Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Alex Beech'
Tower defence game Castlestorm - Free to Siege is out now on the App Store
The iOS port of PC and console tower defence game Castlestorm, has just smashed its way on to the App Store in the form of Castlestorm - Free to Siege. This free-to-play translation of the original Castlestorm has been in beta since February on Android devices. Now, with the kinks in its business model hammered out, Zen Studios has brought it to iPhone and iPad. The medieval styled tower defense title marries 2D tower defense combat with physics-based construction and destruction. As you build your tower, the integrity of your base is dependent both on the materials you use and your architectural skills. Place too much weight on the wrong support, and you could quickly find the…
Building
Republique Review
République begins abruptly with you receiving a call from the panicked hero, Hope. Trapped in a totalitarian state, the young girl longs for freedom. Believing that you are her last chance of escape, Hope asks you to use your hacking skills to manipulate the city’s electronics to help free her. It is a strange take on the stealth genre, that has you leading Hope remotely through the oppressive world. The 1984-inspired fiction sees the walls covered with surveillance camer…
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Order & Chaos Online gets new dungeon, fresh challenges, and black market boosts
Gameloft has just released an update for its free-to-play fantasy game Order & Chaos Online, bringing a new dungeon and challenges to the fantasy MMO. You can now travel through the land of Haradon to the Tear Coast, where you will face the Archbishop in Flame: Rebirth of Faith. The update will also provide an event book to help you track down daily and weekly quests to earn extra loot. New events and celebrations also come in the update, with the Dragon Boat Festival giving a taste of the Orient and access to a Dragon Boat mount. If all of these additional challenges are causing you difficulties, however, then a trip to the black market may be just thing to prepare your character f…
World of Tanks finally rolls onto the App Store in selected territories
Developer Wargaming.net has just soft-launched its free-to-play game World of Tank Blitz in selected territories. The developer’s new iOS title is a translation of its incredibly popular PC MMO World of Tanks, which currently boasts over 80 million subscribers. World of Tank Blitz optimises the PC experience for touchscreens, while still offering frantic seven on seven team battles. This mobile version of the game has many of the same features as the original. First off, you can choose between 90 different tank types. These will conform to four different tank classes, light, medium, heavy, and tank destroyers, making careful construction of your seven tank squad vital if yo…
Superfrog HD Review
Some things - including old and beloved games - are often better left in the past. It isn't that these games were rubbish when they were originally made, rather gaming’s constantly evolving nature leaves many games feeling like relics. Team 17’s Superfrog HD is a perfect example of this. The problems span issues with both the original 1993 Amiga release of Superfrog, and this new HD remake. Take the controls. Not one of the three interface options provide a decent re…
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Tony Hawk's Shred Session is coming to iOS this summer
Activision’s Tony Hawk series defined skating games for most of the 2000s. Now, over a decade later, the company is bringing a new instalment of the series to the iPhone and iPad in the form of Tony Hawk's Shred Session, a free-to-play lane-based autorunner. As a lane-based endless game, Tony Hawk's Shred Session looks pretty standard. Swiping left or right shifts your skater between lanes to collect coins and avoid obstacles. Where Shred Session changes things up is its trick system. Ramps and rails in your path allow you to perform all manner of grinds and jumps to earn more cash, and generally look cool. The game will feature two game modes: Shred Sessions and Survival. Shred Ses…
Bridge Constructor Médiéval Review
Mechanically, Bridge Constructor Médiéval adds very little to the existing Bridge Constructor formula. As before, building your bridge to cross the game’s various chasms is a simple process of selecting the desired materials from the menu and then tracing them into existence within a virtual grid. You have to work within a budget, making the construction process a little more tricky, especially if you want to achieve each stage’s more challengi…
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Here's that free-to-play Metal Slug tower defence game you all asked for
It seems SNK Playmore have stopped porting old Neo Geo games to iOS long enough to make a their very own Metal Slug game. Metal Slug Defense leverages the classic 2D sprites and backdrops from the shooter franchise to create its universe. You'll be able to unlock 60 units over the course of the game, and face-off against opponents in over 100 different locations. Tapping on character icons cause those troop to spawn from your base and advance towards the enemy stronghold in a manner that will be familiar to anyone who has played a tower defence game. Free-to-play elements allows you use in-app purchases to power-up your base and troops, so you can expect to be investing cash a…
