TouchArcade.ru

One genre that seems to be overlooked a bit on the App Store is tank games. Sure, there’s certainly a ton of them available for download, but it always seems as if they contain the same boring gameplay, drab military-esque visuals, and awkward controls. Enter Tank Riders [$1.99], the latest title from Polarbit (maker of Reckless Getaway) which attempts to differentiate itself from the rest of the genre with vibrant visuals and objective-based campaign gameplay. Unfortunately, the lack of content, multiplayer issues and frustrating controls keep Tank Riders from reaching its true potential.

At its core, Tank Riders is a somewhat simplistic, top-down 3D tank driving game. Players run through approximately 25 colorful levels (with five additional tutorial levels) with the goal of either getting to the other end of the map or collecting items to advance to the next mission. At the completion of each level, players are scored via a number of categories (such as health and speed) and are ranked via a 3-star system.

Along the way are enemy tanks equipped with one of several weapons along with destructible walls that occasionally hide coins (which boost your score) or hearts (which recover your health). Most levels also feature barriers that require a switch to either be stepped on or shot at in order to proceed. If the core gameplay seems basic, that’s because it is; there is very little in terms of actual innovation. However, it’s important to note that what Tank Riders does offer is implemented pretty well, which can be a challenge in itself.

The controls in Tank Riders are one of the more frustrating aspects of the game. The primary control method has movement done via a virtual joystick on one side of the screen. Attacking, meanwhile, is done by touching whatever direction you want to aim around the tank. The core problem with aiming in this mode is that the tank is always centered in the middle of the screen, meaning that if you’re trying to attack on the side with your movement stick, you have to either stop moving and use that hand, or use your opposite fingers and work around your other hand (which is presumably controlling movement at the same time).

Thankfully, Tank Riders does offer an alternative ‘dual-stick’ mode, but you lose a lot of accuracy and speed when using this control option. Considering that some of the later missions require a lot of simultaneous shooting and dodging, the shortfalls in both control options are disappointing.

In addition to the short single-player campaign, Tank Riders also features multiplayer. Normally, I’d expect multiplayer in a tank game to be pretty fun, but unfortunately there are a few flaws in Tank Riders. For one, multiplayer requires registration in yet another online service, and there’s currently no support for Game Center. Even worse, it’s nearly impossible to find a match currently, much less a match with more than one opponent (which really isn’t all that much fun).

To add insult to injury, each match I tried had a certain amount of lag and hit detection issues, which made the matches even more unsatisfying. In addition, there doesn’t appear to be an option for local Wi-Fi matches, which would have been a decent alternative for players looking to play something.

If multiplayer was working properly, Tank Riders probably would have been a game worth checking out. The controls, while annoying, were workable, and the different types of weapons offered some variety in taking out opponents. Unfortunately, without multiplayer, all you’re left with is the too-short single player campaign which can be completed in a few hours and simply doesn’t have enough content to carry the whole game. If Polarbit were to perhaps expand on the single player, Tank Riders might be worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, as it currently stands, you may want to pass on this ride.

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You don’t have to be an app hipster to be a little affronted when your favorite app hits the big time and everyone starts playing it. Really, are there many things more annoying than logging into Facebook only to see that your 11th grade lab partner has posted five hundred achievements from what was previously your favorite game? Instead of making passive aggressive comments on their status updates (“Wow, at least being unemployed gives you the opportunity to really master Angry Birds!”), channel that righteous anger into downloading Princess Punt [Free], a game that you are certain to be the first (and perhaps last) person on the block to be playing.

Before getting into the game itself, a warning is in order. There are plenty of things you will hate about this game. Endless popups after every level urging you to post every inane achievement to Facebook and Twitter, the out-of-place slot machine minigame that’s basically an in-app purchase cash grab, the agonizingly long loading times. Oh, and the eleven (eleven!!) in-game updates that have to download before you can begin (lord help you poor saps using a 3G connection to download them; wi-fi is definitely recommended!). Also, the default language is Japanese, so keep an eye out for the language options after installation—not that it really matters, because the loading screen text and tutorials don’t make any sense in English, either.

Long story short(ish): It’s confusing and difficult to get into. Why, then, is it worthy of a review?

