A Gaming Diary
Posts tagged 33rd division
Ten Best iPhone Games, January 2010
Jan 5th
I’m often asked for iPhone game recommendations, so I’ve decided to post my list of the ten best games available for the platform. The plan is to post a list every few weeks, so please click the “top ten lists” label below to make sure you’re looking at the latest version if you’ve come to this post through a search engine. This list is in alphabetical order and consists of my own personal choice of games, based purely on how much I enjoy them.
33rd Division
A line-drawing game in the tradition of Flight Control and Harbor Master, but with a stealthy twist. Your job is direct soldiers to safe spots on the map, but without them being seen by the enemies. You can’t just draw a path, but must adjust it as the enemies patrol and lie down to stay out of sight. It’s tough, rewarding and incredibly exciting, distilling the essence of stealth into a fast-paced arcade rush.
Angry Birds
An immediate classic, Angry Birds arrived on the iPhone with little fanfare, but captivated everyone who tried it. It wasn’t just that people were losing sleep trying to get through all the levels – it’s that they then lost more sleep trying to get the full three-star rating for each one. A simple game where you launch birds at fortifications, the consistent physics and excellent level design lifted this above similar games. The only real problem is that after many hours spent trying to fully complete the game, it still leaves you wanting more. Much, much more.
Canabalt
Superb conversion of the web-based Flash game, Canabalt is a pure rush, controlled simply by tapping the screen when you want to jump. It’s wonderfully presented, perfectly simple and hugely addictive, with the randomly-generated levels meaning you can never be sure quite what’s ahead.
Doom Classic
Arguably the best game ever made, Doom has never really translated well to handheld consoles due to control difficulties. The iPhone version, however, controls beautifully and makes this the third-best version of this classic game (after the PC and Xbox 360 versions). The level design, weapons and enemies are still as wonderful as ever. If you’ve ever loved Doom, this is the version to carry around in your pocket. If you’ve never played, now’s the time to start.
iDrop Dead: Flower Edition
A physics-based puzzler where your job is to inflict as much damage as possible to cute cartoon characters. Tear their limbs off, expose their skulls and blow them up. This is a game, though, not an animated joke and the level goals are well-judged and careful consideration and well-timed flicking is needed to get them all. Forget Ragdoll Blaster and Max Injury, iDrop Dead is the pinnacle of the ragdoll genre and the Flower Edition contains the most content and is well worth paying for over the free versions.
Minigore
There are a lot twin-stick shooters on the App Store, but Minigore is the best. It may not have the RPG-like aspects of Alive-4-ever or the maze-like levels of Against The Fire, but it surpasses all other examples of the genre in pure frantic shooting fun. It’s fast, furious, relentless and tuned to perfection.
Orbital
Fantastic game that tests your aim and your brain. The mechanics are hard to explain, but obvious when you play. It’s a brutally hard game, but never unfair. Like many great games, you may develop a love-hate relationship with it – but you’ll keep going back.
Ridge Racer Accelerated
At launch this was a rough gem, plagued by slowdown and frame rate problems. A patch was issued quickly, though, and on the 3GS at least, performance is now nearly perfect. It doesn’t have the content of the PSP version of the game, nor the polish, but the glorious tilt-based steering makes it worth owning alongside other versions. No other racer on the iPhone comes close to the sheer terror the game can generate as you struggle to control your car round the twisting hills of the classic Ridge Racer courses. The price you see on iTunes doesn’t include the whole game – you need to set aside another three quid or so for the downloadable content – but it’s worth it.
Soosiz
The sound-bite description is Mario Galaxy in 2D, but with its cute visuals and small, but increasingly challenging, levels Soosiz soon leaves its inspiration behind and proves itself to be its own master. It controls perfectly, features a surprising amount of variety and has a enough levels to keep you going for a long, long time. It’s a joyous, bouncy experience, reminiscent of the best 16-bit platformers while being completely modern.
