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Added: 10.02.2014 19:10 | 10 views | 0 comments
Don't you hate when a TV series ends its season (or mid-season) on a cliffhanger? It keeps you on the edge of your seat for months, and you just want to throw your remote through the TV. Telltale Games creates a similar fury in me with every single game they release. And The Wolf Among Us is no different. Finally available after a bit of a delay (and nearly four months after ), Episode 2: Smoke and Mirrors continues the story of Bigby Wolf, sheriff of Fabletown, as he investigates a pair of beheadings that have occurred in the Fable community. |
Added: 06.02.2014 20:30 | 12 views | 0 comments
Naughty Kitties is an adorable, energetic mash-up of two genres that excel on mobile: endless runner and tower defense. It's a unique pairing that works surprisingly well. The nonstop obstacles of the ever-scrolling runner have become targets that must be destroyed instead of dodged. The strategic unit positioning and between-game level-ups of tower defense offer more activities than your standard jump, duck, dive. The kitties are icing on the already delicious gameplay fishcake. Unfortunately, despite a strong base and charming theme, Naughty Kitties falls short of revolutionary. Runs are often repetitive and unbalanced, crawling through boring spans of enemy-free territory until you hit an overly aggressive and indefensible attack. Its freemium model forces frequent downtime on players through an easily-emptied energy meter. Kitties are expensive and difficult to unlock, resulting in replaying levels with the same units again and again. The result is a game that's great fun for the first dozen or so runs, but inevitably grind-heavy for players who don't wish to shell out real clams. |
Added: 04.02.2014 21:00 | 7 views | 0 comments
When game developer Dan Fitzgerald decided to take a "mini-vacation"from developing his main game, Dog Sled Saga, he really didn't take a vacation at all. Instead, he got to work on another title, but rather than an Iditarod-esque adventure, this new game is much more...undistinguished --undistinguished in the task at hand, not the fun to be had. Make no mistake: Dawn of the Plow is plenty of fun. Dawn of the Plow has players clearing the roads of snow, allowing drivers to safely get home. Snow is constantly falling, and if left neglected, will pile up and completely block a road. As the driver of a snow plow truck, it is the player's duty to ensure that everyone can get home in a timely manner. Drivers waiting for extended amounts of time will cause the player's approval rating to plummet. The more a driver waits, the longer the approval meter drops. Too low of an approval rating and the player gets fired. Players get a point for every driver that makes it through the map and gets home. Each level requires a certain number of points before the next level unlocks. Sometimes in order to clear a pile of snow, players must go off-road to move around a car and tackle clearing out a pile. Easier said than done. The snow causes a severe loss of traction and makes tight turns impossible. Of course, there is more than one car on the road at a time, so skidding around out of control is complicated by other motorists attempting to get home. Accidently smashing into another car is grounds for immediate termination. Chances are, players will accidently sideswipe or rear-end another car, long before their approval rating hits zero. Luckily for players, Dawn of the Plow randomly spawns pickups throughout the levels, which upgrade the snow plow in some way. One of the most useful pickups is special tires that allow the player to drive on snow without loss of traction. Another pickup allows the player to coat an area with ice, which stops snow from piling up. All the pickups expire eventually, so you'll need to be as efficient as possible when one is equipped. |
Added: 04.02.2014 18:00 | 8 views | 0 comments
I'm terrible at Flappy Bird, but that's ok - I think that's sort of the point. Nobody is actually "good" at Flappy Bird. Some people are just less terrible than others. I'm still near the bottom of the pile, but like everyone, I'm just trying to get better. This isn't the first time that , and it probably won't be the last. But I suppose that's what happens when something is simultaneously so simple yet so frustrating. |
Added: 03.02.2014 18:00 | 8 views | 0 comments