Because it’s incredibly, weirdly fun. It’s supremely beautiful, frustrating, and clever, much like the game’s namesake, the lovestruck and violent Princess Punt. It’s a physics puzzler, but it’s far and above the zillions of pick up and go titles in the App Store because of the sheer depth of the gameplay.

You control the Princess, who is on her way to meet up with her hunky boyfriend. The road is full of dangerous enemies, including dinosaurs(!!) and angry acorns (yes, such a thing exists). In order to get past these obstacles, you kick (or punt, if you will) bombs and, more importantly, your minions.

There are several royal minions to punt into the fray, all with different abilities. There’s a mage who shoots ice bolts and rains down fire, a centurion who knows his way around a spear (um, not in the ancient Greek way, sheesh), an archer who can shoot arrows from a safe distance, and your Hero (the primary minion who is by your side at all times, and may have a slight crush on the Princess) who has experience with a wide variety of weapons (the trident is my favorite!).

As you kick your minions into danger, their various abilities set in. The exciting thing here is that they stay in play even after you’ve kicked them, through the entire level, so there is a fairly major element of strategy involved. For example, if you send your archer in during your first kick and make sure he’s out of the enemies’ reach, he can bombard them with arrows the whole round, even after you’ve also sent in the Hero and a bomb or two.

After you’ve beaten a level, you get experience powerups that you can use to make the Hero’s abilities level up, making his weapons more powerful and allowing him to withstand more hits. Additionally, the mostly-bogus slot machine that pops up between successfully completed levels occasionally grants you new weapons for your other minions, meaning your mage can have an upgraded staff or your archer might get a new power attack.

That’s what makes Princess Punt so hard to put down, despite being difficult to get into at first. It’s a puzzle game that also happens to be an RPG, and while the combination might seem weird at first, after a round or two it’ll be hard to imagine playing a similar puzzle game that’s missing the added strategic elements of Princess Punt. And while the game might feel piecemeal at times, the sheer number of ways that you can play the game more than makes up for all the (eleven!!!!) in-game updates and unabashed pleas for in-app purchases.

TouchArcade Rating:

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Bloomberg reports that Apple has opened up a new class of App Store offerings, allowing game publisher Big Fish Games to offer a monthly subscription package that will allow provide users with access to a number of the company’s games through a dedicated iPad app.

The setup is similar to Netflix Inc. (NFLX)’s streaming application for the iPad. Subscribers can get unlimited access to games such as “Mystery Case Files” and the “Mahjong Towers” series from inside the Big Fish app.

Games played through the subscription service, which are streamed to a user’s iPad from Big Fish’s data centers, will initially require Wi-Fi access to play.

The standard package from Big Fish Games will launch as a $4.99 monthly subscription, increasing to $6.99 per month early next year as more game titles become available for the app. A free ad-supported option limiting play to 30 minutes per day will also be available.

[Originally Posted on MacRumors]

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So, Amazon let the cat out of the bag this morning and announced its low-cost and full-color seven inch tablet, Kindle Fire (and a less relevant-to-our-interests new touch-centric Kindle). Fire is an Android-powered device, though you wouldn't recognize that fact from its UI alone. It’ll hook into Amazon's cloud, be able to stream Amazon movies from its download service and, just like the Kindle, connect with Amazon’s rich e-books store, but the one thing that really caught our attention was, of course, the promise of games.

At the press event held today, Amazon’s demo Kindle Fire had a pre-loaded icon for Angry Birds, heavily suggesting that Rovio Mobile’s property will debut with yet another tablet computer this year. After the event, Amazon opened up its Kindle Fire advertisement page, displaying Angry Birds Rio, Plants vs. Zombies, Cut the Rope, Doodle Jump, and even Peggle on the device. That page states that every app that touches the device will be “Amazon tested on Kindle Fire for the best experience possible.” The Fire has a 16-million color display, a resolution of 169 pixels per inch, and it runs on a dual-core CPU. No camera or 3G, though.

Fire will hit this November 15 at $199 — a price that, if the device turns out to be good, gives potential owners a legitimate low-cost option to play Android games. This is an opportunity we haven’t really seen yet from an actual company with chops in the tablet space (excluding the HP Touchpad ridiculousness), so we’ll definitely keep our eyes on Fire as it grows and hopefully becomes the iOS-y platform that Amazon wants it to be. Also, it plays Angry Birds, guys! Whoo!

