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Mirror’s Edge for iPad In-Depth Review
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Friday Five: April 2nd, 2010
First Look: The Sims 3: World Adventures
First Look: The Sims 3: World Adventures is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
The Sims 3: World Adventures for the iPhone is a different experience from The Sims 3 that is currently on the App Store. The game adds many new features and places to explore, without complicating the experience too much.
Some of the new features include that ability to travel to Egypt, Paris, and China. In addition, the size of each city map has been increased dramatically from the previous version. In addition, there are more customization options for your Sim including more face types.
The game includes four new mini game types scattered throughout the game. And some interesting easter eggs like the mummy in Cairo. Overall, the game seems to have a little more character than The Sims 3.
If you have already been playing The Sims 3 on the iPhone, you have the ability to transfer your Sim to the new version. The game walks you through the process when you start it — you basically just save an image of your Sim from the previous version and import that into this version. You characteristics and any extra items that you have bought will come over with it. You do start over with money in the new game though.l
Overall, the Sims 3 is a good starting point for people new to the Sims universe or people who just want to get a fix in while on the go. The Sims 3: World Adventures should launch in the App Store soon.
Hit the jump for more screen shots of The Sims 3: World Adventures.
[ First Look: The Sims 3: World Adventures is a post from 148Apps ]
Spore: Creatures
Spore: Creatures is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Developer: Electronic Arts
Price: $6.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Price: $6.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
iPhone Integration Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
Darwin was a wise man who a long long time ago wondered about the origin of species. His pondering on this subject led him to conclude that nature was in a constant battle for survival, and only the fittest were to survive. Through evolution over the years, species could change and become better equipped to survive. Sadly, “Spore: Creatures”, the creation of the good folks at EA did not to evolve into a better game, but rather devolved into a much more boring repetitive game. It’s like 1999 Britney Spears evolving into 2008 Britney Spears. I don’t want any part of that…
Spore: Creatures (which is actually EA’s second “Spore” title on the iPhone) starts you out with a single celled organism. You start out sliming your way around sucking up little creatures for nourishment. As you eat these creatures, you gain points that will allow you to evolve into a big strong monster, but for now you’re just a wimpy little monster. You will also find piles of bones on the ground that will unlock new parts to add to your creature. Different mouths, legs, eyes, arms, fighting tools, etc. Basically, this is what you do for the entire game. You will meet other races of creatures as well who you can decide to either brutally ravage, or you can befriend by wandering through the map looking for random gifts to return to your new friends. Friends? More like gold diggers.
If you played the first Spore game, “Spore: Creations”, you’ll know exactly what to do in the second “Spore” game in the App Store, because it’s pretty much the same exact game, on land. Like how Speed 1 was on a bus, and Speed 2 was on a boat. The first time was enough, thank you.
Boring screenshot, boring game.
The gameplay is simple enough. You control your creature with the accelerometer, and you only touch the screen to interact with other characters or the environment. That’s pretty much the entire control scheme, and it works fairly well, though sometimes it is hard to maneuver. The graphics are very nice and the sound is fitting for the game. In fact those are probably the best parts of the game.
Because of just flat out boring and repetitive gameplay, it appears that the Spore franchise and EA may have some evolving to do before they carry on this franchise’s name. It was cute the first time, but it turned into something just oh so bleeeeeh. For $6.99, “Spore: Creatures” is a worse choice than week old leftovers.
Need for Speed Shift
Need for Speed Shift is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Developer: Electronic Arts
Price: $6.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Price: $6.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
iPhone Integration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 4.46 out of 5 stars
Even 3 billion-plus purchases into the short life of the App Store, there are those that doubt the ability of the iPod Touch and iPhone to be legitimate gaming devices that can stack up with their traditional counterparts. They point to the unorthodox business model of the app store, its crazy pricing scheme, and top 25 charts filled with crapware and exclaim that it’s destined to fail. I would contend that as long as games like Need For Speed Shift are being made, the app store is here to stay.
The few complaints I saw about NFS Shift in the reviews on iTunes were about its $6.99 price point. Really? If you want quality apps, you should be prepared to pay for them. You wouldn’t go to Target to buy a Nintendo DS game and then try to haggle with the salesman. In fact, feel fortunate iPhone gamer. Need For Speed Shift at Best Buy will leave your wallet feeling $29 dollars lighter. This discrepancy in pricing is consistent for almost all iPhone games.
The 1st person viewpoint is the way to go.
NFS Shift is a perfect example of what iPhone gaming can be; graphically polished, easy to learn, and fun to play for two hours or ten minutes. The race types are just diverse enough to keep you interested for a long period of time. There are 7 different types of races. Circuit, sprint, driver duel, eliminator, time trial, drift, and driver face off. Sure, the rules vary a little bit for each one, but in the end the idea is the same; drive fast.
