SteamScope
This is a curious little game.
Steamscope tasks players with navigating through a set of tubes, pipes, tunnels
and hallways. The aim is to go as far as possible without hitting any objects,
which sounds simple, but is easier said than done.
This progression is made increasingly
tougher as the camera rolls and twists to confuse your sense of direction the
further you go. And if that isn't hard enough, there are coins to collect along
the way. It's basically an endless runner/cave flyer from a first person perspective.
And depending on your ability to stomach motion sickness, it can be a nauseating
experience as you endlessly descend further into your device.
Like any sickness inducing amusement
ride, the key is to focus on one spot and use your peripheral vision to collect
coins and avoid objects. Movement is controlled by tilting the device or using
a virtual thumbstick. Each has its advantages, tilting is quick and responsive,
and the thumbstick is great for fine control. But tilting can be unwieldy and
the thumbstick a little slow.
If you're able to take in the 3D environments
they do in fact look quite spectacular and carry a lot of atmosphere and detail.
But more often than not these will just be flying by and you won't have time to
take in some of the intricate design choices. The levels are varied and challenging
but they can be long and even with the inclusion of checkpoints, sometimes too long.
Boss battles are a little more varied but
unfortunately for me, my motion sickness tolerance levels aren't as high as the
average person's and I often needed to rest my eyes and take a break from my
plunge through the endlessly weaving pipes. It's a trying game in more ways
than one. While the levels are challenging, so is the endurance to see each one
through.
Blockwick
Blockwick is your new favorite puzzle game.
This title takes simple block slide and matches gameplay and gives it a new
coat of paint. Instead of moving the blocks to a specific goal or area, players
must move each matching block next to one another to make their mysterious
symbols glow and complete the level.
The challenge is in moving various
other clear or neutral colored blocks out of the way and getting your various,
Tetris-inspired blocks together across the game board. Obstacles vary in size
and the solutions for completing each level are numerous with an open and unrestricted
feel to the gameplay.
Each level is different and takes time
to work through but all are highly satisfying with a deep sense of achievement
once completed. The first 60 levels come free with the option of buying more in
app, and by that time Blockwick will firmly have its hooks into you. There are
a total of 240 puzzles with each additional 60 costing 99 cent.
These get increasingly more
challenging. So if you've made your way through the first 60 for free, what
awaits you is worth the price.
With so many levels on offer you'd expect
a little repetition, but surprisingly Blockwick never overtly feels like its retreading
old ground as the levels are remarkably different. The various shapes and sizes
of the blocks themselves help and this forces players to continually evolve the
way they approach the game, so there's never a feeling of getting stale or
bored.
Puzzle games like this are a dime a dozen,
yet games like Blockwick are few and far between. It's an incredibly
intelligent app and its execution is superb. Any puzzle gamer will find this
challenging and a lot of fun to play.
Pinball
Arcade
Oh what a glorious game. Anyone who grew
up with arcades and pinball machines will find this incredibly enticing. FarSight
Studios has done a tremendous job of replicating the sights and sounds of
classic pinball machines and this really feels as close to the real thing as
possible, especially with an iPad.
Pinball Arcade features a range of
classic machines from different eras. Of course the main goal is to achieve the
highest score but what as iOS game can do that real machines can't is offer
achievements and objectives to give the experience an extra twist. Part of that
is to give a history of each machine, view a flyer and discover every objective
available on the chosen machine in a comprehensive instruction manual.
You start out with just one machine, Tales
of Arabian Nights, with three more available as an in app purchase. The machines
all vary in layout and themes based on real life machines chock full of pinball
goodness. And even though I'm not a fan of in app purchase, at least you get to
try each machine before you buy. Each one is intricately recreated with a lot
of detail in the graphics and effects with the sounds and bright lights providing
the atmosphere.
The physics are occasionally
unforgiving and seem to straddle the reality/video game challenge lines but on
the whole it's not too bad and of course it's not likely we're going to get
accurate real world physics in a game like this. The controls are predictably
simple with each flipper controlled by touching the bottom left or right of the
screen with a nudge function by either shaking the device or touching the top
right or left of screen.
These respond quite well and the gameplay
is balanced and faithful to the real thing. There might be a little lag here
and there, unfortunately, but most of the time, even with a multi ball run or
trying to put together a combo, the game rarely struggles especially since its
initial release there have been numerous updates.
Visually, this game is an art form as
the original machines themselves were dazzling pieces of art. Each machine has been
painstakingly recreated in pixel form with a high degree of detail capturing
the sounds and the atmosphere perfectly. The gameplay is great and the online
tournaments and extra challenge modes available make this certainly worth the
price of admissions. I'm not a fan of the in app purchases but luckily, this
nostalgically speaks to the kid inside me who can get enough of this pinball
wizard.