[Via Gizmodo, Engadget]

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While Nintendo hilariously won’t admit that its struggling Nintendo 3DS is competing against the mobile market in addition to the traditional handheld one, Sony made it clear this afternoon that phones are the PS Vita’s biggest and stiffest competition. How? By confirming tons of support that is typically reserved for phones. Twitter, Skype, Foursquare, Facebook, and Internet browsing will be available as tack-on apps on the PS Vita at launch. Also, the publisher is planning to put every single game that comes to the Wi-Fi and 3G-enabled platform up for download.

This news comes on the heels of news that Sony was loaning PS Vita dev kits to indie devs, which for us at least, indicates that its serious about courting the same kinds of developers that flourish on the App Store.

Provided pricing stays at sane levels, PSN on the Vita seems like it has the potential to be a really interesting platform in the future. I mean, imagine downloading an Uncharted game for the same price as, say, a Final Fantasy Tactics [$15.99]. That would be competitive, which is a word that we never use when discussing Nintendo’s troubled e-Shop.

But, to be clear, that’s just tinfoil speculation —- our collective, TIME-award winning guts are pretty convinced that even the downloads of retail, package games will continue to sit at retail, package prices. To be fair, though, PSN is definitely the most flexible of the three big platforms, so anything is possible.

We’ll keep our eyes on the $250 PS Vita as its 2012 launch creeps ever closer. The gamer side of me really wants it to succeed, but man, it’s going to one heck of a climb to the top — if it's even possible for it to get there anymore.

[Via 1UP]

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Ever since the success of Death Rally [99¢] earlier this year, there has been somewhat of a resurgence in isometric racing titles with an emphasis on weapons and destruction. And why not? There’s nothing cooler than setting up a shot in your souped-up racer and blowing apart the leader right before taking the checkered flag. Mad Wheels [99¢/Lite/HD] attempts to ride on this wave of enthusiasm and success and, while the title does a decent job nailing the core gameplay, its lack of any real customization definitely hurts replayability.

Simply put, many aspects of Mad Wheels are, well, simple. There are only two single player modes: a ‘Championship’ mode that has the player race through 25 tracks across four “regions,” and a randomized Quick Race option. In addition, there is no story to speak of; the only motivation to continue playing is a progression bar that goes up every time a race is won or objective is met. While Mad Wheels offers a half dozen cars to choose from (with three more as IAP), each vehicle has fixed weapons and stats, with no options for upgrades or improvements. This drastically decreases any potential replayability, as once you go through each track and nail all the objectives, there’s nothing else to play towards.

In addition to the concerns above, there are some glaring omissions in Mad Wheels that definitely detract from the overall experience. For example, there are no save states or ‘multitasking’ support within this game. In other words, if you’re playing on your iPad, and you decide to exit out to check your email, you’ve just lost any progress you had on your current race and need to start over. This lack of any save state is almost unacceptable in this day and age. In addition, Mad Wheels only uses the Crystal social network system and doesn’t even integrate Game Center. This isn’t necessarily a big deal, but still surprising considering how Game Center is poised to be the primary gaming service once the next version of iOS comes out.

Not everything is bad, however. Mad Wheels has decent graphics with a stable, fast framerate (with a visual style that makes me wish Blast Corp was on iOS). In addition, the game controls pretty well, emulating Death Rally and providing an overall decent gameplay experience. While the weapons are predictable, they are implemented nicely and preserve the enjoyment of blasting apart your opponents. Furthermore, Mad Wheels also incorporates a Wi-Fi multiplayer mode, allowing gamers to join and host multiplayer races.

Despite its issues, Mad Wheels still manages to preserve some of the fun involved with these types of weapon racers. If you’re looking for a simple, weapons-based racer with multiplayer and don’t care about customizability or excessive replayability, then Mad Wheels may be a title worthy of your attention. If you’re looking for a game with more substance and depth, then Death Rally still remains the perennial favorite and recommended title.

