Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Harry Slater'
No IAPs in XCOM for iOS
A week or so ago we told you about the upcoming release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown for iPad. Well, some more details have come out about the game, including the developer's stance on adding IAPs to the game. It's fair to say, a lot of you are going to be breathing a sigh of relief. In an interview with IGN, co-creatore Jake Solomon was pretty emphatic in rubbishing the idea of an Xcom game funded by micro transactions. "Oh God, please... no. I'm not sure I would be able to sleep at night. My food would taste like ashes in my mouth." “We're going to be offering XCOM at a premium, up-front, fair price. We're excited to be in this position and excited to see how people respond. We've proven…
Animales de la Muerte returns as Zoombies
Animales de la Muerte started life as a top down shooter destined for Wiiware, but things don't always go the way people plan. Developed by the maker of Wii sci-fi blaster The Conduit, High Voltage, the game was cancelled due to Nintendo's file size restrictions and apparently disappeared without trace. Now though it's back, minus the top down shooting and with a new name - Zoombies: Animales de la Muerte - some touch screen friendly controls thrown in, and making its way to the App Store. The theme is still the same though; zombies animals have overrun a zoo and you need to stop them from taking over the world. Whereas in the original game you were running around with a machine gun, now y…
Disney releases Mittens on the App Store
If you're on the lookout for a game that mashes together some of the more popular aspects of physics based smartphone and tablet puzzling, then Disney might just have the answer for you in the shape of Mittens. It's a game with a whole heap of mechanics vying for centre stage, from Angry Birds aping levels to scenes that borrow from Cut the Rope. Essentially it's a crash course in casual gaming from the last couple of years. If that sounds like your cup of tea you can grab the game right now from the App Store for 99c for iPhone and iPod or $2.99 for the HD version for your iPad. Alternatively, stick around and check out the trailer below to see some cats and some physics.…
Injustice: Gods Among Us available now
Superheroes have been beating each other up since time immemorial, but few of them have chosen to take their epic smackdowns to the App Store. That is, until now, with the release of Injustice: Gods Among Us for iPad and iPhone. If you're after a straight port of the soon to be released console brawler you're going to be disappointed though. Instead this iOS version is a free-to-play card battler that lets you pick a team of three heroes and duke it out for supremacy in the DC universe. There's some cross compatibility, with items you unlock in the mobile game available in the console game, and there's a pretty impressive roster of heroes and villains for you to choose from, including Batm…
Blue Toad Murder Files coming to iOS
It's hard to pin point exactly where the point and click revival happened, but some might suggest that Blue Toad Murder Files had a lot to do with it. Originally a PSN exclusive, the murder mystery game is now heading to iOS. Slated for release on April 11th, the game is an episodic adventure that sees you and up to three friends trying to solve a murder mystery in the sleepy village of Little Riddle. This new version has been, according to Relentless Software, built from scratch for mobile devices. There'll be four mysteries for you to unravel, all presented in a charming cartoon way. Expect a mixture of Miss Marple style sleuthing and a lot of jokes too. We've no word yet on price, but…
Battle Dungeon returns as Battle Dungeon: Risen
If you've any interest in the fantasy role playing genre you might remember a game by the name of Battle Dungeon that released at the end of last year. It was a turn based adventure that let you test your strategy and cunning against AI foes or online friends. Unfortunately so many people pirated the game that the developer, Hunted Cow Studios, couldn't keep up the servers for people who'd legitimately bought the game and it had to be pulled from the App Store. Well, now it's back with a new name, Battle Dungeon: Risen, and a focus on single player gaming rather than the asynchronous online battling that the original game offered. So you're still getting a turn-based, strategy RPG, you jus…
First trailer for Broken Age
Earlier in the week we showed you the new name for the game formerly known as Double Fine Adventure. Now we can show you the first footage from the Broken Age in this trailer released at last night's IGF awards. It shows off the two parts of the game – one revolving around a young girl offered up as a sacrifice to a monster, the other a young boy living a lonely and isolated life on board some sort of spaceship. Everything looks gorgeous and quirky, and the soundtrack adds a darker note to proceedings. You can colour us even more excited about the game than we were before. There's still no release date, but as ever, we'll keep you updated as soon as we know more. You can check out t…
First trailer for Dungeon Hunter 4 arrives
