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A Gaming Diary
Words With Friends (iPhone)
Nov 6th
Here’s a thankfully rare example of me being not beaten – that happens often enough, thank you – but absolutely, comprehensively slaughtered. I will not be sad to see the back of this particular game.
Orbital (iPhone)
Nov 5th
Good news everyone! You can now play the excellent Orbital if you don’t have an iPhone or iPod Touch by clicking this handy link. It’s only Gravity mode, no Pure, but should give you a good taste of the game.
I played it for a while, but then realised that if I got a new high score on the web version and not on my iPhone then I’d be very upset, so I switched to the iPhone version.
Did I get a new high score? Well, no, I didn’t. But that’s not the point.
Boost 3D (iPhone)
Nov 5th
Nice, simple, tilt-to-avoid-obstacles game. The screenshot pretty much tells you the story, though it doesn’t show the way the tunnel sometimes opens out. There are also boost pads to give you speed. This lets you break through obstacles and also adds a sense of speed that the game otherwise lacks.
It’s good, fun stuff, but the lack of speed when you’re not boosting means it often feels like you’re ambling down the tunnel rather than rushing down it. All the more reason to boost, then, I suppose.
Doom Classic (iPhone)
Nov 5th
Uh oh! It’s the horrible scary Cyberdemon who, you may remember, took me months to beat back in 1994 when I first got Doom.
However, it turns out that he’s actually quite easy.
Now, that must be because I’m actually much better at the game these days and absolutely nothing to do with the auto aim in the iPhone version of Doom. Ahem.
Zombie Dash (iPhone)
Nov 5th
Hmm. Not sure I like this quite as much as I thought I did, for one simple reason: it seems to be too easy. After a few games getting used to the controls and working out how and when to use power ups I’ve got to the stage where I’m making more money than I need every day. I keep a huge stock of antidote to refill my health and I use it every time I get hurt, then always buy three moss burgers every day to improve my speed.
I’m up to day thirty-three in my current game and I just don’t feel like I’m in any real danger. Of course, now I’ve said all that I’ll probably die the moment I start playing again and then find it impossible to get past day ten again, but I don’t know. Hopefully an update can tweak it a bit, maybe by further limiting how much antidote you can carry, or something.
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.
