A Gaming Diary
Archive for March, 2010
On Holiday
Mar 18th
Off on holiday to the US for three weeks from tomorrow so see the in-laws, so I doubt I’ll be posting much, if at all, until the middle of April.
Earth Vs Moon (iPhone)
Mar 18th
Polished and playable Missile Command game with lots of nice variety and a well-stocked shop for upgrades. I picked it up for free a while back but hadn’t played it until last night.
It doesn't just ape Missile Command...
It starts off nice and easy, easing you in and teaching what you need to know – without being too dull, thankfully – but the challenge soon ramps up. Soon enough you’re not just playing Missile Command, but Space Invaders and even Pong. Sort of.
Good game, good game.
Earthworm Jim FREE (iPhone)
Mar 18th
How do I get those guns?
Hmm. Looks lovely and I have fond memories, but I can’t remember how to play – what’s the head whip actually for – and I miss the jump button more often than is comfortable. Even at 59p, I think I’ll give the full version a miss. Might be a different story if the game had decent help of any sort.
Street Fighter IV (iPhone)
Mar 18th
I’ve completely run out of things to say about this. All I do it is start it up, play a couple of fights as Blanka, then turn it off again. That’s it. But I do it a lot.
You wouldn't like him when he's blurry.
I think this game is probably up there with Chinatown Wars and Orbital as the very, very best the iPhone has to offer, even now, before the inevitable DLC.
Words With Friends (iPhone)
Mar 18th
I know, I know, I’ve not blogged about this for ages – but I have been playing it. More than any other game, at least in terms of number of times I start the app.
Why wouldn't it let me play BITCH?
So, no, I’ve not got bored of it. It’s even still sitting in my dock. It’s special like that.
Street Fighter IV (iPhone)
Mar 17th
Oof!
For a game that’s pretty lacking in content, I’ve played this an awful lot. I can’t seem to stop. I’m not even going for new best times or doing missions in the dojo – I’m just playing the game for the sheer joy of it.
Aftermath (iPhone)
Mar 17th
Standing by my first impressions on this – it’s a fine, fine game.
There's a nice variety of guns in the game.
Bit of an odd difficulty curve. Level three is pretty hard, then the next few levels are cakewalks, then you get to a level where you have to survive for three minutes and it’s like hitting a brick wall. A fun brick wall, but a brick wall nonetheless.
Aftermath (iPhone)
Mar 16th
Top-down, Left For Dead-style single player game. Given it a good 45 minutes of play or so, sat at my desk and in the waiting room at the dentist.
It’s really rather good, actually, and well worth the launch price of 59p based on what I’ve played.
You’re a little chap with a pistol (most of the time) and you follow the guide-arrow through the levels to get to a waypoint, trying to avoid being munched on by endlessly-respawning zombies on the way. The levels are very dark, so you need to need use your torch to light them up – your character automatically fires at any zombies within the torch light.
Yeah, it's another zombie game. Don't let it put you off.
All the way it’s raining and there’s lightning, which lights up the level for a second and can show you a lot of zombies you hadn’t noticed. Panic stations and all that.
It all works – the controls are pretty much perfect – and it’s very atmospheric. Hard too, after the first couple of levels. I’m on the third level now and gradually getting better as I explore the place and find my around. (The guide-arrow points in a straight line and the maze-like city doesn’t often let you go in one, so there’s a fair amount of exploring to do.)
There’s the odd rough edge – shadows are simple boxes and I glitched through a door once – but they don’t take away from the fact that this is a very impressive game.
Don’t seem to be too many levels, but it looks like the last one is a Survival mode, which is nice – and there are OpenFeint high scores.
Given the cheap price, I reckon it’s well worth a look, based on first impressions.
Street Fighter IV (iPhone)
Mar 16th
Stupid, rubbish Ken.
Turned the difficulty up to Hard last night. Seems about right for me at the moment. I’m probably winning more rounds than I’m losing, overall, but there’s not much in it. I’m actually having to play better and mix things up a bit with my Blanka, which is a great feeling.
I love this game a lot.
Orbital
Mar 16th
Not good enough.
Smashed my old Gravity high score into the ground with great force, but unfortunately just missed taking the top spot on Friends leaderboard. Highly annoying.
Also played for a while in the waiting room at the dentist today, but we’re not talking about that.
