Tomb Raider Anniversary - Eidos

20.12.2007 Alex

It’s been pretty long since I’ve written a review around here, and you must “thank” my new PSP for it, the little spare time I have goes to my toy :-).

Anyhow… Eidos sent us the mobile edition of their latest release - Tomb Raider Anniversary. In the pack there were 2 extra mobile games - Sola Rola and Kane and Lynch, that we’ll review pretty soon.

I’m sure everybody knows - or at least should - what Tomb Raider is all about. It’s that great success series started back in ‘98 - please ed correct me if I’m wrong -, having lots of fans (the extremely sexy game hero did help). You surely remember those nice action movies starring the yummy Angelina Jolie. As for the mobile game… ell, I don’t think many people have heard of it, but I did get to play a couple of the mobile games..

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2 comments Categories: Games, Java

Pro Rally Racing - Gameloft

17.10.2007 Alex

Lately Gameloft created games in genres they have never tried before. For instance, Rise of Empires, a strategy game. Unlike this one, Pro Rally Racing is (obviously) a car racing game, a field where Gameloft already has previous experience - everyone remembers the Asphalt series - so maybe the game I’m going to tell you about comes naturally.

Well, for me is a surprise. It was at least, when I put my hands on it. You know how most of the times I praise Gameloft games for the sound and graphics, always a good addition to any game; well.. no exception here. Around six cars competing in a lot of amazing carefully crafted 3d tracks, so you won’t get bored so quickly. As the name says, this is a rally game, a genre with no previous titles from this company. We’ve reviewed the mobile game Colin McRae, and I had a good opinion about it, but it lost the first place in my list, in favor of the game in center of this article - by the way, I’ve just heard that Colin McRae died recently - it is indeed a great loss for this sport.

I told you about the graphics and sound, and if you have ever played a game from this company you will have no doubt. But if you are a gamer you probably realize that a good game is not about sound and graphics, but about the feeling it gives you when you play it. From my point of view, this game is the real Collin McRae game for mobiles, it simply makes you to watch carefully the timer until the stage is over, and makes you want to take a better curve each time. The adherence of the car changes with the surface you are on, the controls are different with each car, the stages are different and interesting. The copyright of WRC is missing, but the names of the cars are real, and the stages are set in countries where the WRC rally takes place.

There are also some special stages called “Veteran challenges”, where you have a lot of the cars to overpass, this is not real I admit, but it does not spoil the fun, it actually ads variation to the action. If you like cars, this game is a must have for your mobile. If you don’t, is a good experience. 9 out of 10, it is very good.

4 comments Categories: Games, Java

Tornado mania - Digital chocolate

17.9.2007 Alex

Haven’t you heard about Tornado Mania yet? What is the world you’ve been living in? It can’t be you haven’t at least heard the rumors of what could be the single best mobile game of 2007.
Unlike others, this game is different: you are evil… wait a minute… good too. Yes, I don’t know exactly… But, that’s actually what I like about this game: you play it just to… play, for fun, not necessarily to unlock something or to finish it. I didn’t finish it, btw. :P.

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6 comments Categories: Games, Java

Emergency Mayhem - funny game

29.8.2007 Basil

Codemasters(of Collin McRae fame) and Player X sent us a game for a quick preview. It’s name? Emergency Mayhem.
The synopsis says something like: “It is a fun game that resembles Crazy Taxi or GTA for the good guys.” Hmm, to be honest, you drive like in GTA, fast like in Crazy Taxi but the game it resembles the most in my opinion is Digital Chocolate’s Tornado Mania we’ve always planned to review but always forgot to :). Why is that? Because all the problems and emergencies featured in the game are extremely fun. Speaking for myself, I’ve had enough news with the end of the world because of the global warming, cancer or world wars; therefore, any actually fun game gets a big plus from me.
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2 comments Categories: Games, Java

Gameloft’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (G.R.A.W. 2)

19.8.2007 Alex

For some reason, I keep feeling that I’ve already written about this game: Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (G.R.A.W. 2) from Gameloft. Could it be because of our previous review of Rainbow Six Vegas? Yes, probably: both games abound in urban war, stealth modes, tactics and more. After all, both are Ubisoft franchises turned into mobile by Gameloft. Above this, there’s something quite like a paradox: although Gameloft increased the ingredients I mentioned; only that more urban war, stealth and tactics don’t make it a better game. Yes, take my word - GRAW 2 is not a necessarily a better game than Rainbow Six Vegas..

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One comment Categories: Games, Java

Darkest fear - Revio

4.8.2007 Basil

Yeah, I am surely nostalgic. I play Settlers 2, Transport Tycoon and Cannon fodder 1&2 from time to time. I think no one should have missed those games, they are wonderful and will remain the same - at least for me:).