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The latest third person shooter from Gameloft is named 9mm [$6.99] and comes with an age restriction (17+) on the App Store for containing sexual content, realistic violence, frequent alcohol and drug use references, profanity and suggestive themes. It's gritty and naughty, with drug-dealers, crooked cops, guns, strippers and narrated dialog sprinkled generously with the F-bomb. That's probably enough reasons for some of you to buy it immediately. Sometimes it's fun to play something with dark themes, but if you object to swear-words or prefer pretty rainbows and ponies, this is not the game for you.

In the single player campaign, you control John "Loose" Kannon (*groan*), a corrupt narcotics detective, who kills a drug lord's brother and steals millions in cash. This sparks a bullet-fueled rampage as you take down gang members, while trying to avoid being capped yourself. At first glance this game resembles Grand Theft Auto [$9.99], or Gameloft's earlier title, Gangstar [$4.99], with a similar over-the-shoulder camera perspective, but it's actually more like Max Payne, with a linear storyline.

Rather than an open-world to roam with missions, there's set-pieces to complete as the story unfolds. Markers on the screen tell you where to go next and if you try to go elsewhere objects conveniently block your path, or a message suggests you remain on track. The single player campaign is split into 12 levels, which take roughly 3 hours to complete on easy mode for an average player. But don't worry, once the campaign's completed, you can either attempt a harder difficulty (easy, normal, hard and hardcore), or jump into the multi-player modes.

The title, '9mm', is a obvious reference to the caliber of bullet, so it's unsurprising that guns, bullets and killing play a central role. There's plenty of weapons in your arsenal, including hand-guns, shotguns, submachine guns, powerful assault rifles, and more. And if you miss with all of those, just get up close and personal with a head-butt. It's always satisfying to shoot two enemies with a single bullet and you can carry some weapons in both hands.

Completing levels, kills and achievements earns cash, which can be used to buy body armor, ammo or special weapons at the shop, including explosive ammo, for more impact. Game cash can be optionally brought with real money, as an in-app purchase, but isn't required. At the end of each level, statistics are shown, including number of bullets fired, enemies killed, head-shots achieved and trophies gained (achievements).

The graphics and cut-scene animations are great. There's a few graphical glitches, such as the odd floating body or enemy disappearing into a wall and a couple of characters aren't rendered as well as others, but this happens rarely, so it's more amusing than annoying. The iTunes description mentions "destructible environments" , however although you can shoot the bottles and boxes or shoot speakers to stop music playing, most items are not destructible. Trust me, I shot plenty of stuff.

The controls in 9mm are straightforward, and will be instantly familiar if you've played other similar Gameloft titles. Like Max Payne, you can enter slow-mo "bullet-time" , to pin-point shots and wipe out groups of gangsters, which is often a life-saver. If you swipe across the slo-mo button you'll dive in that direction, while firing in slow motion, providing your slow-mo meter is charged up by passing time and/or completing kills. Tilt controls can be used for aiming if you prefer. And auto-aiming can be disabled, if you enjoy handling your own weapons.

Big tappable icons appear on-screen to pickup weapons, kick down doors, climb out windows, talk to other characters or interact with objects. Simply tap the weapon icon to reload, or swipe to switch weapons. To interrogate gang members or informants, you tap quickly on words and icons which appear on the screen, but the interrogations are certainly not by-the-book and typically involve a bashing. Even the cut-scenes are sometimes interactive, requiring you to quickly tap or swipe to advance, such as swiping to dodge in a particular direction, at the right moment. I did notice the virtual stick could have been used for sprinting, removing the need for that button.

The soundtrack consists of actual licensed tracks from Freeway & Jake One, Beanie Sigel and Apathy, with the first two musicians making an in-game cameo appearance, in a strip-club scene. Be sure to play with headphones, as the game even has bits of 3D audio. On a few occasions, muffled music becomes clear once you kick a door down and you can hear the murmuring of people talking and moving around in the adjoining room, which creates a nice atmosphere and builds up tension prior to attacking.

Gameloft have historically been criticized for poor voice-overs, but 9mm does a reasonable job. The dialog and voice-overs are funny, with many cheesey-yet-entertaining cop lines like "It's raining bacon" as Detective Kannon jumps through a ceiling window to surprise the criminals below. Although, of course, I omitted the naughty curse words at the end of that quote.

