Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Alex Beech'
Wave Wave Review
Wave Wave is a twitch arcade game which reverberates with the echoes of other mobile hits. Its mazes, which take the form corridors with triangular obstacles jutting from the floor and ceiling, are reminiscent of those found in Flappy Bird. However, its geometric presentation, lo-fi audio, and timed gameplay owe a huge debt to Super Hexagon. In Wave Wave, you must guide your triangular avatar past angular stalagmites and stalactites. You tap to screen to make your tiny avatar ris…
Watch The Video Review
MazeBroken Sword series on sale to honour the Grand Master of the Knights Templar
Today in 1314 the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, died. 700 years later, Revolution has decided to put both of its Broken Sword adventure games on sale for 69p / 99c to commemerate the occasion. If you've played any of the Broken Sword games before, this unusual tribute does make some sense. Though set in modern-day Paris, the point-and-click adventure game series draws heavily on the history and mythos surround the Knights Templar. The first of the two titles, Broken Sword: Director's Cut, is an extended version of the classic adventure game. The Director’s Cut adds new scenes to protagonist George Stobbart's tale of mystery, murder, and intrigue, wh…
See Gentle Ben trash a museum in new trailer for Halfbrick puzzler Bears vs. Art
Halfbrick's has released a gameplay trailer for its new puzzle game Bears. vs Art. which has been soft-launched in Canada and Australia The new trailer shows protagonist Rory making his way around an art museum, rolling through expensive exhibits and generally trashing the place. The aim is to turn every painting and statue from a priceless work art to a pile of worthless junk while avoiding detection by museum security, snooty guests and thieves. As Rory's natural habitat was destroyed by the new gallery, his vendetta against art is justified. This helps to make his destructive quest feel more like a fight for freedom than vandalism. Those of you who live in Canada and Aus…
True Axis makes massive new skatepark available from True Skate store
When True Skate was first released, one of our chief complaints was its lack of variety. Now, over a year later, developer True Axis has released The Warehouse update, a whole new skatepark which can be purchased for 69p / 99c. Like the True Skate’s original park, Inbound, The Warehouse is an indoor assault course. The new environment is far larger than the first park however, with dozens of rails and ramps for you to grind, ollie, and flip your way around. While the new park costs 69p / 99c, its large scale and the number of extra lines will probably pique the interest of True Skate fans seeking a new challenge. True Skate is available now on the App Store for &po…
Cult Japanese visual novel game 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors out now for iPhone and iPad
Aksys Games’s murder-mystery DS game 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors has finally made its way to iOS. Trimming back on the fiddly puzzles of the original release, 999: The Novel focuses instead on the game's story. Written by author Kotaro Uchikoshi, it is a twisting tale of deceit and death in which you must form fragile alliances with those around you in order to survive. Without puzzles, 999: The Novel is essentially a choose your own adventure. With only nine hours to escape the cruise liner in which you've been imprisoned, you and eight other captives must make your way past nine doors - and the horrors held behind them. Paying close attention to the di…
Update to ninja platformer Shadow Blade adds new Downtown chapter
Crescent Moon’s game Shadow Blade has just received a new update, adding a host of improvements - and a new chapter - to the stealth platformer. The new Downtown area will take the game's ninja protagonist into the city, opening up 12 missions to slice and dice your way though. Here, you will encounter the new Punk Mob enemy, a hardended thug in dire need of a good cleaving. Three new game soundtracks have also been added, letting you dispense shadowy justice to fresh jams. Meanwhile, video replay and sharing options will let you show off your shinobi skills, while the new Par Time display will show you the time you need to beat for each level. Add to this a host of bug fixes and…
Glorkian Warrior: Trials Of Glork Review
There is a childlike joy to Glorkian Warrior: Trials Of Glork, the new game from Pixeljam. Its pink, three-eyed alien hero is the kind of creation you would expect to pour from the mind of a talented preschooler. This is no doubt due to the influence of James Kochalka, the award winning comic artist behind the game’s art. Everything about the game oozes comic book charm - from the challenges set by the two power-suit wearing sisters, to the backchat between the hero and his Super…
Watch The Video Review
Endless wild west shmup Bounty Rush is out now on the App Store
