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Hands-on with Battle Riders, the dark and gritty game of vehicular combat

Feature By Peter Willington, 9 years, 6 months ago
Hands-on with Battle Riders, the dark and gritty game of vehicular combat

If you remember the likes of Carmageddon, Twisted Metal, and Vigilante 8 with a certain fondness, then Battle Riders is right up your wreckage-filled street. It's a car combat game with big weapons, fast cars, and a very aggressive AI. With its detailed car models and desolate tracks, it's also quite the looker, and its crunchy metal soundtrack will have you throwing up the horns every now and then too.…

Hands-on with Mikey Boots, where shoes with jet propulsion are expectedly awesome

Feature By Peter Willington, 9 years, 6 months ago
Hands-on with Mikey Boots, where shoes with jet propulsion are expectedly awesome

In this follow-up to Mikey Shorts and Mikey Hooks, our eponymous hero is back for another round of time trial-focused platforming action, this time with jet boots. From my relatively short amount of time with the game, it's pretty clear that it's a quality release, with tight controls and a visual style that's reminiscent of classic British and European PC games. See how much fun flying about with rockets strapped to your feet is by clicking play on the video below.…

Angry Birds Stella Review

Review Rovio Entertainment Oyj By James Gilmour, 9 years, 6 months ago
Angry Birds Stella Review

So here we are again. Rovio has released the latest spin on its ever popular Angry Birds franchise. This time, however, the ladies are the stars of the show, with pink bird Stella taking the starring role in a new all-female cast. As Pocket Gamer's Harry Slater discovers, though, nothing much has changed beneath the game's frosted veneer. This is still Angry Birds, albeit with no dudes and added wait timers.  Is this a feminist triumph? Or is this a slightly patronising spin-off…

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Hands-on with Etherlords, the next generation of mobile card battler

Feature By Peter Willington, 9 years, 6 months ago
Hands-on with Etherlords, the next generation of mobile card battler

Don't let its slick presentation and focus on strong dialogue and storytelling fool you, Etherlords belongs in the same genre as far more basic-looking games like Rage of Bahamut. Currently only available on mobile in Denmark, I'm really impressed by what I played of Etherlords during its soft-launch, and I think you will be too when it goes global in the next few days. Click play to see early gameplay footage.…

Hands-on with Valiant Hearts, the Catch-22 of video games

Feature By Peter Willington, 9 years, 6 months ago
Hands-on with Valiant Hearts, the Catch-22 of video games

Or maybe that should be “the M.A.S.H. of video games”? Either way, Valiant Hearts mixes comedy and tragedy in much the same ways as those two satirical works of anti-war fiction. At one moment you're saying a tear-filled farewell to your family, the next you're pootling about in your underwear, and then you're watching your friends get cut down by machine guns. Here's one final quick look at Valiant Hearts, before it's available worldwide.…

Hands-on with Gemini Strike, the free-to-play shmup from Armor Games

Feature By Peter Willington, 9 years, 6 months ago
Hands-on with Gemini Strike, the free-to-play shmup from Armor Games

You don't often see free-to-play shmups, so when Gemini Strike came along I knew I had to take a darn good look at it. The F2P stuff isn't half bad, and it doesn't feel too grind-heavy in its opening hour, which is a relief. If there's a weak area, it's the presentation. It just doesn't have the pomp and flash of the best shooters out there, which is a bit of a shame. Still though, the controls are solid, and the action well-balanced for all levels of play, so take a look at the video of Gemini Strike below and see if it's your sort of thing.…

Hands-on with Heavy Metal Thunder, the gamebook set in deepest, darkest space

Feature By Peter Willington, 9 years, 6 months ago
Hands-on with Heavy Metal Thunder, the gamebook set in deepest, darkest space

As I explain in the hands-on, we don't often bring you footage of gamebooks, because they're not the most exciting of videos. Nothing much moving, lots of text - that sort of thing. But I had to bring you a look at Heavy Metal Thunder, because it's super atmospheric, and very well put together. Click play on the video below for a look, then let me know if you pick up Heavy Metal Thunder, in the comments below.…

The Nightmare Cooperative Review

Review Blazing Griffin Ltd By James Gilmour, 9 years, 6 months ago
The Nightmare Cooperative Review

Roguelikes are everywhere at the moment. You can't fire up iTunes without clapping eyes on a Dungelot or a Wayward Souls peeping out of the milky whiteness. However, as Pocket Gamer's Craig Granell discovered, The Nightmare Cooperative shouldn't be dismissed as yet another tile-based puzzler. Yes, it's filled with randomised dungeons and chance encounters and lots and lots of death. But there's a clever team dynamic at play that elevates it beyond the average swipe-powered puzzle adv…

