Home » Articles and Reviews by 'James Gilmour'
Tile-matching puzzler Darkin aims to chill as well as thrill
Developer Ten Foiled Hats has just released its vampiric match-three puzzler Darkin on iPhone and iPad. Ostensibly taking inspiration from Dungeon Raid, the German dev team has taken Fireflame's classic and updated it with several new features, a new aesthetic from the Tim Burton stable of kooky, and a little more polish. It's an interesting entry in the slew of match-three currently clogging up the App Store. When we looked at it on Twitch, we noted it had far more flexibility and strategic gameplay than other match-three games, with an interesting Puzzle & Dragons-esque feel and a health-system standing in for timers. Players can choose between attacking enemies, bagging hearts to…
Ace auto-runner Rayman Fiesta Run updated with new levels and Nightmare Mode
Ubisoft has just released an update to the highly-rated Rayman Run Fiesta, giving you a sizeable chunk of new features to spice up an already superb game. When we reviewed it back in November, we said: "Even more impressive than its excellent predecessor, Rayman Fiesta Run is a fiercely entertaining kaleidoscope of colour, wit, and wonder." Now that kaleidoscope has been updated with 16 additional levels, three new costumes to be unlocked, and a brand new boss battle. What's more, Ubisoft has added Nightmare Mode, an ironman challenge that sees you try to fight through 36 levels without dying. So prepare to get really familiar with the starting level. If you haven't already nabbed it, yo…
See the first screenshots for the third episode of The Walking Dead: Season 2
Telltale has released new info and screenshots of the forthcoming third episode of The Walking Dead: Season 2. Among other things, the images show that Clementine remains genetically predisposed to danger, and that William Carver - he with the moustache and gummed-up walkie-talkie - is to be voiced by series-newcomer Michael Madsen. The episode, titled In Harm's Way, uses the same moral choice system that won the series so many awards. Nothing Telltale has released suggests that this is going to be changed in any radical way, so expect the same split-second decision-making that will haunt you for days afterwards. In terms of storyline, perhaps most interesting is the appearance of cha…
AppSpy Plays: The Wolf Among Us – Part 5 live on Twitch (5pm BST | 9am PST | 12pm EST)
It’s another Telltale Tuesday today, so we’re going to be letting The Wolf Among Us: A Crooked Mile out of the bag. It’ll be part five of our playthrough, but will pick up at the very start of the recently-released third episode in the series. We’re trying to play nice rather than tearing up the place whenever we get the chance, so if you’ve already played through this episode in a particularly violent fashion, come see what could’ve happened if you’d done things differently. As usual, pop over to the AppSpy Twitch channel at 5pm BST / 9am PST / 12pm EST to catch us live. While you're there, you might as well tap the “Follow” button to…
AppSpy Plays: Wayward Souls (5pm BST | 9am PST | 12pm EST)
If you caught the Pocket Gamer Podcast live over on the AppSpy Twitch channel, you may have noticed one of the top games of the week we selected was Wayward Souls. From Rocketcat Games, the folks behind Punch Quest, Mage Gauntlet and the Grappling Hook trilogy, Wayward Souls is a dungeon-crawling roguelike which combines 16-bit visuals with the difficulty of Dark Souls. It really is as good as it sounds. We’ll be playing the first hour or so of Wayward Souls from 5pm BST / 9am PST / 12pm EST, so come and see one of the best iOS games of the week in action.. You can either stick about here till the show starts. or tune in live over on the AppSpy Twitch channel. Click the “…
The Pocket Gamer Podcast - Live on Twitch (5pm BST | 9am EST | 12pm PST)
As part of our promise to go live more often over on our spangly new Twitch channel, we're going to be livestreaming the Pocket Gamer Podcast today for the second time ever. The very lovely Mr. Rob Rich, Editor of 148Apps will be joining AppSpy and Pocket Gamer regulars Peter and myself to talk about the latest news, releases, and what we've been playing. Expect us to touch upon stealth puzzler Third Eye Crime, roguelike dungeon crawler Wayward Souls, and platform adventurer Leo's Fortune. Consider this your cordial invitation to tonight's digital gathering. Please RSVP by going over to our Twitch channel and clicking the "Follow" button. The podcast will start at 5pm BST / 9am PST /…
AppSpy Plays: The Wolf Among Us – Part 4 live on Twitch (5pm BDT | 9am PDT | 12pm EDT)
Not too long now until we stream part four in our series of AppSpy Plays: The Wolf Among Us! We’re a fair bit into Chapter 2, so there’s a good chance we’ll be starting the most recently-released chapter today. Whether you’ve been joining us over the past few weeks, or you just want to get a feel of the game to see if it’s for you, be sure to join us today over on the AppSpy Twitch channel at 5pm BST / 9am PDT / 12pm EDT. If you hit the “Follow” button while you’re over there, you’ll receive notifications every time we go live so you never miss a show. Bonzer!…
Eye on the App Store: Hitman GO, Unpossible, Icarush, and more
The question on everyone’s lips at the moment is “what am I going to do while everyone is laying comatose around me after the sugar overload this Easter weekend?” Well, if we're sure about anything over here on AppSpy, we know there’s always something out there worth playing. That’s why today on Eye on the App Store we’ll be giving you the lowdown on the games that’ll be launching at midnight tonight. Then, you can decide which tickle your fancy and pick them up to keep you busy over the Easter break. First up is Hitman GO, a game which takes rather different approach to the rest of the famously stealthy Hitman series. Here, Agent 47 is a tabl…
