|
| Monday, 29 June 2009 19:57 |
 |
 |
|
|
148apps
|
|
Developer: Limbic Software Price: $2.99 Version Reviewed: 1.0 Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Game Controls Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars Gameplay Rating: 4 out of 5 stars User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.45 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.94 out of 5 stars TowerMadness is just one of those games that does a lot of things well, but nothing exceptionally. With the high volume of tower defense games in the App Store, TowerMadness doesn’t really do anything to stand out. Most tower defense games involve some sort of epic story line that involves saving the world or something, but TowerMadness has you saving sheep from aliens. That’s about as far in depth as the game goes story-wise, and even though the story is very strange, it’s fine, because this is a tower defense game. As with all tower defense games, you set towers in various places to blast those creeps to bits. TowerMadness, at least the main part, is open-field, so your placement of the towers affects the path the aliens follow. If aliens make it to the end, they abduct a sheep; if they abduct all ten sheep, the game is over. The game has four main maps, each increasingly difficult. The main difference in each map is the number of entry points for the aliens. Completing one map unlocks the next. Earlier maps are very restrictive in what towers you can use, but in total there are nine towers. The towers are not terribly distinctive though, and none are extremely creative, just genre standards. There are 16 different types of enemies, including flying ones, and different ones are resistant to different towers. While there is a “fast-forward” button, this simply sends the next wave in early, and I would like to see something that actually speeds up the action. In addition, difficulty settings for each map are lacking. One distinctive thing about TowerMadness is the online component. By connecting to the towermadness.com server, you can download free additional maps. There are three maps available right now, one of these is even a fixed-path map, which is nice for those seeking some variety. In addition, there are online leader boards, and you can even replay the games of the leaders to see their solutions. Controls are simple. Tap on an area, and it brings up a circle with options for three categories of towers. Tapping one brings up a choice of three towers, and tapping one of those builds the tower. Tapping on a built tower brings up the option to upgrade or sell the tower. Each tower has five available upgrades. Pinching the screen zooms in. The graphics, while they are 3D, are actually pretty mediocre. I appreciate the option to view the game... |
|
|
|
| Monday, 29 June 2009 12:41 |
|
|
|
|
148apps
|
|
Yesterday we reported on a plan by ngmoco:) to remove Rolando from the iTunes App Store once Rolando 2 had been released. Today, I spoke today with Clive Downie, VP of Marketing from ngmoco:) and we’ve got some good news for Rolando fans. After reading our article and others relating to the proposed plan to pull Rolando from the iTunes App Store and the response from consumers, ngmoco:) have decided to rescind the plan to remove Rolando. Rolondo will remain on the iTunes App Store and Topple, the original, will be coming back as well. To understand why this all happened and why the plan was hatched in the first place, it’s important to understand the climate that publishers on the iTunes App Store are currently working in. The App Store is a whole new environment in which to run a software business. Apple has full reigns over what’s allowed and how you can operate. That’s great for Apple, their app store, and their devices. But it’s non-standard in the software world and not so great for publishers. It’s particularly difficult considering that Apple does not publish full guidelines on what is and isn’t allowed and has even been known to change it’s mind without telling anyone. Then there is the sheer volume of new apps launched every day in the app store. Currently the app store is averaging over 300 new apps in the store every single day. That’s more new titles per day than most platforms see in a year. Just a staggering number. At this point, the app store is less than a year old and has had over 57,000 apps approved. Some of the standard practices of marketing software just don’t apply to a volatile and chaotic market such as this. Trying new things, finding what works amid the chaos is the key. That’s what ngmoco:) is doing. For ngmoco:) the question was become how do they best launch a sequel in the iTunes App Store. There’s very little history on how to do that. One method they wanted to test was to remove the prequel to see what impact that would have on the launch of Rolando 2. What happens if you launch an episodic title into the app store without the predecessor there. It was learning they thought was worth doing. That was the plan, until they started hearing from consumers. Consumers didn’t like the idea of it. It can be a big concern to a user who has purchased a copy protected digital file when they discover they may not be able to download it again if something happens to their copy. Since all that was really purchased was a bunch of bits, if it’s no longer available, it can seem to the consumer like you’ve lost your purchase. What ... |
|
|
|
|