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This Angry Birds Transformers trailer is so amazingly 80s that it should be wearing jelly shoes

News By Peter Willington, 9 years, 6 months ago
This Angry Birds Transformers trailer is so amazingly 80s that it should be wearing jelly shoes

There was always going to be a concern amongst Transformers fans that Angry Birds Transformers isn't going to feel authentic, that it would be a quick cash-grab, predicated on nostalgia for a beloved cartoon from the eighties. If you weren't convinced that wouldn't be the case by this trailer, then I'm pretty sure this one will put any remaining fears to bed. If you're too young to remember cartoons created solely for the purpose of marketing toys, or the "unique" properties of VHS, or the pomp of eighties hair metal, then the above may be a little lost on you. But to those of us staring down the barrel of a rapidly approaching 30s, the trailer for Angry Birds Transformers is pretty muc…

Plants vs. Zombies 2 update brings back classic PvZ game mode, new power-ups, and more

News By Peter Willington, 9 years, 6 months ago
Plants vs. Zombies 2 update brings back classic PvZ game mode, new power-ups, and more

If you're a long-time fan of the Plants vs. Zombies games, you may remember the Vasebreaker mini-game from the original release. The latest update to Plants vs. Zombies 2 brings back this mode, and builds upon the gameplay formula that made it - according to PopCap - the most popular mini-game from the first PvZ. X-Ray Vase allows you to see exactly what type of zombie is hidden inside each pot, and the Vase Move enables you to move these precarious bits of pottery about the map. A new power-up, called The Butterizer, lobs butter to stun zombies, and if that weren't enough to keep you busy, there's a new Endless Mode too. Plants vs. Zombies 2's Vasebreaker update is out now, and if you…

Hands-on with Stealth, where you're a ninja quietly shanking bad dudes

Feature By Peter Willington, 9 years, 7 months ago
Hands-on with Stealth, where you're a ninja quietly shanking bad dudes

Metal Gear. Tenchu. Assassin's Creed. Splinter Cell. These are all great examples of stealth action games, and Stealth reminds me a great deal of the first two titles. Stealth is top-down, slow-paced, your inventory can be quite limited, and to succeed you'll need to figure out the patterns of the patrols of the guards. Here's a sneaky early look.…

Hands-on with Duke Dashington, the smashing puzzle platformer wot wot

Feature By Peter Willington, 9 years, 7 months ago
Hands-on with Duke Dashington, the smashing puzzle platformer wot wot

In Duke Dashington you attempt to guide the daring and handsome titular character through maze after maze of tricky platforming, using only dashes. It's reminiscent of the Wario Land platformers in a lot of ways. The constant dashing from area to area, the sense of comic peril, and the detailed pixel art all combine to hint at this being a port of some long-forgotten Game Boy classic. Here's what the game looks like in motion.…

EXCLUSIVE: World of Tanks Blitz on Android 'a few weeks away', cross-platform multiplayer details confirmed, new update now available

News By Peter Willington, 9 years, 7 months ago
EXCLUSIVE: World of Tanks Blitz on Android 'a few weeks away', cross-platform multiplayer details confirmed, new update now available

We get a lot of questions from our viewers here at AppSpy about World of Tanks Blitz, so I dropped Wargaming.net a message to see if they could answer some of the ones we hear most often. Though the developer is still cagey over how it will be expanding the multiplayer aspects of the game - clan support, for example, would be very welcome, but details were not forthcoming - it did confirm to me that cross-platform multiplayer with the Android version of the game is coming. Android gamers can expect to see World of Tanks Blitz on their device shortly: according to the representative from Wargaming.net I spoke with, "the Android version is a few weeks away". Personally I think this is great…

Surviving in Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Episode 2 - Making Fire

Feature By Peter Willington, 9 years, 7 months ago
Surviving in Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Episode 2 - Making Fire

As a complete newbie to Minecraft: PE, I've found that even basic human needs are often a struggle to fulfill. Last week I needed to quickly create shelter, this week I'm in need of light to make the nights pass quicker. But just how do you go about making a light to mine by? And also: what happened to Bertie? Did he survive the cold hard night? Find out in the video below.…

Hands-on with Alone..., the solitary highscore chaser

Feature By Peter Willington, 9 years, 7 months ago
Hands-on with Alone..., the solitary highscore chaser

Minimal, fast, responsive, and with just a tinge of melancholy, Alone... is a tough highscore chaser for fans of tough highscore chasers. There's a bit of leniency in there for new players, which should encourage more people to give it a go, but getting a respectable score will take a good deal of effort, concentration, and practise. Here's Alone... in motion...…