Str8ts
Sometimes you need to kick back and feed your brain, not your reactions, and there are a number of grid-based number puzzles for such occasions. There’s Sudoku, obviously, and KenKen, but the best of them is Str8ts. It’s impossible to say why, but Str8ts is simply the most satisfying puzzle game there is. It’s always logical and if you’re stuck, it’s only ever because you’ve missed something. The ratio between baffled staring and eureka moments is just right and when things flow, it’s glorious.
Ten Best iPhone Games, November 2009
Nov 23rd
I’m often asked for iPhone game recommendations, so I’ve decided to post my list of the ten best games available for the platform. The plan is to post a list every few weeks, so please click the “top ten lists” label below to make sure you’re looking at the latest version if you’ve come to this post through a search engine. This list is in alphabetical order and consists of my own personal choice of games, based purely on how much I enjoy them.
33rd Division
A line-drawing game in the tradition of Flight Control and Harbor Master, but with a stealthy twist. Your job is direct soldiers to safe spots on the map, but without them being seen by the enemies. You can’t just draw a path, but must adjust it as the enemies patrol and lie down to stay out of sight. It’s tough, rewarding and incredibly exciting, distilling the essence of stealth into a fast-paced arcade rush.
Call of Duty: World At War: Zombies
A direct port of the Zombies game mode from World At War on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, CoD: Zombies really shouldn’t work. A game designed for high-definition hardware and a fully-featured controller – on the iPhone? Incredibly, it’s a total success. There are three different control schemes, all of which work well. The graphics are astounding, with the zombie animations especially noteworthy. And the wave-based survival gameplay simply never gets old. Even without considering the online cooperative multiplayer, this is one of the ten best games on the iPhone. At the time of writing only one map is available, as more are added this game will only get better.
Canabalt
Superb conversion of the web-based Flash game, Canabalt is a pure rush, controlled simply by tapping the screen when you want to jump. It’s wonderfully presented, perfectly simple and hugely addictive, with the randomly-generated levels meaning you can never be sure quite what’s ahead.
Civilization Revolution
Civilization Revolution was a great game on the Xbox 360. The core of the game was the same in the DS conversion, but an awkward interface made it difficult to enjoy. The iPhone version of the game, though, is a triumph. It may not be as pretty as the 360 version or have the AI tweaks that top players want, but it’s much easier to control than the DS version. It’s more of a game than the the more simulation based PC Civilization games, but that doesn’t stop it being a great way to build an empire.
Doom Classic
It may seem to be overkill to have two first-person shooters in this list when no tower defence or racing games have made the cut, but it’s not my fault that both CoD: Zombies and Doom Classic are deserving of a place in this list. Arguably the best game ever made, Doom has never really translated well to handheld consoles due to control difficulties. The iPhone version, however, controls beautifully and makes this the third-best version of this classic game (after the PC and Xbox 360 versions). The level design, weapons and enemies are still as wonderful as ever. If you’ve ever loved Doom, this is the version to carry around in your pocket. If you’ve never played, now’s the time to start.
iDrop Dead: Flower Edition
A physics-based puzzler where your job is to inflict as much damage as possible to cute cartoon characters. Tear their limbs off, expose their skulls and blow them up. This is a game, though, not an animated joke and the level goals are well-judged and careful consideration and well-timed flicking is needed to get them all. Forget Ragdoll Blaster and Max Injury, iDrop Dead is the pinnacle of the ragdoll genre and the Flower Edition contains the most content and is well worth paying for over the free versions.
Minigore
There are a lot twin-stick shooters on the App Store, but Minigore is the best. It may not have the RPG-like aspects of Alive-4-ever or the maze-like levels of Against The Fire, but it surpasses all other examples of the genre in pure frantic shooting fun. It’s fast, furious, relentless and tuned to perfection.
Orbital
Fantastic game that tests your aim and your brain. The mechanics are hard to explain, but obvious when you play. It’s a brutally hard game, but never unfair. Like many great games, you may develop a love-hate relationship with it – but you’ll keep going back.