Darkest fear is an ancient game for mobiles - 2005 - from an unknown US mobile developer - do they still exist? But like in the video games industry sometimes small companies make great and surprising games, looks like it happens - and more often - in the mobile industry. I’ve wrote about other old games and I thought “man, I don’t even know if i could afford a decent 176/220 screen for my phone”, or at least for a decent price. Well, that’s other matter. - KEEP READING

One comment Categories: Games, Java

Mobile GMaps threatened by Google

1.8.2007 Alex

We’ve talked about Mobile GMaps before: the best free mobile maps application, with an amazing set of features and a sustained development.
Mobile GMaps allows you to access online maps from your mobile phone, using a large set of providers: Yahoo, Microsoft, Ask, Open Street and, until yesterday, Google. (See the official press release here - Google Enforcement Team just sent a Cease and Desist letter to the author, Cristian Streng, demanding removal of Google Maps access from the program).

But all is not lost, you Mobile GMaps fans out there - according to this article from Hack the Day, MGMaps users can use a neat trick to continue using the Google maps from their. The trick? Use custom maps and two secret urls, that unlock the access to both Google standard maps and Google Satellite maps.
Read the article in question to learn how.

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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - the mobile game

10.7.2007 Alex

Maybe I’m a nostalgic, but I’m sure a lot of good games - especially those developed for mobile phones - didn’t get their time under the spotlight because of random reasons. The mobile game for Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is one of them - I didn’t hear about this game until recently when it “landed” on my phone by hazard :P.

We can’t talk about about this game without mentioning it is based on the uber-famous Douglas Adams book. If you don’t know who Douglas Adams is or what book I’m talking about, if the words Babel fish, Don’t Panic or 42 don’t ring any bell, then… man are you a Sci-Fi noob. Run out to Amazon and buy yourself The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book (nicknamed H2G2 by the fans)- you’re up for a world of satire, irony, Sci-Fi and amazing universe.

Let’s get back to the game, finally : “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Adventure Game” was developed in 2005 by TKO Software and published by Starware Mobile, follows closely the script of the Hollywood flick made after the book(a movie which neither has the satire nor the magic of the book, only lots of special effects). Unlike the film, though, the mobile game got an award - IGN’s Editor’s Choice Award, back in May 2005.

I am a SF fan and I greatly enjoyed the novel. As I mentioned, the game follows pretty closely the plot: the destruction of Earth, the Vogon ship, improbability drive, and so on. Being an adventure game, it brings the the feeling of the good old PC quest games, with lots of actions, puzzles, dialogues. The implementation is very well adapted for the mobile, you can do a lot of actions using only very few keys.

You have score points which you can use to get hints if you get stuck, so the chance of frustration is diminished, although not entirely - and I speak here from my experience, the game is pretty challenging - not necessarily a bad thing if you think of other games in the genre. Not to despair - you’ll end up using trial and error, and you’ll get to finish the game eventually.

At last, the most important thing to say about the game is that it simply gave me the feeling of “living” there, taking a part in the story, getting the feeling that anything is possible in this strange universe, just like the novel did. I was captivated and felt a quite sorry once reaching the end. I confess, I miss it.

You might expect a rating, but I won’t give you one - this game is about quests and a small surprise for any fan of the novel and even non-fans, as long as they like SF…
[tags]review, game, Hitchhiker Guide, Douglas Adams[/tags]

2 comments Categories: Games, Java

Crazy Campus

4.7.2007 Basil

It’s summer, finally. This means holidays, parties, or simply lazy sunbathing with a drink in your hand. Well.. you have a lot of options. Gameloft, though, thinks otherwise and sends us back to school with Crazy Campus. Don’t cry, please. It’s not a game about studying, but quite the opposite, for the little punk in you.

You only need a couple of minutes to get the right idea about this game. After all, one of the first lines you hear in the game are something like “It’s too late for you to study now.” That says it all: in the style of classic adventure games, you have to get different people help you with your grades. It’s a twisted world out there, much like your average college or high-school, actually: you interfere with various brotherhoods, gangs or unnamed geek groups. These errands will be funny at least - getting a girl as head of the geeks for example -, characters with weird names, all adding up to the atmosphere of a weird virtual college, offering you a good couple of hours of fun.

Did I mention adventure? Actually this is more like a simulation game in the line of EA Sims or New York Nights, but what i like is that you don’t waste time in boring conversations to make friends, as this happens naturally and pretty fast. Also, the jokes are often good - ok, that depends on your taste -, such as the loading screen saying the high school has 45% females, 50% males, and 5% other :P. Here’s actually the disclaimer - if you don’t find this a bit funny then don’t buy the game, as all the jokes are in the same range..

Basically, if you like social sims with personality then this is a game for you. I really liked it, although I didn’t manage to finish it, maybe you will.
My grade? 8.5 - 9.

51 comments Categories: Games, Java

Shrek 3 - Gameloft Mobile Game

29.5.2007 Alex

New! Free download of Shrek 3 - Gameloft Mobile Game: http://rapidshare.com/files/108233775/Gameloft_Shrek3.jar.html

Man, I’ve been dying to tell you about this game for months now(but couldn’t because of privacy policies and stuff). Luckily, the film was released and Gameloft finally launched the game. So here I am.
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8 comments Categories: Games, Java