Considering the gun-focused nature of wild west-era fiction, it is odd that you don’t see more of it on the App Store. Developer Boaz de Jong has spotted this gap in the market and created Bounty Rush, a free-to-play endless-shmup set on the American frontier. Bounty Rush casts you as a bounty hunter chasing down wanted outlaws. To do this, you have to weave your little cowboy through four lanes of gun-toting combat, shooting the bad guys, avoiding obstacles, and trying not to riddle Native Americans with bullets. That last one may sound easy but, as the action speeds up, picking out bandits from innocent bystanders becomes incredibly difficult. With only three lives that are…
Dudeski Review
If someone were to suggest skiing down Dudeski’s murderous Lord Shred Mountain in real life, you would think they were crazy. Thankfully, Static Ocean's latest game makes getting to the bottom of this slalom of death more about fun than fear. Touching either side of the screen steers your skier left and right, letting you weave through the game’s red and blue slalom gates. The game’s pixel-art graphics do a lot to communicate the correct path through these gates, wit…
Watch The Video Review
Space-pirate strategy game PlunderNauts is currently looting the UK and Canadian App Stores
Backflip Studios brings pirates and space (space pirates?) together in its new free-to-play strategy game, PlunderNauts, which is out now on the UK and Canadian App Stores. The game has you guiding your pirate ship through the galaxy on a quest to discover Iron Beard’s lost treasure. Naturally, you'll be maintaining the pirate code by looting the star systems for booty, and battling enemy vessels along the way. Battles play out in real time. Like more traditional navel warfare sims, you must maneuver into the right position by dragging your ship around the battlefield, taking into account the range and trajectory of your craft's cannons. Different crew members offer a va…
Anomaly developer announces new survival game This War of Mine
You might expect a war game from the developer of the Anomaly series to be a joyous affair, bursting with ecstatic explosions and gung-ho military bravado. However, This War of Mine, the upcoming game from 11 Bit Studios, is notably lacking in jingoism, casting you as a non-combatant desperately trying to survive the conflict that rages around you. You'll need to scavenge for resources, upgrade your shelter, and avoid snipers if you're going to make it out alive. Lead designer on the project, Michal Drowski, spoke about his team’s inspiration for the game: "We came across an article that described how one man survived in a besieged city. We learned about hi…
Block Legend Review
Like most puzzle games, Block Legend is all about trying build a high score. The difference here is that rather than simply trying to match coloured blocks to get points, you're fighting a string of fantasy-themed, randomly-spawning opponents in a charming 8-bit world. Different coloured blocks have different effects in battle. Depending on the properties of the tiles, matching two or more touching squares gives you the power to attack or defend. This means you have to keep a car…
Watch The Video Review
Pixel-art skiing game Dudeski will be released at midnight tonight
During the Winter Olympics we reported on a retro skiing game called Dudeski. Now – just in time for the Winter Paralympics – publisher Static Oceans is about to release it onto the App Store. The pixel-art racer has you guiding your skier down Shred Lord Mountain. You'll need to weave your way through four increasingly difficult slalom courses, while avoid all manner of obstacles and dangers - including some grumpy looking Yetis. Though you're limited to four different mountain ranges - The Top, The Forest, Yeti Mountain, and the Totem Trials - each slope is randomly generated, meaning every run should be unique. Dudeski will come to other the EU and US App Stores at midnig…
Skrillex uses sci-fi shooter Alien Ride to debut his new album
Vertical shooter Alien Ride just got a lot more interesting. Professional ear abuser Skrillex has used the free game as a platform to debut his new album Recess. Alien Ride is a simple shmup that has you destroying asteroids with lasers. However, play it for a few minutes, and you'll unlock tracks from Skrillex's latest jam. The music will only be available for a limited time, but the game provided a link to download the album on iTunes when it goes live on March 18th. This isn't Skrillex's first appearence in a game. In 2012, his music appeared in both Syndicate and Far Cry 3. In fact, mainstream music acts are harnessing the power of the App Store more and more. Just last month, we we…
Smash Hit Review
If we had to invent a genre label for Smash Hit, we'd have to go with endless-shatterer. It's a fitting title for a game which involves flying unendingly forward through a world of glass, using marbles to shatter any obstacles in your path. This is harder than it sounds, however. Colliding with any object in the world sees you dropping ten of your marbles. Once they are all gone, it's game over. Thus selective and judicious hurling is what is required to successfully navigate fr…
Watch The Video Review