Soosiz
The sound-bite description is Mario Galaxy in 2D, but with its cute visuals and small, but increasingly challenging, levels Soosiz soon leaves its inspiration behind and proves itself to be its own master. It controls perfectly, features a surprising amount of variety and has a enough levels to keep you going for a long, long time. It’s a joyous, bouncy experience, reminiscent of the best 16-bit platformers while being completely modern.
Str8ts
Sometimes you need to kick back and feed your brain, not your reactions, and there are a number of grid-based number puzzles for such occasions. There’s Sudoku, obviously, and KenKen, but the best of them is Str8ts. It’s impossible to say why, but Str8ts is simply the most satisfying puzzle game there is. It’s always logical and if you’re stuck, it’s only ever because you’ve missed something. The ratio between baffled staring and eureka moments is just right and when things flow, it’s glorious.
33rd Division (iPhone)
Oct 23rd
Cor. Also: blimey. The second level is a bit of a tough one. First you have to get through a narrow pass under the gaze of a machine gun nest and then there’s a patrolling guard who always seems to be in the worst position possible.
I think that – for Time mode at least, which, as I said yesterday, is very much where it’s at – the only way to be successful is to have lots and lots of soldiers coming in and lots and lots of soldiers lying down on the ground waiting for a chance to move. However, multitasking that much is pretty much beyond me. I think my best score is about twenty-three, which is pitiful.
Now, don’t get the wrong impression. Just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s not. A stiff challenge can still be great fun – and is here.
33rd Division (iPhone)
Oct 22nd
Okay, I’ve had more time with this game now and am prepared to offer my verdict. Are you ready? My verdict is this: 33rd Division is an excellent little game and for 59p it’s an absolute bargain. It’s fast, frantic and heart-stoppingly tense at times – far more so than Sniper Vs Sniper, which isn’t any sort of slouch in the tension department itself.
This is especially true of Time mode. In Life mode, you have a set number of lives, in Time mode a set amount of time, which gets topped up every time a soldier reaches home. This may not sound like much of a difference, but the difference in the way the game plays is astonishing. In Life mode, you can deal with one soldier at a time, but in Time mode there’s no such luxury. Unless you constantly bring extra soldiers into play you will run out of time very, very quickly. This means that lying down to wait for enemies to look away becomes a necessity you can ill afford and you’re constantly dealing with two or three soldiers at once. It’s a much better way to play the game and I can’t see myself going back to Life mode – unless I’m feeling very lazy or I need to play it to unlock maps.
Also, I’ve got quite a good position on the scoreboard right now, which is nice.
33rd Division (iPhone)
Oct 22nd
Do you like line drawing games like Flight Control and Harbor Master, but wish they were a bit more manly? Are you worried that you’re somehow dicing with your testosterone levels by playing games with little boats and planes? Do you only like games that feature Nazis or other evil foreign types? Then 33rd Division might look appealing, being a line drawing game with a rugged World War Two theme.
But – ha! – the joke’s on you, because it still looks quite cute. And – oh no! – all your soldiers have forgotten to bring their guns to the war. Frankly, you might just as well buy the America’s Next Top Model game and be done with it. Fierce.
Yeah, sorry, I’ve been spending too much time on forums populated by teenagers who are in that appalling stage of their lives where everything has to be serious and grown up and definitely not for children. Luckily, I’ve outgrown that phase, though I can still remember only wanting to read graphic novels and not comics. Teenage boys are idiots. All of them.
Um, right, where was I? Oh, yes, 33rd Division is a line drawing game. Like the others, your units (in this case tiny soldiers) come in from the sides of the screen and you have to direct them home. The difference here – apart from the WW2 skin – is that you’re not trying to keep your units from hitting each other, but to get them home without enemies seeing them. Enemy soldiers patrol around the screen and have vision cones. If they see you, you’re dead. You can lie down to stay out of sight, even when an enemy’s in range, but you can’t move and dogs can still spot you.
Basically, it’s the world’s first stealth line drawing game. (The first one that I’ve seen, at least.)
I’ve only had one very quick go so far, but it seems like a nice twist to the standard formula and I think I’m going to enjoy it.
