Figueiredo - May 17th, 2013

zt2-1

I was somewhat excited to try out Frima Studios’ Zombie Tycoon 2: Brainhov’s Revenge. Usually, any of the small number of games that I have tried with the word “tycoon” in the title have been a source of entertainment for me1. The only factor that gave me pause in this case was how well this RTS would play on a console/handheld rather than the PC (which has the benefit of having a keyboard and mouse). Surprisingly, the controls were never an issue; unfortunately, what started out as a fairly fun concept quickly shambled to a halt due to other issues – making this game a balancing act comprised of great parts, and not-so-great parts.

Read the rest »