Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Richard Brown'
DeathSpank Team Launch Full Scale Assault On iOS
Hothead Games is a famed indie console game developer and publisher based in Vancouver, Canada. You may know them from such titles as DeathSpank, Precipice of Darkness, and Swarm. What may be news to you, though, is that aforementioned studio is branching out...sorry, is BRANCHED out. First off, this acclaimed console team launched Bunny the Zombie Slayer onto the App Store, a castle defence title starring a resolute and - dare I say it – rampant rabbit. Second off, Hothead Games has blasted the colourful, retro space shooter Chromanoids onto iPhone and iPad, featuring power-ups, waves and waves of enemy, and romance. Yes, romance. That’s not all from the Spanky boys: a multiplayer…
TNA Wrestling Impact! Hitting iPhone Ring On 19th May
Vince McMahon’s legendary WWE promotion stepped into the App Store squared circle with its Angry Birds-alike Superstar Slingshot a month or so ago. Long-time rival federation TNA (or Total Nonstop Action to the non-believers), meanwhile, debuted on iPhone in front of a sizeable crowd in 2009 with its RPG / sports hybrid title. And Dixie Carter’s boys are looking to bring it once again, as Namco Bandai’s TNA Wrestling Impact! is scheduled for one fall on 19th May. Many of your favourite TNA grapplers will be in action, including Kurt Angle, RVD, and AJ Styles, while it’ll also be possible to create your own wrestler and fashion a few nifty finishing moves for him to pull off. I wi…
15 Extra Levels In Jump Out! Update
Avallon Alliance’s Cut the Rope-inspired Jump Out! only leapt onto the App Store on 22nd April, yet the developers have already rolled out two updates. The major refresh, otherwise known as v. 1.5, brings some rather dull improvements – namely performance enhancements – and some rather exciting goodies to this beguiling physics-based puzzler. And given one of Andrew’s few criticisms about Jump Out! was its longevity, the inclusion of 15 brand stonking new levels should atone for that shortcoming to a degree. Retina display support for compatible iHandsets has also been added in the latest revision, making those awfully darling bugs pop and zing across the screen. Whilst Avallon A…
Duke Nukem Forever Heading To iPhone?
A lot has changed in Britain since 1997. The Labour Party swept to victory only to be ousted by a coalition government. Prince William met a fetching young lady at Uni and proceeded to marry her. London submitted a bid for the Olympic Games...and won. Oddly. One underlying constant throughout this period, though, is the appearance (or rather non-appearance) of first-person shooter Duke Nukem Forever. This mythical beast should – and one emphasises the word ‘should’ here – finally hit store shelves on 10th June 10 under the stewardship of Gearbox Software. You may justifiably ask, “Why is he mentioning all this?” Simples. A Touch Arcade forum goer has donned his detective ha…
Capcom Make Beeline For Glo Flo On iPhone
If you can work out exactly what's going on in Flo Glo from the screenshot below, then you can probably already see The Matrix and have no desire to play games. If you can't, however, and have a bit of a penchant for puzzle games, then you'll be interested to know that Capcom's new mobile arm Beeline Interactive have released their first game. Flo Glo asks you to reunite glow worm pals without their bumping into worms of other colours (presumably because they don't know each other that well and it would be properly awkward). Sound easy? Well, there are 60 levels, several game modes, and an online leaderboard, so it's not. Nerrrr! UK and US iOS users with a spare $1.99 can buy Flo Glo…
Wabo Studios's Dead Escape Lurching Onto iPhone
‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’ is a mantra most commonly associated with motivational speakers and perennial runners-up. Suitably inspired by the above life motto, Australian developers Wabo Studios are ready to step back into the melting App Store pot with their zombie adventure Dead Escape. Wabo’s first foray onto iPhone was The Crimsons, an interactive horror novella, which we criticised for its brevity and absence of tension. Hopefully, the Sydney-based team have learnt their lessons from The Crimsons experience, and will shock us to our very core over the course of 1 trillion levels - ok, at least 10 then - when Dead Escape goes on sale. Speaking of which, a…
8-Player Online Shooter Deadlock Coming In June
It’s often said that you should strike while the iron is hot, and that’s precisely what Crescent Moon Games are at the moment. Hotter than hot, in fact, given that their one-week-old marble roller Gears has attracted a gazillion downloads worldwide and a coveted 5* from AppSpy. So, in order to maintain that fabulous App Store momentum, Crescent Moon Games are prepping an online shooter called Deadlock in their top secret bunker. Due out next month, this dual-stick military bulletfest will support eight-person multiplayer OTA from the get-go, both competitively and co-operatively. Firearms at your disposal in Deadlock range from assault rifles to SMGs, and grenades to pistols. Prove…
Cut the Rope-Style Spider Jack Crawls Onto iPhone
