A Gaming Diary
Archive for September, 2010
Stoneship (iPhone)
Sep 30th
Right, this is a pirate-themed clone of Oasis, which I played many years ago. Well, maybe calling it a clone’s a bit harsh, as there are quite a few differences, but it is heavily reminiscent of the earlier game. Still, Oasis isn’t out for the iPhone (just the iPad), so there’s no competition on the platform.
It’s a turn-based game where you uncover a map and try to get as many defenses as possible put together before your turns run out and the pirate ships attack.
You can't uncover all the map and set up all your defense with the turns you have. You need some luck and to make some hard decisions.
I’ve only done the tutorial and a couple of real levels so far, but it does what it’s meant to do. If you’ve played Oasis you’ll know whether this is for you or not. If you haven’t, well, it might be worth taking a chance.
This is probably where I should write something in more detail, but this isn’t a reviews site, just quick notes about games I’ve been playing. Honestly, even if I wanted to write a detailed review, I’ve not played this enough to do so.
The best thing to do is to come back later (or subscribe to my RSS feed) and see whether I keep playing this or not. That’s the only really good guide to quality for this sort of game.
Call of Duty: World At War: Zombies (iPhone)
Sep 30th
Another update, another map, but a big change for CoD: Zombies.
Sometimes I get tired of zombies, but never zombie Nazis.
The new map in this update is free, which makes a change from previous maps. Also, all the previous maps are unlocked whether you’d bought them or not. I’ve no idea why, but I’m not complaining. (Unlike Internet rage-kids, who think that the months of pleasure they got from the DLC maps have somehow been obliterated by them now being free, or something. I don’t understand the logic, myself.)
Anyway, the new map appears to be huge and very difficult to properly defend. I like that. Danger and variety, the spice of life.
Angry Birds (iPhone)
Sep 30th
Angry Birds has had another big update. How better to mark my 1,000th iPhone post?
There’s retina display graphics (which aren’t any good to me), Game Center support and, mostly importantly, another set of fifteen new levels.
Here we go again!
So far they seem to be following all the rest of the levels in this episode by relying heavily on the big red birds, but that’s understandable.
Here’s to another 1,000 iPhone-related posts in this blog – and maybe I’ll still be playing Angry Birds then.
Minecraft (Mac)
Sep 29th
Today’s tip, always have some torches visible from your spawn point so you know which way to go when you respawn at night.
Like this.
Always helpful when you’re running for your stuff, but I don’t think it’s going to help me today, as I was swept down a river into the darkness and only knew I’d been killed by a skeleton archer because I happened to have the sound on. (Which is very rare, believe me.)
Texting of the Bread (iPhone)
Sep 29th
Argh! Urgh! Was having great fun with Texting of the Bread last night when a big boss appeared and my phone went vibration crazy. It was horrible. The noise stabbed my brain and I could feel my arms vibrating for several minutes afterwards. Hideous stuff.
Buzz, buzz, buzz, I wonder why he does.
So I went into the options and looked for a way to turn the vibration off. Guess what? I can’t find one. It’s possible I missed it, but there’s no way I’m playing the game again if it’s going to do that every time a boss comes up.
Madden 11 (iPhone)
Sep 29th
At midnight tonight the juggernaut that is FIFA 11 will hit the App Store. I’m not going to be able to get the 360 or PS3 version, but might get this one. One problem, though – it’s 858MB in size. That’s the biggest game I’ve seen on the iPhone by quite some distance. If I’m going to get then I’m going to have to clear some space.
I don’t know what to delete, though. I’ve got some big games on there – e.g. Dodonpachi Resurrection, GTA: Chinatown Wars, Street Fighter IV – but I don’t want to get rid of them. I’ve pared down my music collection far too much already. I’ve long since stopped carrying photos and videos around with me.
One rather large game I do have that I’ve barely played in Madden 11, so I thought about deleting that. That would be less than half the space I need for FIFA, but it’d still be a big chunk.
I thought I better play it before deleting it, though, as I’ve hardly played it since I bought it. (In a sale, luckily. I didn’t pay full price.)
So I started it up and went for a quick game as the Texans against the Titans. (The Texans didn’t quite exist by the time I left Houston, but they had been named before I flew away from the city that had become my home, never to return. That’s a whole different story. Also, remind me to tell you about (T)Ed Miliband and the Sunday Sport some time.)
I miss Texas. Kent's a lovely place, but it's really not the same.
Here’s the thing. Madden 11 is a fantastically slick and exciting game. Sometimes I feel like a spectator, granted, but even then I’m glued to the tiny screen. When the Titans intercepted a pass in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, stealing my chance to win, it hurt.
So maybe Madden 11 has to stay. Oh! If only I had a 32GB iPhone! Curse me for thinking “I’ll never need more than 16GB, don’t be silly!”
Tough decisions lie ahead. Of course, maybe FIFA 11 will be rubbish. That’d help.
Texting of the Bread (iPhone)
Sep 28th
Typing of the Dead, but with 2D side-on graphics and gingerbread men instead of zombies.
Basically, like.
Your weapon is milk.
Anyway, I’ve only tried Survival mode, which went on for bloody ages longer than I really wanted it to, so I haven’t got much to say. Honestly, I wouldn’t be blogging about it at all yet, but it’s the only game I played yesterday.
Dice Tower (iPhone)
Sep 27th
Build a tower of dice. Hence the name.
Really rather brilliant game where you have to build a tower out of dice. The rules are fairly complex, with trial and error working better at first that trying to read the rules. I’m not even going to try and explain them all, but the basics are that die you place must equal the sum or difference of the dice below.
It’s heavily reliant on luck, obviously, but there’s also a fair amount of strategy involved. I played this an awful lot at the weekend and I recommend it highly for some casual, thoughtful fun.
Splode (iPhone)
Sep 27th
It's a little bit gorgeous.
Free (when I downloaded it) chain reaction game. Think a pastoral, slow paced, rather dull EEEE. Still ate far too much of my time as it appears to be impossible to stop playing once you start.
Lego Batman (360)
Sep 27th
It feels cheap as hell, deathwise, and you’re constantly falling off ledges due to depth perception issues or your partner running to the edge of the screen, coop characters don’t do what they’re meant to unless you coax them just right, there are some infuriating boss battles (Mr Freeze can go fuck himself) and the vehicle handling is appalling. It’s way too hard, yet incredibly easy and it just feels like a deeply weird piece of game design.
And yet it’s brilliant, brilliant fun, in both single-player and when playing it with my wife.
Just like all the other Lego games, then, basically.