The inclusion of two multiplayer modes was an unexpected, but pleasant surprise. There's death-match and team death-match modes, which support up to 12 players (Wi-Fi or online) or two players via bluetooth. You choose the time limit, frag limit and number of players. Online play requires a free Gameloft Live account and all online progress is stored on Gameloft's servers, so it's not lost if you delete the game.

Some forum members have complained of lag when many players are involved, however jerkiness is evident even when playing alone on WiFi Multiplayer mode. Others have mentioned that spawn deaths occur too frequently, as other players shoot you when you re-appear. And with leveled up players having better weapons, there's an incentive to quickly upgrade your arsenal, so you can do the same thing to other players. Despite these potential drawbacks, the players in the thread seem to be enjoying the multi-player mode, with positive comments about the large size of the four multiplayer maps.

9mm is a universal game, so you can install it on your iPad and iPhone, without paying twice, which is always appreciated. The installed file size is just over 1.3 GB, so it's a bigger game than most, but is totally worth clearing out space on your iOS device for– Especially if you're a fan of Max Payne.

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Glu Mobile’s Gun Bros [Free] now has even more features, including a real-time co-op element that’s sure to tickle fans of the F2P dual-stick shooter.

Available this morning, the update adds “BRO-OP,” the long-awaited co-op compliment to the game that, before, had to lean on imported AI copies of friends. The mode supports play over 3G and Wi-Fi, by the way, so all your bases should be covered.

In a cool twist, Glu has also added in voice chat to mix, which should go a long way in the coordination efforts between you and your partner.

Combat has received some attention with this update as well. At the top end, the game can now boast about having a better, more fluid auto-aim system. More importantly, it can also scream that it supports even more guns and armor. The new stuff looks just as crazy as everything else in the game. As a side-note, I'm totally stoked for that “Diabolical” set — check out those bat wings! Killer!

For the jaded among the Gun Bros crowd, Glu Mobile has also laced this update with an important new feature, Daily BRO-OP challenges. Upon completion, you’ll be rewarded with extra in-game cash, which should stave off the desire to actually buy stuff with real money to some extent.

Looking good, right? I’ll have to jump into Gun Bros again. Oh! And check out our message board thread on this update if connecting with someone is enticing to you.

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There are plenty of popular car racing games in the AppStore; Real Racing 2 [$6.99/HD], Death Rally [99¢] and Reckless Racing [99¢/Lite/HD] spring to mind, to name a few. However, moto-racing is less frequently represented, so it's nice to find a new game about Italian motorcycles which looks pretty sweet. Ducati Challenge [$3.99/HD] from Ducati and Digital Tales opens with a montage of Ducati motorcycles in action, complete with pumping music. If you're a motorcycle, Ducati or racing game enthusiast, check this out.

The game features three modes: Quick Challenge, Championship and Multiplayer. Quick Challenge allows you to practice before a race, to familiarize yourself with the bike and track. You choose the difficulty level and number of laps. Championship Modes include easy (4 races), medium (6 races) and hard (12 races), which must each be beaten in turn as they're locked initially. Each Championship begins with qualifying practice laps which determine who scores pole position, followed by the race itself. Multiplayer mode lets up to four petrol-heads race via a local wi-fi connection and works with a combination of iPhone and iPad devices.

Let's look at the bikes and tracks. You start with a 1100 Monster EVO , but can unlock other Ducati bikes by winning races, including a Hypermotard, Diavel, Multistrada, Streetfighter and Superbike model, which all feature in Ducati's actual product range for 2011. The roaring engine of each model was recorded live, giving each bike a unique and "true" engine sound. You can hear the gearbox changes. This all sounds better if you wear headphones, plus you'll also hear which side the opponents are approaching from. While you can unlock these bikes, there's no way to boost their attributes such as vehicle speed, acceleration, handling or damage, which makes sense given that you're actually racing real-world bikes. There are six tracks provided, including mountains, village, urban and desert settings. Each track can be raced backwards too, effectively making 12 tracks in total.