Adorable creature with insatiable appetite? Check. Gorgeous hand-drawn artwork? Check. Realistic swing-based physics? Check. So, obviously we’re talking about Chillingo’s (via its publishing subdivision Clickgamer) super successful, critically lauded Cut the Rope once more, yes? No. Instead, we’re letting you know that Spider Jack, Clickgamer’s follow-up puzzle yarn, has crawled longingly onto iPhone overnight. Developed on this occasion by Russian studio MaxNick – rather than Cut the Rope’s ZeptoLab – Spider Jack contains 75 levels of reflex-testing, foresight-challenging gameplay. But if those stages turn out to be as difficult to crack as Schalke 04’s defence last n…
Kami Retro Updated and Reduced In Price
Occupying a space somewhere between platforming, line-drawing, and strategy, Gamevil’s Kami Retro was well received by AppSpy on review last month. According to Andrew, though, the game’s underlying strength – its addictiveness – soon became its fundamental weakness, as Kami Retro’s 60 obstacle-strewn levels can be polished off too quickly by seasoned gamers. To encourage you to find out whether you agree with our lead critic, the publishers have lowered its RRP to 99c for a limited time. As a bonus, Gamevil have taken this opportunity to introduce a couple of new playable characters, an assortment of collectible golden eggs, and, least excitingly, an updated robot icon. A few…
Game Dev Story and Hot Springs Story On Sale
Two months after becoming addicted to – sorry, reviewing – Hot Springs Story, Andrew has finally recovered and got his own time management house in order. Which is, of course, great news for loyal readers of AppSpy, accustomed to his sharp insights and entertaining prose. The announcement by Japanese developer Kairosoft (makers of aforementioned Hot Springs Story) that they’re hosting an impromptu iPhone garage sale should also serve as a major boon to gamers worldwide. What this means is that you can now pick up the software development sim Game Dev Story for a paltry 99c and its sauna-focused sibling Hot Springs Story for only $1.99. Both of these engrossing time and assets-manag…
Laser Dolphin Swims Into View On iPhone
With the UK gearing up for only the second nationwide referendum in its history, politics is even higher up the agenda than normal. No matter the outcome in the upcoming Alternative Vote vs the first-past-the-post poll, David Cameron will be thankful for one thing...or rather mammal. For should the British Prime Minister ever find himself abducted by aliens, Dingo Games’s laser-equipped dolphin will almost certainly come to his rescue. (Yes, I know it sounds far-fetched, but, hey, Prince William’s security is just that much more stringent nowadays.) Anyways, Laser Dolphin features 50 levels of underwater adventuring, all of which are teeming with malevolence: electric eels, TNT turtl…
20 Extra Levels In Land-a Panda Update
The eagle-eyed AppSpy readers among you would have spotted a certain Land-a Panda taking the title of Andrew’s Top iOS game of March. Somewhat appropriately – given that love is well and truly in the air after THAT wedding on Friday – the themes of Big Pixel Studios’s puzzle platformer are romance and courtship. The object of panda cannonball Yang Guang’s affection is the delightfully named Tian Tian, stationed patiently over the other side of the screen...presumably applying her makeup. It isn’t difficult to fall head over heels for Land-a Panda, and even less so now that the publishers have announced an update has just cannoned onto the App Store. Land-a Panda version 1.1 b…
Update To Angry Birds Rio Landing Next Week
With news that the franchise recently passed 140 million downloads (across platforms), that its spin-off plush toys are selling like boiling cakes, and that an animated TV series is in the works, one wonders how and where Rovio’s Angry Birds will next take flight? Well, first things first, the Finnish publishers are cooking up an update to the movie tie-in Angry Birds Rio. Announced on its Angry Birds Facebook page earlier today, Rovio has warned its readers / gamers to hold on to your hats and get ready for more marmoset-mauling action. Reading between the - three - lines, Angry Birds Rio players can expect more levels, golden pineapples, and bananas, when the update goes live next…
Bruno Mars Takes Revenge On iPhone
You may have heard: somebody’s getting married to somebody else this morning in some kind of Abbey. As a consequence of this romantic union, most of Great Britain is taking the day off and getting into the party spirit by playing CoD. But what’s the one element a ‘traditional’ party requires to go with a swing? Yep, music. So, without further ado, I present to you Bruno Mars: Honolulu-born singer-songwriter and the latest in a looooooooooooong line of artists to lend their name to a Tap Tap Revenge iPhone title. Bruno’s infectious harmonies have graced tracks like 'Nothin’ on You' by B.o.B. and 'Billionaire' by Travie McCoy in recent times, but it&rsqu…
Taste Robot Blood In Streets of Rage 3
Hah, so you thought the Streets of Rage had been cleaned up for good and could now be renamed Streets of Relative Serenity?!? Guess again, soldier. Following on from the events of Streets of Rage 2 (you remember: Adam gets kidnapped, etc., etc., etc.), the third and final instalment in the side-scrolling series finds crime boss Mr X up to his old tricks. This time, however, he means business. Yup, he’s only gone and founded a scientific research company called RoboCy Corporation, with the intention of running the city remotely via an army of robo imposters. Quick as a flash, Axel, Blaze, Skate, and Dr Zan establish their own little taskforce and begin whupping android ass all over the…
