Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Alex Beech'
Spectrum-era adventure Doomdark's Revenge is now available on the App Store
Classic '80s text adventure Doomdark's Revenge has just been released on the App Store. Originally developed by Mike Singleton and released in 1985, Doomdark's Revenge was the follow up to his earlier game The Lords of Midnight. Continuing the original game's story, Doomdark's Revenge casts you in the role of Luxor the Moonprince. After destroying the Witchking in the first game, Luxor must now do battle with his daughter, Shareth the Heartstealer, in order to rescue his bewitched son. With five races to recruit, each lead by their own lord, you must build allegiances and friendships to grow your army before marching on Shareth's forces. This is easier said than done, as many lords can on…
R-TYPE II Review
These days, the notion of guiding a spaceship from left to right in the hope of stopping an alien invasion is rather quaint. In the days of R-Type, however, this flavour of sci-fi blaster was still considered cutting-edge. Irem's side-scrolling shooter series introduced massive power-ups and screen-filling bosses to a generation of gamers. As a result, seeing these games faithfully reproduced in the palm of our hands creates a strange nostalgia. As far as content and visuals are…
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challengeCartoon Network transports Card Wars - Adventure Time from the Land of Ooo to the App Store
Card Wars is a card game that was created for Cartoon Network's cult-TV show Adventure Time. Now, you can play that game yourself on your iPhone and iPad From the very beginning you will be faced with tactical decisions. Every character has their own unique ability that affect the course of matches. Your character, combined with your choice of deck, will dramatically change your tactical options.. Once into the action, you must lay down four lanes. These will dictate which card can be played in each path. Some of your cards are only playable in swamps, while others can only be placed in cornfields. You also have to manage magic (a resource that limits actions per turn), which al…
Pyro Jump Review
It's hard not to be instantly attracted to Pyro Jump's premise. The story of a small flame that has fallen in love with an origami princess is an unusual romantic tale, one that can only end in tragedy. But, while Pinpin Team's pinpoint-platformer is endearing, it struggles to live up to its promise. You control all of Pyro Jump's action with a single tap. Touching the screen launches the little flame into the air, propelling him outwards from his current position. Holding the screen…
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Bloodstroke Review
Doves, blood, and excessive violenge - director John Woo's fingerprints are all over Bloodstroke. But, while at first glance this new game from Chillingo seems to be relying on the famous director's name and a distinct visual style, it actually adds a lot of interesting twists of its own to the top-down shooter formula. Perhaps the most striking thing about Bloodstroke is its handsome watercolour visuals. This powerful art style uses strong black brush strokes on a white bac…
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Upcoming mobile game Hitman GO to bring Agent 47 to touchscreens
Taking the stealth and murder themes of IOI's Hitman and transplanting them successfully into a mobile game is, we imagine, a daunting task. However, that's precisely what Square Enix Montreal has just done, creating the entirely new turn-based strategy expereince Hitman GO. Resembling a board game, the turn-based phone and tablet title will see you moving Agent 47 along set paths on a grid. You will have to plot the course to his target, avoiding the attentions of unwanted eyes. Once you have made your move, the guards and other enemies will take their own turns, potentially blocking your path or blowing your cover. As this is Agent 47 we're talking about, you'll be able to utilise disgu…
Help scientists in the fight against cancer with Play to Cure: Genes in Space
It's not often that you get to play games and do something good, and even rarer that playing could actually improve human life. But that is exactly what Play to Cure: Genes in Space enables you to do. Developed by Cancer Research UK, the game actually has you analysing genetic data to aid scientists in their search for the causes of breast cancer. The game is broken in to two main sections. In the first stage you are shown a map of a section of space filled with a valuable space dust. You must plot a course through the densest areas to collect as much of this valuable resource as possible. In fact, this star map is actually genetic data. By highlighting these areas you are indicating to s…
Retro platformer Super Obstacle Boy leaps onto iPhone and iPad