The pay-to-pay problem: An IAP too far
After dealing with the cooldown timer-packed abomination that was Rollercoaster Tycoon 4, I decided that it was time to address an issue that has been bothering me for a while. We're starting to see more and more premium mobile games appearing with free-to-play-style timers and energy systems secreted in their menus. Despite charging a flat fee up front, hese games will still throw up artificial barriers - and even lock you out altogether - unless you buy in-app purchases. The way I see it, this transparently unscrupulous practise - which I'm labelling "pay-to-pay" - is bang out of order. Here's why:…
AppSpy Plays: The Wolf Among Us – Part 3 live on Twitch (5pm BDT | 9am PDT | 12pm EDT)
In just a short while we’ll be streaming the third part of our playthrough of The Wolf Among Us, Telltale's moody point-and-click adventure game. We're fairly far into the first episode now, and from here on out we plan to cover the entire series as each episode is released. When we last left our protagonist, Bigby Wolf, he'd just gotten a bit huffy and puffy and blew a Grendel (from Beowulf) in a bar fight. After choosing to arrest Tweedle Dee (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), the Woodsman (Little Red Riding Hood) escaped. As you may have noticed, The Wolf Among Us draws characters from folklore and fairytales, with its storyline taking place before Vertigo’s cult classic co…
AppSpy Plays: FTL: Faster Than Light live on Twitch (5pm BST | 9am PDT | 12pm EDT)
The end of the week is finally upon us. Our plans to start the evening include cosy slippers, a warm cup of hot chocolate and, of course, a nice bit of streaming. Each week we play recent App Store releases we believe will be a spot of fun, so today we’re going to start playing fiendishly popular starship roguelike FTL: Faster Than Light over on the AppSpy Twitch channel. If you haven’t yet seen or played the iPad version, but have heard people rambling on about how swish it is, come watch us invariably run out of fuel, get attacked, and have our entire crew die from suffocation. As per usual, feel free to ask us any questions you have, offer advice, say hello, or just fill ou…
Eye on the App Store: Crazy Taxi: City Rush, Trials Frontier, and more
It's Wednesday again, which means it's nearly time for another instalment of Eye on the App Store, our weekly round-up of the week's upcoming App Store releases. First up is Crazy Taxi: City Rush, a new free-to-play Crazy Taxi game from the fellows behind Sonic Jump and Sonic Dash. It’s just been soft-launched in Canada, with the worldwide release due for a bit closer to summer. Trials Frontier, meanwhile, is the latest incarnation of the the physics-based motorcycle game series that sees you trying very hard to not fall over yet doing so regardless. We’ll also be covering Robots Love Ice Cream, SideSwype, and give you some news about Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff…
See exclusive footage of Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff
As you may have heard, Fox accidentally released Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff onto the App Store 48 hours early. Assuming it was a soft-launch rather than an accident, may people started posting videos of the game on YouTube, and streaming gameplay on Twitch. However, within hours of the app's appearance, reports appeared saying that FOX was flagging YouTube videos containing footage of the game. What's more, AppSpy community member HansKaosu had his Twitch account shut down altogether, apparantly as a result of streaming the game live. Given that the game had publicly appeared on the App Store, and that no-one did anything remotely illegal in downloading it, it seems a bit harsh that p…
AppSpy Plays: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft live on Twitch (5pm BST | 9am PDT | 12pm EDT)
Whether you’re tired out from a tough week or planning to party the night away, there’s only one way to start your Friday evening / morning properly: over at the AppSpy Twitch channel. Today, we’ll be playing Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, the developer's latest entry in the tongue-tangling genre that is the free-to-play digital collectable card game. The iPad version has been soft-launched in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, so you can come have a sneak peek before it hits the rest of the world. A word of warning though: the in-game accents aren't for the faint-hearted. To make sure you don’t miss out on us taking out magic-wielding maniacs wi…
Defend alien towers instead of blowing them up in script-flipping final act Anomaly Defenders
11 bit studios has announced the final chapter in its Anomaly series will turn the established tower-offence gameplay the franchise is known for on its head, putting you in control of the aliens as they defend themselves against an invading human army. Titled Anomaly Defenders, this third act (which was preceded by Anomaly Warzone Earth, Anomaly Korea, and Anomaly 2) appears to be a more traditional tower-defence game. You're charged with fighting off the advancing human forces by erecting towers, and then upgrading them to improve their firepower and efficiency. These towers will have "special powers" which you'll be able to trigger in times of extreme crisis. In some ways, its o…
