A Gaming Diary
iPhone
Doom Classic (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
I didn’t intend to spend my entire lunch hour playing Doom, but, well, you know… it’s Doom. I’m powerless to resist.
I’m getting close to the Cyberdemon now… and I’m getting the fear. He took me months to beat without cheating when I first got the game in 1994. Months. Will I be able to defeat him now?
Doom Classic (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
It’s Doom. The real Doom. On the iPhone. Excited? Well, Doom doesn’t have a great record when it comes to portable versions. The GBA version was certainly a technical achievement, but the controls were pretty horrible. I didn’t get on with it very well on the PSP either. Or, for that matter, the Playstation, if we’re including home console versions. The only versions I really rate are the original PC version and the 360 conversion.
So, how does the iPhone version rate? Well, to my mind, it comes a comfortable third. The default controls are horrible – no strafing! – but the middle control option, with visible controls turned off and auto-use turned on transforms the game from a barely-playable mess into the best portable version of Doom I’ve ever played. It’s not quite as smooth as the 360 or PC versions, but it’s surprisingly close. I’ve certainly made my way through the first episode and most of episode two on the default difficulty without any problems.
This is the game I’ve spent most time with over the last few days. It’s finally, after all these years, a great handheld version of Doom and the bizarrely ugly front end and weird default controls don’t change that.
Brilliant. And maybe enough for Doom to reclaim the title of Best Game of All Time from recent upstart Grand Theft Auto IV.
Zombie Dash (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
I’m getting a little bit annoyed with the number of zombie games on the iPhone. It sometimes seems like every other game is themed around the brain-munching undead. Do we really need yet another one?
Well, maybe not, but Zombie Dash is good enough that I’m able to forgive it the zombie theming.
You’re trapped in a randomly-generated maze full of traps, treasure and zombies. Your only goal is to find the key and get to the exit. Once you do, you get to spend the cash you’ve found on items to help you get through the next level. This goes on, getting gradually harder, until you inevitably die. Then you start again. It’s pretty simple, but it’s very well put together. You use a virtual trackball to move, which seems very strange at first, but which starts to show its worth as you get used to it. If you get hit by a trap or a zombie there’s a quick touch-screen mini game to play, which you need to complete quickly so you don’t lose too much health. There are antidotes to use to regain your health, a spray you can use to make you smell like a zombie and so present a less attractive target and, er, moss burgers, which let you move faster.
Games can go on for a while, so it’s nice that you can exit at any time and restart from exactly where you left off. At the moment I’m on day ten or thereabouts (each level is a game day) and I’m hoping to get a decent score for the online leaderboard. (I was second on the global list with a score of seven days shortly after the game was released, but I’ve no doubt I’m much further down now.)
Worth a look, definitely.
Wheeler’s Treasure (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
You’re a young lady pirate. There’s a big water wheel contraption rolling through a randomly-generated level. You sit inside it (most of the time) and swipe the screen to jump in order to avoid obstacles, collect treasure and destroy enemies. It’s not really like anything I’ve ever played before, despite sitting comfortably next to Run, Canabalt, etc.
At first it all feels a bit too random, despite a decent tutorial. It takes time to become comfortable with the jumping and after several games I’m still a long, long way off feeling like I’ve mastered it. It’s not that it feels wrong – you jump exactly where you tell the game you want to jump – but there’s too much going on for you to simply be able to practice the jumping. From the very beginning you’re avoiding slime-filled pits, skeletons, bats and cannonballs and there’s barely time to breathe.
You gradually become better at the game, though, better at timing your jumps, better at learning the best time to use your equipment and you start to realise that the game might be something special. There’s a lot to unlock and equipment choices to make before you play. (Do you want to hang on to the wheel or be able to return to it if you lose it?) It’s a full, polished package and, despite still not feeling like the game’s really clicked, I don’t have any hesitation in recommending the game at the introductory price of 59p. Just be prepared to give it some time.
Rock Band (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
Tap, tap, tap, etc. It’s Rock Band, but instead of singing or strumming or bashing, you’re tapping your iPhone screen. It works surprisingly well, helped enormously by the fact that your actions actually make a difference to the music and it having a very decent, if quite small, selection of tracks.
I’ve gone through the World Tour on Easy drums and have had a great time. Well worth the £3.99 I paid for it over the weekend – and might even be worth the £5.99 it is now.
Dreadmill (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
I’ve been eyeing this since release, unsure whether I should pay out 59p to give it a go. Over the weekend, though, it was free, so I didn’t have to.
You’re a zombie on a treadmill. You have to leap over the saw blades that come across the bottom of the screen, duck down under ones that come across the top.
It’s all very simple and, at first, it feels awful. I died and died and died – I just couldn’t get the timing down at all. However, after a few frustrating minutes it clicked and I managed to start setting some half-decent scores. There’s not a lot to it, no, and there’s a big hurdle to leap over at the start – no pun intended – but it’s good fun and certainly a great game to get for free. I don’t think I’d have been disappointed if I’d paid for it, either. It’s not quite up there with Canabalt or Mr.AahH!!, but it’s not that far off.
Bloons Tower Defense (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
This was down at 59p over the weekend, so I snapped it up. I’d played the web-based version a fair bit, so I new what I was getting which is, basically, a fixed-path tower defense with towers that are quite different from the standard styles you find in most TDs.
It’s not the prettiest game in the world, but it’s fast, playable and well-designed. Add it to the long, long list of Phone TD games to consider.
Eliminate Pro (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
It’s an online death match FPS. It’s a huge, hyped iPhone release. It’s free, but you can pay real money for upgrades. Looks like everything’s in place… but come over here and have a peek at the options screen.
You see that? There’s no option to invert the y-axis, so the game is completely unplayable for me. How does an FPS get released in 2009 without an invert look option? I just don’t know. If they patch one in I’ll take another look at the game, but it’s currently completely unplayable for me – and I have tried. I just can’t do it.
Words With Friends (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but I’ve been off with my wife having adventures in time and space.
Well, that and I’ve had a horrible cold and sore throat and have been stuck on the sofa feeling sorry for myself for a few days.
See, look, I was very ill. At least we had excellent pumpkins, thanks to my wife’s mad carving skills.
Anyway, Words With Friends had an update yesterday. Changes some letter point values – N and L are now worth two points, not sure if there are other changes – and changes the amount of some of the letters in each game. Not sure why they’ve done that, unless it’s to make the game even less like Scrabble.
If they need to do that to stay online, that’s fine. Life without Words With Friends would be a sad, grey thing indeed.
(And no, there’s nothing special about that screenshot, I just took it when I remembered I needed one for this blog post.)
Rally Master Pro 3D (iPhone)
Oct 29th
I think my complaints about not being able to feel the road surface may have been a little off. Certainly, when it’s raining and I turn a corner and see the smooth tarmac change to rough dirt the panic I feel must come from somewhere.
This is a very, very good game, overall. I’m playing the Professional difficulty now and it’s a good step up over Amateur without being too difficult. Perfect runs aren’t required, but you do need to do well and get through without any major crashes or scrapes.
The framerate does seem a little iffy at times, but I’ve not yet found it to be a problem. If I’d paid twenty quid for it we might be having words, but the £3.99 price tag helps to highlight the good and downplay the bad. I’m not making any allowances for it being on a phone -by now, the iPhone deserves to be treated as a proper portable games console – but I will make allowances for the price.