It's fair to say that Dungeon Hunter 3 didn't go down too well with a lot of people. The move from a premium, story based adventure to a freemium, arena based brawler didn't go down too well with a lot of fans. And now we've got the first trailer for the fourth game in the series, cleverly titled Dungeon Hunter 4. Right now we've got no release date, no confirmation of pricing, and a trailer that, while it shows off lots of violence and the possibility of a story, doesn't really give any clues away. One thing's for sure, the game looks gorgeous, and it's going to feature plenty of large enemies for you to club, slice, shoot, and magic to death. It also appears a giant demon is going to be…
FIST OF AWESOME gets a new trailer
Retro styled woodland creature brawler Fist of Awesome has received a new trailer that shows off the sort of bear punching action you can expect when the game arrives on the App Store in May. The game, which has been developed by Nicol Hunt, whose previous employers include Codemasters and Realtime Worlds, had a successful Kickstarter funding push last year, and is set to see the light of day in a couple of months. Thanks to the Kickstarter cash - the game earned over £11,000, more than double what was asked for - Hunt has been able to bring in more help to get the game finished, which is good news for anyone who's longing for an iPad or iPhone game where knocking out bears and deer…
Double Fine Adventure gets a name
The experiment formerly known as Double Fine Adventure finally has a name and a synopsis. No longer do the millions of dollars Double Fine raised through KickStarter belong to an unnamed project, instead they're being used to fund the development of Broken Age. The game is set to tell the story of a young girl who's been chosen by her village as a sacrifice to a terrible monster, and a young boy who lives a solitary existence on a spaceship. Their paths entangle and entwine and, as you'd expect, adventure ensues. If you didn't put some money into the KickStarter campaign, you've still got a chance to become a backer of the game. Throwing cash at Double Fine seems to be the done thing nowad…
Roadhouse brings Warhammer 40K to iOS
If you're the sort who likes to spend a good chunk of your time rolling dice and having pretend wars with your friends then this bit of business-y news is probably going to be quite interesting for you. Roadhouse Interactive has announced that it's secured a deal with Games Workshop to produce a smartphone and tablet game set in the Warhammer 40K universe. It's not going to be the grand strategy title you might expect though. Instead it'll be a side-scrolling action adventure that casts you as a lone Space Marine battling against a never-ending horde of Orks. Sounds to us like a twist on the endless runner with some massive weapons and splashes of gore thrown in. Think the recent He-man g…
New Breach and Clear screens
Some new screen shots have emerged for Breach and Clear, the iOS and Android game currently being developed by Mighty Rabbit Studios, the people behind the pretty impressive Saturday Morning RPG series, with some help from former Infinity Ward man Robert Bowling. As you can see we've embedded a couple of images in the story and, to be honest, they look pretty bland. It's a top down, tactical shooter with a reasonably impressive level of detail but an awful lot of brown and dull green thrown in too. Of course, the game will probably look much more interesting when it's moving, but right now colour me underwhelmed. There's no set release date for Breach and Clear, but you can expect it…
FFV heading to the App Store
It looks like Square Enix is continuing its retro assault on tablet and smartphone gaming with the news that Final Fantasy V is set for release on iOS devices. The news was broken over at Japanese site FF Reunion, which showed scans from a Japanese gaming mag featuring an advert for the game. The iOS release is set to be based on the GBA version of FFV, and will feature updated 2D graphics. First release in 1992 for the SNES, the game tells the story of a group of adventurers who are trying to stop a demon from being released from a sealed realm. There's some amnesia, turn based battling, and silly names thrown in for good measure too. Plus you can customise your characters thanks to an in…
Ryan Seacrest announces Draw Something 2
Zynga and OMGPop have announced that Draw Something 2, the sequel to the smash hit game everyone stopped playing about a year ago, will be released in the not too distant future. And for some reason they announced it via Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest took to twitter to post a picture he'd created using the new app, and shortly afterwards OMGPop CEO Dan Porter replied to that tweet, thanking Seacrest and confirming that the new game is on the way. So far there are no details save what was included in those brief missives. Although according to Porter Draw Something 2 will feature new ways to “draw and connect”. Maybe you can use your elbows to doodle this time. The original Draw Some…
Plasma Sky hits the App Store
If you like your bullet hell shooters to be retro tinged, neon coloured, and full of explosive power ups, then today is your lucky day, because Plasma Sky has blasted its way on to the App Store and it's looking pretty sweet. With eighty levels to blast your way through, the game offers plenty of content, as well as some gorgeous graphics that ape the look of classics such as Geometry Wars. Throw in some huge bosses and a hardcore mode and you're left with a pretty impressive package. There are two control choices, either tilt or touch, and leaderboards to creep your way up in order to show your friends you're the king of bullets, hell, and shooting. Which is exactly the sort of thing we l…