| Monday, 29 June 2009 02:29 |
|
|
|
|
148apps
|
|
Developer: Gameloft Price: $4.99 Version Reviewed: 1.0.5 Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Game Controls Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars Gameplay Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars iPhone Integration Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars User Interface Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars Gameloft has put out some great games, from the Oregon Trail to Let’s Golf , and they’ve become one of the major players in the App Store. Unfortunately, not all of their titles are so well-done. Rise of Lost Empires has a cliched storyline, annoying controls, lag issues, and “heroes” who repeat the same irritating phrases twenty times in an average battle. This is one to avoid. And yet, despite that, Rise of Lost Empires manages to look promising. Just don’t be fooled by the eye candy or the exciting-looking screenshots. When you begin your quest, you’ll play from the “good” perspective, first as a human knight and then later with other heroes, including an elven archer and a sorcerer. This is the Empire campaign, and your enemies are Orcs. After completing a few “chapters” (battles, in other words), the Raider campaign unlocks and you can fight from the Orc’s point of view. Each chapter has a varying set of goals, and not all of them are revealed in the beginning. Some goals are optional, but most are mandatory; some must be completed before others. Most are pretty straightforward: Keep your hero alive, defend the gate, kill the Orcs, etc. Others are slightly more complex: Earning the trust of the Orc tribes, for example, requires you to complete the demands of the tribes’ leaders. The game is really focused on heroes, though. Each “hero” is, as their name suggests, a powerhouse with quite some bite to back up their bark. They can cast spells, have extra health and strength, and lead your units into battle. Better yet, you can have multiple heroes in one chapter, and you control them all at once. Each hero’s portrait appears in the top-left corner of the screen—and, yes, the portraits do serve a purpose. Tapping on your hero’s portrait will select either him alone or him and his forces as well (it alternates with each tap). This is a good shortcut, but it’s not always sufficient, especially because it can get confusing whose forces are whose when you have multiple heroes in play at once. To some extent, your hero and his or her surrounding forces will attack on their own, but you really do have to control and micromanage; your archers, for example, aren’t smart enough to attack from a distance all of the time, and they won’t retreat on their own (or quickly enough when you order them, for that matter). And... |
|
|
|
| Monday, 29 June 2009 02:22 |
|
|
|
|
148apps
|
|
Developer: Weather Underground Price: $6.99 Version Reviewed: 1.7 iPhone Integration Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars User Interface Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.92 out of 5 stars Blog readers may have spotted the application ‘Wunder Radio’ being mentioned in Glenn Head’s A Day In The Life . This was actually the application that I reviewed that worked towards my acceptance into the 148 writer team, but it was put to the bottom of my mailbox and long forgotten. When I spotted Glenn’s post, I found the mail and formatted it ready for an official 148 review. Sit back - because this is a good one. Wunder Radio is an internet radio application that streams live radio from the internet directly to your iPhone. It can do this through Wi-Fi, 3G and in some cases EDGE - meaning that whenever you’re on the go and have a connection, you can listen to radio that’s playing (quite literally) on the other side of the world. On the outside, it has a simple yet effective design that takes full use of the generous iPhone screen. It is very similar to the contacts tab within the ‘Phone’ application (see screenshots 1 and 2) - which is perhaps why it is so easy to navigate and find your way around. There’s no need to fiddle around with advanced settings, and if you really want to dig deep it has its own section within the ‘Settings’ application. Opening this will offer you the option to change the theme, MP3 buffer time and default bit rate (see screenshot 3). The user has the option to browse for radio channels via category (sports / music etc), genre (type of music) and location. Each of these categories has sub-categories to make for easy navigation. Sport is divided into sections such as “NBA”, “NASCAR” and “Major League Baseball” to name a few. Music genre divides all stations into 18 genres, ranging from “Oldies” to “Alternative Rock”. Finally, location is split into continents and main locations, eg. “Africa”, “North America” and “Antarctica” (I never knew that there were stations in the arctic!). Once you have found your way through to the correct type of radio that you’ve gone through the categories and sub-categories to the radio that you want to listen to, you’ll be offered a generous choice of stations to choose from - each with their own bitrate and symbol stating how it can be streamed (Wi-Fi and 3G for all, EDGE for some) (screenshot 4). When you are in a station, you then have the chance to edit a few more settings if you wish (Buffer Time, Preferred Bit Rate etc - with explanations telling you which option will do which {lower bit rate... |
|
|
|