The retina graphics are excellent. During a race, you can see far into the distance, which creates a realistic landscape, but attention is also paid to little details. There's billboards, spectators, vehicles parked off-track, fences, stadiums, an ambulance and buildings and that's just the first track. When you mess up a corner (and you will) your wheel stains green from the grass. There are three settings for graphics: Low (no effects), Medium (anti-aliasing ie: smoothing) and High (adds motion blur). One minor issue with the graphics is that the wheel and bike shadow are indistinct, forming a black area beneath the bike. Camera angles can be set to first-person, behind-the-rider or rear-view perspective.

The controls include a combination of touch and tilt. Unobtrusive buttons are provided for brake and throttle and holding these down causes stronger braking or acceleration. Tilting the device leans the rider left or right. If you don't like tilt controls, smile, because touch controls are planned for integration in version 1.2, but it's not clear yet if this will be via buttons, screen touches or sliders. Two extra tilting moves are available: Accelerating and tilting forwards pulls a wheelie (you big show off!), while braking and tilting backward performs a "stoppie". The wheelies are an obvious highlight as they're easy to control, but you can still steer and it feels superb to pass between multiple opponents on one wheel. Yeah baby! Eat that.

How do the bikes handle? That's up to you. The amount of brake assistance provided is configurable (on, off or warning), so you can choose an arcade or simulation game style, to suit your taste. The hardest challenge is definitely the corners. Taking them at full throttle simply does not work, so it pays to brake early and accelerate when exiting the bend. Warning indicators appear on screen prior to each corner, which are color-coded to show the difficulty of the turn. You can ram other riders, of course, but that typically causes you to crash. And if you don't like the quality in-game music, simply play your own iPod tracks.

While this game has plenty of positives, there's a couple of issues. The menu keys are small and occassionally unresponsive, requiring multiple taps to register. The player profile name couldn't fit my full Game Centre name, so it was truncated by default. The circuits are quite long, which is fine when you're racing, but if you're half a lap behind – *ahem* – it can be a long and lonely circuit. A short and simple circuit would have been a better initial training ground. And some players have commented that the "feeling of speed" could be improved; although a motion blur update has recently been added. And lastly, bumping and grinding against other bikes currently feels and sounds clunky and repetitive.

Ducati Challenge proves that two-wheeled gameplay can be as good as the four-wheeled variety and the developers are still making improvements. This game is an easy recommendation for moto-racing fans, who will strive to unlock the latest official Ducati models and circuits while climbing the leader-boards. Personally, i'm playing to unlock the rest of the backgrounds, which look so good in the (above) trailer and along the way i'll probably pull some massive wheelies.

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We neglected to cover the NGP during our visit to Los Angeles for E3. The big news was that, yes, it’s called the PlayStation Vita. Also, the Wi-Fi model will hit at $250. That latter is actually a big deal: Sony is positioning it purposefully to compete toe-to-toe with the Nintendo 3DS on a price level, even though it’s a technically beefier handheld with more functionality.

It’s important to keep the ‘beefier’ part in my mind. If the device launches in 2011 as it’s expected to, it’ll enjoy a window where it’s the top dog. It’ll have games that look better than any other handheld on the market, including the iPod Touch. That’s a compelling enough reason for consumers to buy instantly, short-sighted as they may be.

But, as you know, the mobile phone will only get faster and stronger as the Vita sits on store shelves and stagnates. This is a point that id Software’s John Carmack made while speaking to GameSpot at E3.

The man — no, the visionary — believes the Vita is two times more powerful than a phone at the moment, and he seems confident that it won’t compare to phones in just about two years.

"I think that they've picked as eminently a suitable hardware spec as they could for that,” Carmack told the pub. “They're going to have you program for it like a console, so it's going to seem twice as powerful as a smartphone with the exact same chips in there."

"But of course, by the time they actually ship, there may be smartphones or these tablets with twice as much power as what they're shipping with on there. And a year or two after that, it's going to look pretty pokey."

I don’t think you need to lick a toad in order to foretell this. The phone market moves at a ridiculous pace, especially compared to the traditional console / handheld market.

Carmack thinks quicker and cheaper games on the Vita would mean more success in the long-term — even if it looks ‘old’ compared to upcoming phones. I'm not sure I agree. Big games with high production values like the God of War portable titles, I think, are the best hope that Sony has with this device. Even though iOS is capable of having a big budget games, few studios that I know of throw that kind of production money into a 99-cent-to-seven dollar application.

[Via Pocket Gamer]

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