NFS Shift is polished, but the good folks at EA also decided to throw some glitter and stickers on their shiny creation. It didn’t really need the glitter, thanks anyways. Just like its console counterparts, as you progress through more races you earn profile points in two different categories; “precision” and “aggressive”. Things like sticking to your racing line, doing an entire lap without going off the track or crashing into opponents, and mastering corners will earn you precision points. Crashing into opponents, drifting, and generally just driving like a four year old will net you aggressive points. Earn more points to level up. The only time the points will help you out is to help you earn stars to unlock new tracks, and when you reach level 20 and you unlock a Maserati. As you progress through levels you will also earn pieces to a personalized badge depending on whether you used a predominantly precise or aggressive tactics, neither of which matter too much.
There are 20 cars and 18 tracks to unlock in Chicago, London, and Tokyo. The variety of cars is pleasing enough for an iPhone game and they all handle differently enough to justify upgrading from one to another. There is minimal customization to the cars, with just a few bodykits, rims, and color changes available, along with performance upgrades to the top speed, acceleration, tires, suspension, and nitrous.
The controls are fairly tight and delightfully simple. The car accelerates by itself, tilt the screen to turn and touch the screen to brake. Once you add nitrous to your car, there is a small red button in the bottom left hand corner of the screen you tap to turn your nitrous on and off. There is also an option for manual shifting, but it’s not really my cup of tea. If you do prefer manual shifting, a mere swipe up or down on the right side of the screen will allow you to change gears.
My only real gripe with this game is that it’s sometimes a bit too difficult. On some tracks I simply got stuck on certain objectives and couldn’t get enough stars to advance to the next track. A minor gripe would be the soundtrack. While the sound effects are pretty nice, the soundtrack is just good enough to keep me from turning it off. To beat this, NFS allows you to create your own soundtrack to race to, which is a welcome addition.
With this game on sale right now for $6.99, I would say that it’s definitely worth a go. If you’re a racing fan, you’ll probably come to know this game as one of your favorites. If you aren’t a racing freak but can appreciate the genre, then you too should get some enjoyment out of NFS Shift. It’s not my favorite app, but it’s definitely one of the most polished in my library, and absolutely takes advantage of the fantastic iDevice hardware.
Madden 10 Updated for Playoffs, Predicts Future
iPhone App Review: EA’s Tetris
iPhone App Review: EA’s Tetris is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
The first thing that will catch your eye when opening Tetris, is the beautiful user interface that EA has developed for us! The game features two game modes, one is called Marathon, in which you try to beat all 15 levels. The other one is called Magic, which is also level based but you must clear a certain amount of lines to proceed to the next level.
Tetris Pros:
Tetris features many great things, such as the tools on the side that will help you on your quest to complete the game. They can destroy blocks with the explosive balls, redraw them to a different shape with the pencil, or pinch the falling Tetrimino with the compressor and turn it into one easy-to-place, Mino. The game also features the option hold out a block that doesn’t fit anywhere into your, and also shows you the next 3 blocks that will be coming. Also, an animated user interface, with great structure and very eye-pleasing. Much better than the old Tetris everybody has on their regular mobile cellphone!
Tetris Cons: The first con that comes to mind for Tetris, is the price. It is priced at $4.99, which is well above the normal price range for most iPhone apps, but if you are really a fan of Tetris, it is definitely worth the price. The game glitches a bit, when you have an incoming call in the middle of your game. That has been the only glitch I’ve noticed so far.
Pros:
- Great user interface
- High replay value
- Features not included in traditional Tetris
Cons:
- Price
- May glitch when you have an Incoming Call
- Memory consuming for 8GB iPhone
EA’s Tetris gets a 8/10 for re-inventing Tetris as a modern and fun game, and also keeping me playing the game for hours.
First Look: Word Crasher. Dropping January 11th.
First Look: Word Crasher. Dropping January 11th. is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Having worked 12 years in the gaming industry, working as a software engineer and senior programmer with major gaming outfits such as EA and RockStar Games, Edinburgh-based Kevin Ng has worked on and helped develop a slew of well-known console titles which we will most likely be familiar with or have played at some point in our lives; including the likes of: “Skate” for Xbox 360, “Bully” for PS2 and “Starlancer” for PC and Dreamcast. Leaving that life behind though (for the most part) Kevin is now going solo, becoming an independent developer specifically targeting the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. He was kind enough to give me a quick heads up on his debut iPhone title, and I even scored myself a pre-release promo copy to take a look at .. (Cheers, Kevin!).
Dropping January 11th, Word Crasher is a well-designed, graphically exciting word game. Playing through two modes; Marathon and Flood Panic the aim of the game is to create words from the letter chips that fall from above – but don’t make the mistake of picturing this as your normal every-day word puzzle. Its much more dynamic. Usually with these types of games we see a rigid setup which involves some kind of grid-like area, and you having to draw out or follow a certain path in order to create a word. Word Crasher throws that rule book away, adding it’s own pretty unique twist to it’s gameplay.