Nimblebit reveals the first images of Tiny Tower Vegas
A flurry of tweets yesterday from Nimblebit’s Ian Marsh has revealed that the studio’s next game will be Tiny Tower Vegas. The images, which were shared yesterday, show a reimagined version of Tiny Tower stuffed full of slot machines and high rollers. The most exciting addition, however, are the casino inspired mini-games, which look destined to hook in players who like shaking hands with the one-armed bandit. Nimblebit has already mastered the art of free-to-play with the criminally addictive Tiny Tower and Disco Zoo. We're concerned that adding gambling into the mix could push the compulsion factor to dangerous new levels. Hopefully, we wi…
Glorious nature-themed adventure Botanicula out now on iPad
Amanita Design originally released its beautiful and click adventure game Botanicula back in 2012. Now, two years later, the game has finally made its way to the iPad.. The verdant world of Botanicula instantly sets the scene for its quirky point and click adventure. Taking control of five tiny creatures, you must lead them to safety from a tree which has become infested by parasites. Their journey is not solely one of self preservation though, because the five are also carrying with them the last seed of their aboral home so they can keep start again in pastures new. Each of the creatures have their own unique abilities. For example, the small mushroom can light up dark areas, while the t…
AngerForce - Strikers Review
If you have ever played a shmup then AngerForce - Strikers will hold few surprises. It's a familiar story: a series of vertically-scrolling levels which have you tracing your craft's path a halestorm of bullets, trying to destroy any enemies in your way. AngerForce you offers three characters to choose from, each with their own special attacks. Which you select will be dependent on your play style, with characters like the robot offering powerful laser attacks that do huge d…
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Modern Combat 5 to feature shorter missions and anarchy
The newly titled Modern Combat: Blackout, the fifth instalment in Gameloft’s popular military shooter, plans to take you from Venice to Tokyo in its single player campaign. This time out, the team has focused on shorter missions for the new game's single player mode to deliver a more varied experience. They claim this has allowed them to create more intense stages that deliver more moment-to-moment gameplay than in previous instalments. The story will follow the character of Phoenix on a mission to secure a transport of WMD’s from a terrorist group in Venice. As the story unfolds, Phoenix will move to Tokyo, which is in a state of civil unrest, where he must try to convinc…
Leo's Fortune Review
As small green furballs go, Leopold is one of the more industrious. His life as an engineer has earned him a mountain of gold that he treasures above all else. One day he returns home to find it stolen, and immediately sets out in pursuit. Leopold's path is marked by a trail of gold coins. All you have to do to guide him to his prize is follow the sparkling breadcrumb trail across five different lands, each filled with beautifully crafted environments and physics-based platform puzzle…
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Funcom to release MMO Lego Minifigures Online on iPad this year
Lego Minifigures Online, a new lego themed MMO from Funcom, is due to arrive on iPad this year. As the trailer below shows, the game continues the cooperative multiplayer thrust of long-running series, with players working together to build, overcome challenges, and battle bosses. With the entire Lego universe at its disposal, Funcom will be free to jump between dozens of varied environments with ease - including the newly revealed world of pirates. Every figure will have its own unique abilities, but all will conform to one of three classes: Defenders, Strikers, and Builders. Each class's role is fairly straightforward, with Defenders providing protection for the party, Strikers deali…
Race around the Great Wall of China in new Asphalt 8: Airborne update
The fantastic Asphalt 8: Airborne has just received an Asian themed update that introduces six new tracks and a host of licenced cars. The update will have you speeding along the top of the Great Wall location. This environment plays host to six tracks in total. You won’t have much time to enjoy the scenery, however, as the Wall's narrow path will demand all of your attention. For all of you petrolheads, a fresh selection of licenced cars has also been also be rolled out, including the 2014 McLaren P1 and classic Ferrari Testarossa. Interestingly, the update adds Twitch streaming integration to the game. This will let you show off your skills online, or just share your most e…