From legendary action filmmaker John Woo, Chillingo's Bloodstroke serves as a fun-filled reminder of all that is brutal and beautiful in the world. While this isn't Woo's first ever video game (he also made Stranglehold for home consoles in 2007), Bloodstroke marks the filmmaker's first foray onto the mobile scene. And while the thirst for action soaked in blood is definitely the biggest selling point of this release, it's the loud story of betrayal and the breathtaking, painted visuals that truly elevate the game into a piece of art that action fans can't help but appreciate. The storyline is certainly simple as events unfold in comic book-style cutscenes in between the levels, but it still brings enough twists and turns to get the job done. As "Lotus," a newly recruited and trained security agent, you'll need to advance through locations such as Hong Kong and Beijing while protecting your client, Dr. Koorse, who is at constant risk of being killed by entire armadas of street thugs and soldiers. It's a fitting setup that's meant to lead right into Woo's trademark action world of violence and bloodshed. The entire art style of Bloodstroke looks as if someone painted over every screen with black and white watercolor paints. You can even see the watery brushstrokes sweeping across the moving environments, whether in an accent on the road or simply swirling off the tops of the trees. It's rare for a game that's so rooted in action and gory violence to evoke such feelings of art and candor, but that's exactly what Bloodstroke manages to achieve, and it's something that adds to the story's allure in a wonderful fashion. Of course, it's not all black and white in Bloodstroke, as the contrasting color of red plays a crucial role in the presentation. The only splashes of this color that you'll find in the game are the red trenchcoat that Lotus wears, and of course, the bright gushing blood that spews out of your enemies as you slay them up and down the streets. Another nice touch is that after an enemy's blood has been spilled, the red quickly fades to black and remains on the world's canvas: letting players essentially add to the living painting with more bloodshed. |
Added: 31.01.2014 14:00 | 10 views | 0 comments
There has always been a fine line between a bard and a barbarian. In fact, the two traditionally couldn't be any more different: one is a highly refined poet from medieval culture, while the other is a ruthless warrior who often wields a club. But much like its name, Bardbarian from BulkyPix and Treefortress not only manages to weave together these two vastly different ideas in flawless fashion, but it also strings together a number of tried and true gameplay mechanics to make for one enjoyable and long-lasting defensive-adventure: one that the mobile scribes of our time are sure to write about one day. Let's start out with the game's story and presentation, which do just enough to set the stage for the onslaught of awesomeness that is waiting just behind it. Bardbarian is wonderfully self-aware and just downright funny, from our hero Brad's growing annoyance at having to save his town from evil yet again (and also being "tired of grinding XP and saving useless NPCs"), to the ironically-named Tutorial Goblin who helps you get into the basics of play. There's an inherent musical theme that runs throughout the story and gameplay, with Brad combining his deadly axe and a lute to make a truly rockin' instrument that lets him pull off some pretty sweet and power-inducing solos. Seriously - the gameplay will stop for just a second as the player activates a special power, treating everyone to a quick animation of Brad wailing away on his axe with pure metal passion. The whole thing has a huge vibe going on beneath the surface, but the beautiful 2D visuals and smooth animations give the game its own unique sense of charm entirely. |
Added: 30.01.2014 21:18 | 7 views | 0 comments
I'm a sucker for superhero games. If you follow my scribblings here at Gamezebo, you'll have probably figured that out already. So when I learned that Disney was bringing their Korean mobile hit Marvel Run Jump Smash! to the West, I was ready to welcome it with open arms. ...but it's gameplay just didn't welcome me back. |
Added: 29.01.2014 18:00 | 7 views | 0 comments
I'm not generally opposed to the idea of one-button games. In fact, when done well they can be pretty awesome. On the other hand, they can also be a pretty shallow letdown. Motocross Meltdown falls somewhere in between those two extremes. It's pretty, and it's full of customization options that encourage replay, but it's also very one-note. So much so that it's rather difficult to remain interested for very long. The basic idea of Motocross Meltdown is to keep winning races and other motocross-style events in order to earn enough money to upgrade your bike (or buy a better one). Then win tougher races and events to win more money to upgrade or purchase better bikes in order to win even tougher races, etc. Each event is one-on-one against either an AI rider or another player depending on the mode chosen, with the spoils going to the faster or higher-scoring participant. |