The game is set out in a ‘tank-like’ environment. With fairly straight forward gameplay, at the start of each level a number of letter ‘chips’ fall to the ground, and every few seconds or so after that, another letter chip will be added into the mix. Unlike other word puzzles of it’s genre, in Word Crasher you’re able to make a word from any of the letters on screen, regardless of their current position or proximity to others letters on screen. Almost psychedelic in it’s approach, the game has a sort of modern retro feel to it. Tapping letters on the board will see a faint colorful neon-like glow surround them. As you select various letters to create a word, they appear at the bottom of the screen allowing you to see just what you’ve selected and whether it actually does make sense (unlike my attempt – seen right!). The games AI then lets you know if the word exists by lighting up either the ‘tick’ symbol (bottom right), or cross symbol (bottom left).
The game’s “Flood Panic” mode injects even more challenge, introducing a rising water level which creates both a frenzied-type gameplay experience and a race against the clock. Having spent some time with the game, my first impressions are that this is one polished, well-designed and thought out title.
Fully supported by Open Feint, Word Crasher is reportedly set to make it’s debut on January 11th at the introductory price of $0.99 .. returning to $1.99 afterward. Also, while you’re at it, be sure to checkout the game’s official site at wordcrasher.com.
EA Update Big Hits with Multiplayer
EA Update Big Hits with Multiplayer is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
EA have released updates for three of their largest games that give them local multiplayer capabilities.
Madden 10, Tiger Woods, and Command and Conquer have gotten updates in the recent days that give them local multiplayer capabilities and EA have done it right.
For example, when playing Tiger Woods, you will actually be watching your opponent live as they play. You see them swing and the travel of their ball live you your screen just as they do on their screen. Tiger Woods supports both Bluetooth and Wifi local multiplayer and all courses are available to play.
For Madden, you each choose your teams and battle it out over a game, each picking their plays and playing in real time. Madden only supports Bluetooth multiplayer.
And for Command and Conquer, each command factions on the game map at the same time. Clashing as each team seeks to expand their territory. C&C works with both Wifi and Bluetooth for local multiplayer.
While we’d love to see large scale global multiplayer in these games, this is a first step and a great step for big fans of these games.
MADDEN NFL 10 by EA SPORTS
:: IT’S MADDENCategory: Games / Simulation
Released: 2009-09-09
Price: $6.99
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® BY EA SPORTS™
Category: Games / Simulation
Released: 2009-04-30
Price: $4.99
COMMAND & CONQUER™ RED ALERT™
Category: Games / Strategy
Released: 2009-11-02
Price: $6.99 ON SALE: $4.99
Surviving High School – Relive The Glory Days
Surviving High School – Relive The Glory Days is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Price: $2.99 Score: 8/10 By Yantézia Patrick
For some they were the glory days and for others the nerdy days, but most people can probably look back on their high school days with a good laugh. The clothes you thought were in style, the hair styles you thought were cool…here’s your chance to relive it all.
Surviving High School from Electronic Arts lets you experience high school the way it always should have been. Be a popular jock, a nerd, or the star of the school play – it’s a choose-your-own-adventure game where each decision you make leads you one step closer to who you want to be. However, just like in your own high school days, each decision carries its own consequences, and those decisions have an impact on the outcome of the game.
Wishing you had lived outside the lines a little more in high school? You don’t have to be a bookworm in Surviving High School – you can choose from a number of different character types, including a rebel and an outcast. And just like any good teen drama, some of the storylines in Surviving High School are a bit exaggerated and perhaps unlikely in the “real world,” but that’s the beauty of the game – it lets you be whoever you want to be.
Surviving High School revolves around an 8-week long story at Centerscore High. The end-point is, naturally, the homecoming dance – and there’s a fair amount of game content packed in to this first episode, including mini-games, pop-quizzes and optional extra-curricular activities which will keep the average casual gamer occupied for a decent amount of time.
New “episodes” are released weekly, which add new content and challenges to the game. Each episode is available free to download during the week in which it is released, but there’s a catch – it’ll cost you $0.99 to download a previous episode if you miss it at the time of its release. Just like the first episode “Football Season”, each new episode has a number of different storylines and multiple possible endings depending on how you play the game. There are also secret scenes that can be viewed if you manage to play the “perfect game” – which involves making all the “right” decisions for your particular character.
Even your virtual parents are involved in your high school survival. You can get rewards for scoring well on exams and doing your chores. While it is a bit unlikely that you’d ever get a car for getting straight A’s, in Surviving High School it’s the deviations away from the realistic that gives the game it’s ultimate appeal.