It doesn't matter if you were born in the '80s or the naughties, Super Obstacle Boy's pixel-art aesthetic will prove instantly familiar. This retro platformer's old-school ethos is not limited to its appearance, though. Instead of a nice, safe tutorial and a few levels of hand-holding, players will be treated to 128 punishing levels filled with spikes, pits, and a host of other blocky dangers. The goal is simple – don't die, reach the end of the stage, and eventually claim back Rescue Girl who has been captured by Dr. Negative. If you jump over to the App Store now you can grab Super Obstacle Boy for just £1.99 / $2.99. However, if you download it and can't get past the…
Eliss Infinity Review
Steph Thirion's Eliss Infinity is, put simply, a game about disc disposal. You're tasked with keeping a series of spawning circles out of each other's way, until you are able to drag them into black hole and remove them from the field of play. At first, this is as straightforward as it sounds. Each disk randomly fades into existence around the screen. It's up to you to move them into matching holes with whichever fingers you have spare. The stage is only complete when the requir…
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In Fear I Trust Review
In many ways, Black Wing Foundations' take on survival horror ticks all the right boxes. Spooky institutional setting: check. Freaky sanity and fear effects: check. But at some point during the process of freaking us out, In Fear I Trust shifts from unnerving to frustrating. Waking on a rickety bed in a Russian prison asylum, the hero of the tale has no memory of the events that lead him there. The door to his cell is locked, but everything he needs to escape is dotted around the room…
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The Bydo Empire invades the App Store again in R-Type II
It was 25 years ago that R-Type II first appeared in arcades. As they were when the first game exploded onto the scene, young gamers were wowed by the side-scrolling sequel's massive bosses, fast action, and punishing difficulty. Now, a mere quarter of a decade later, developer DotEmu has ported the sci-fi shooter to iPhone and iPad. The Irem classic is set two years after the original R-Type. This timeout, you take control of the R-9c - an upgraded version of the original game's R-9 – to once again battle the evil Bydo Empire. Along with the classic weapons from the first game, the R-9c brings with it a few upgrades to help in the fight. A new shotgun laser and search las…
Radiohead's first game Polyfauna merges music and mind-bending visuals
Radiohead has released its first game onto the App Store - an interactive musical experience called PolyFauna. Inspired by their The King of Limbs sessions, Radiohead has drawn on early computer life-experiments and creatures spawned from their subconscious mind to create the game's world. These images have then been realised by the digital designers at Universal Everything. Taking sounds from the song Bloom, this free app could most easily be compared to an interactive screensaver. As the games description states, the screen is a "window into an evolving world." In the context of the game, this means you can guide your floating avatar around the screen by tilting your device. You'll fi…
Clash of Clans developer Supercell releasing Boom Beach worldwide in March
While we in the UK and US have been patiently waiting for Supercell's latest free-to-play extravaganza Boom Beach to reach our shores, the game has been busy blowing up Canadian and Australian App Stores in beta form. However, we can now confirm that the watery follow-up to global sensation Clash of Clans will land on App Stores everywhere next month. Though Boom Beach is clearly influenced by Clash of Clans' building, fortification, and defence mechanics, Supercell CEO IIkka Paananen claims that this new freemium base-builder is a different beast. Speaking to financial journalists in a recent call, Paananen said: "We've made some risky choices. There aren't any clans in the game and…
Ollie around The Docks with new Touchgrind Skate 2 update
As thrilling as it is to soar through the air on a piece of wood with wheels nailed to it, skateboarding is only as fun as the park you're skating in. Luckily for fans of Touchgrind Skate 2, Illusion Labs has heard the cries of all you adrenaline junkies, and delivered a new skatepark to the game's roster: The Docks. Originally, the game contained three huge parks for eager boarders to stiffy, sack tap, and gay twist their way around (no angry emails, please - those are all real tricks). This additional new park is equally large, and brings with it a host of new waterfront appropriate challenges. This update also brings with it a host of tweaks designed to improve the game's already ti…
Assassin's Creed Pirates sets sale price at £1.99 / $2.99
Tired of your life as a respectable pillar of the community? Longing for a life on the high seas? Well, Ubisoft has just made a pirate's life even more appealing, having just slashed the price of Assassin's Creed Pirates on the App Store from £2.99 / $4.99 to £1.99 / $2.99. This mobile tie-in to the Assassin's Creed universe sees you playing the role of ambitious privateer Alonzo Batilla as he takes control of his own boat, and sets sail to become a scourge of the Caribbean. Manning your ship through swipe-based navel battles, and building a fearsome crew to aid you terrorise the seas, the game offers you a life of rum-swilling debauchery, without the risk of scurvy. Assass…
