A Gaming Diary
iPhone
Squareball (iPhone)
Oct 1st
Level six completed!
Yes!
Now on to level seven, which is proving to be a bit of git.
Just like all the other levels, then.
Look, just buy this game, okay? It’s really, really great, as long as you don’t mind a challenge and repeating levels over and over until you crack them. Which, let’s face it, is probably most gamers these days. Bah.
I love you, Squareball, even if nobody else does.
Max Injury Lite (iPhone)
Sep 30th
Well, this was a nice surprise. The Lite version of Max Injury got an update that added a new level.
It’s much better than the other level, too. Instead of flight of stairs, you’ve got great slabs of stone hanging in space and it’s altogether more fun.
Backbreaker Football (iPhone)
Sep 30th
Since working out that there’s a combo system I’ve been enjoying this even more than I was before – and I’ve even got a gold on the second challenge.
Some of the best moments, though, are when you fail.
The tackles can be excellent.
Words With Friends (iPhone)
Sep 30th
Yesterday, I blogged about feeling immature for playing the word PUBES. Last night, I played the word in the screen shot below, which I won’t type out here.
It was the best word I could play, given my letters and the state of the board, but I’m really not sure that’s any excuse. I honestly wish I hadn’t done it, because I feel pretty awful.
Backbreaker Football (iPhone)
Sep 29th
This isn’t a full American football game. It’s an arcade game where you have to run down the field from one end to the other. Like this:
You also have to avoid the other men on the field so this doesn’t happen:
You tilt the phone to turn, use buttons on the screen for evasive moves, sprinting and showing off for bonus points and it’s really very, very good indeed.
Aera (iPhone)
Sep 29th
Heh.
Well, I tried and tried and tried and finally finished the Easy Solo level under Quick Game. Well, all right, it took me about three goes, it wasn’t that hard. (And one of those times I may have finished if I’d not distracted myself by taking a screen shot.)
Anyway, I then decided to bite the bullet and went into Campaign. Did the tutorial again, grumbling all the while, then found that the first level of the campaign is, yes, the Easy Solo level I’d just done. D’oh. Aced it first time, though. This is, as I suspected, a game you do get a lot better at very quickly.
Aera (iPhone)
Sep 29th
Not sure about this one yet, but I think it’s looking good, especially given the current price of 59p.
It looks lovely, all right, using 3D graphics for movement on a 2D plane. (No pun intended.) It’s a bit like NiGHTS, basically. Shame I managed to take the single most boring screen shot possible.
I went to Quick Game, chose School and found myself in detailed and helpful tutorial. Once I inverted the controls it seemed to control well and it felt like it was something special.
However, then I tried a game mode where you have to collect floating balls without hitting mines and I just couldn’t get to some of them. It was quite strange. I think I probably just need more practice, to work out what the plane can do.
Then I tried a combat mission, where you have to destroy enemy planes. That was really rather fun, but, again, I found myself unable to actually get to some of the power ups the enemy planes dropped.
It’ll probably come with practice and I reckon I’m just missing some subtleties right now.
My main complaint is that after those Quick Game modes I went to Campaign and it tried to make me do the the tutorial again. It was useful first time, but I really don’t want to sit through it again, but I couldn’t find any way to skip it.
Puzzle Quest (iPhone)
Sep 29th
Haven’t been bothering with the story much at the moment. If I remember the DS version correctly, leveling up is a must, so I’ve been wandering around the map doing repeatable side quests and random encounters.
I think I’m going to try and learn the Hide spell from my captured goblin, but I’m not sure how useful it will be.
Words With Friends (iPhone)
Sep 29th
Yes, yes, I know.
I may have the beard and hair of an ancient wild man, but in my head I’m still about twelve years old.
Defender Chronicles (iPhone)
Sep 28th
Yeah, it’s another tower defense game.
But! Wait! It’s different!
First off, is the most obvious difference, which is that it’s played from a side-on perspective. Enemies walk up (or down) the ledges to your base, you place towers (referred “guilds” in this game) to stop them. You’ve got archers, soldiers, mages, etc. That sort of thing.
Another wrinkle is that your hero character stands at the end of the level. He’s very powerful and a good last line of defense – but he can’t kill flying enemies and can only handle one character at a time, which isn’t very a useful when a whole swarm breaks through. (I did unlock another hero when I finished the sixth story level, though, so I might try her.)
Unfortunately, the game starts off with some errors in the text and a lack of real guidance leaving a bad impression, but it soon gets its hooks into you and you find yourself compelled to play to perfect a level, to level up your hero or to earn cash to unlock extras and equipment.
It’s much better than it first seems.
However, what I didn’t know before buying is that it’s not finished. It’s my fault entirely, I should have done more research. But I saw the big map in the game and was very excited about what I’d find after the first few levels. I was looking forward to more units, more maps and a huge, expansive adventure to play. One day, it probably will be all that. Right now, though, you just get six story levels (and a secret level) which, when finished, just give you a “to be continued” screen.
It was crushingly disappointing. The thing is, it’s not like there’s not enough game for your money already. I’ve barely touched the higher difficulty levels, there’s loads of stuff to unlock and I’ve not even tried any gameplay modes outside of the quest. The trouble is that I’d built up this idea in my head of what the game would be and it’s just not there yet.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy it – even in its current state it’s well worth £2.39 of your money – but you need to know going in that this is an episodic game. If they can keep the updates coming in timely fashion, I can see this having a long, long lifespan on my phone.