Surviving High School isn’t a game for everyone – the content is aimed squarely at the teen market, but it’s still a lot of fun regardless. The graphics have a distinctive comic-book style and the dialogue is entertaining. The mini-games and quizzes also help to make the game varied, but it’s the choose-your-own-adventure style of play which will keep you coming back and adds some interest to the “life-altering” decisions you have to make. Surviving High School is your chance to make it right. Who will you be?
Surviving High School requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later and is compatible with both iPhone and iPod Touch.
Hands-on with Need for Speed: Shift, The Simpsons Arcade, and Spore Creatures from EA
Hands-on with Need for Speed: Shift, The Simpsons Arcade, and Spore Creatures from EA is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
I had the chance today to take a quick look at three upcoming games from EA. Some of them are hotly anticipated, another we hadn’t even heard about before today.
Need for Speed: Shift
This has to be one of the most anticipated games of the season. Well at least for Chris, our editor. He shut himself in a small room with nothing but red bull and Cheetoes and played Need for Speed: Undercover until his thumbs stopped working. I think he’s going to be out of touch for weeks when he get ahold of Need for Speed: Shift.
This game looks fantastic. While the original specs and screens we saw were less than inspiring. But now that the game is done and real, it’s fantastic. Especially so if you have a 3GS as it has some special graphic taking advantage of the better graphics processor on that device.
Shift has everything you expect in a Need for Speed game. There’s multiple events/tracks, multiple game methods, multiple upgradable cars, etc. The different events and cars are, of course, unlockable as you progress through the career mode.
One big feature that Shift has that the previous Need for Speed didn’t have is multiplayer. While it’s only local and 2 player with Bluetooth and 4 player with Wifi, there are 6 different game methods.
Here are a few more images to hold you over. Need for Speed: Shift will be out soon.
Spore: Creatures
EA announced Spore: Creatures for the iPhone a few months ago. But, they were quiet about it after that. Well, until now. While I don’t really think that Spore: Creatures is much different than Spore: Origins, it does take everything up a few notches. There’s just more of everything as this game is meant to pick up where Origins ended.
More creature customization options. Lots more. I’ve been told there are well over a billion different possibilities from the dozens of creature parts, colors, and abilities that you can add.
Included in the game itself are 4 different and distinct game play zones. Each zone has 5 different levels to travel through while evolving your little Spore.
The one thing that is really different with the game play over the previous Spore game is that ability to either fight or socialize. This can change the way the game progresses and how your creature evolves.
Here are a couple more pictures, Spore: Creatures should be out in January.
The Simpsons Arcade
This one came out of left field. The Simpsons Arcade is an old school arcade fighter set in the Simpsons world of Springfield. Developed under the supervision of one of the writers and featuring the voices of all 6 Simpsons voice actors from the series, this promises to be a fun and very funny fighting game.
You control Homer in this game. There’s an on screen joystick and two buttons that let you perform different attack and defense moves.
You progress through 25 levels set in 6 different environments in Springfield. There are of course a bunch of different weapons to use that you can pick up along the way. There are 6 major bosses and 12 mini-bosses. The final boss battle is said to be epic!
As a Simpsons fan, I’m looking forward to this. I was a little worried when I first heard of this. Lets be honest, there have been some less than stellar Simpsons games over the years. But in my short time with the game I found it to be interesting, well made, and really fun. The Simpsons Arcade will be out soon.
Daily Double Lucky 13: iBlast Moki for Free, Snood for $0.99
Mirror’s Edge Trailer
Mirror’s Edge Trailer is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
We recently reported that EA Mobile will be bringing Mirror’s Edge to the iPhone in January 2010. The console version of Mirror’s Edge was a pretty ground-breaking title, but wasn’t a huge hit commercially, so it’s nice to see that EA has not abandoned the promising franchise. A trailer has been released to go along with the first batch of action shots, and it looks every bit as thrilling.
Mirror’s Edge has already been successfully re-imagined as a 2D Flash game, which can be played at http://mirrorsedge2d.com. It’ll be very interesting to see how the iphone version, as a 3D side-scroller, will fit between the two. Here’s the official feature list released by EA:
EXPERIENCE THE WORLD OF MIRROR’S EDGE
A place where information is heavily monitored and law is brutally enforced in an effort to create the ‘perfect’ society.YOUR MISSION
Take control of Faith Connors, a member of an underground messenger group known as Runners, as she races to stop a deadly threat that has grown from within their own ranks.SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND FASTEST
Use Faith’s incredible acrobatic moves to outmaneuver the enemy–run on walls, slide down precarious ramps, ride ziplines, and leap between rooftops. Leave the enemy in your dust.EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT EXCITEMENT
Burn through 14 levels of the fastest, most fluid action imaginable. Dynamic camera angles capture the intense action of this unique game.HEIGHTEN YOUR SENSES
Immerse yourself in a stylish, graphically rich 3D environment flooded with realistic sound effects and phenomenal music.