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Plants vs Zombies 2 gets medieval with the first Dark Ages update
PopCap is sending Plants vs Zombies 2 back to days of yore with its new Dark Ages Part 1 update. These new levels take place at night. With no sun to help your plants grow you are forced rely on shine-creating flora like the Sun-shroom, the Puff-shroom (which costs nothing to grow), and a host of other new night loving plants. Gravestones have also been added to levels. These creepy monoliths can be smashed to give sunshine or plant food bonuses. Don't get too excited about your beefed up abourial arsenal, however, because the zombies have also had their numbers bolstered. An undead peasant zombie has taken its place among the shambling masses, while the medieval Gargantuar’s hul…
UpdateHands-on with Size Does Matter, the bleeping tough chiptune rhythm-action game
If you like rhythm action games, you'll likely be feeling a little unloved after Activision decided to stop making Guitar Hero every year, and Harmonix distanced itself from Rock Band. Not to worry though, as Size Does Matter is on the horizon. Developed by DOS Studios and published by Channel 4, the game is all about changing the size of a line of blocks you control so that it fits perfectly through walls of neon, all in time with a chiptune soundtrack that features music from Chipzel, Savant, Philter, and more. It's no walk over either: even the guy showing the game confesses he can't beat the later levels. Sounds cool, right? Plug in some headphones and watch our hands-on for more inf…
Powerpuff Girls: Defenders of Townsville Review
From the moment Powerpuff Girls: Defenders of Townsville starts it shows a clear love of its source material. The first choice the game has you make is between two different visual and audio treatments for the girls: one that matches the original series, and one for their new CGI interpretation. While this has no impact on gameplay, it shows a respect for the fans, letting them enjoy their favorite version of the heroes. The action begins when the evil monkey Mojo Jojo lures the…
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Hands-on with Mucho Party, the iPhone and iPad's spiritual successor to Bishi Bashi
Mucho Party is big and colourful and inclusive and straight out of a French development house at Globz. The idea is that you and a pal (or the AI, if you're pal-less) play a series of minigames on the same screen of your iPad. These range from shooting asteroids at your opponents to tango dancing, and pretty much everything in-between. It reminds me of Bishi Bashi, the crazy good multiplayer minigame collection that hit arcades and PlayStations back in the nineties. Or if that reference flew over your head, think WarioWare, but with a bit more time on the clock. Here's what it looks like in motion...…
Assassin's Creed Pirates gets a new mission with the Freedom update
Ubisoft has added yet more content to Assassin's Creed Pirates, this time with the Freedom update. The update brings with it a wealth of riches, but the biggest haul is a new chapter appendix. This additional mission has you destroying the jail fortress in La Isla de la Juventud in order to free slaves and unlock an exclusive bonus. An improved daily reward system also lets you gain increasingly valuable treasures for repeat visits to the game. Random booty has been scattered throughout the Caribbean seas, too, while syncing your account with your Facebook profile will earn you a special gift. The new features don’t end there, with the update offering you more freedom in how you c…
Hands-on with Dungeons of Evilibrium, the epic F2P CCG RPG with PVP
If I were being a bit flippant, I might immediately write off Dungeons of Evilibrium as another take on Rage of Bahamut. But upon closer inspection there's more to this new collectible card game with role playing game elements than you see at first blush. I asked Ksenia of Zillion Whales - the development team behind Dungeons of Evilibrium - to walk me through the game during Pocket Gamer Connects. She highlights a few of the cool visual elements, the focus on multiplayer, and the new approach to exploring the single player campaign.…
Canabalt receives widescreen support and new runners
With appeal seemingly as endless as its roof-hopping gameplay, Canabalt, the game that started our love of endless-runners, is has been dragged into line with the latest iPhone generation. This update finally adds widescreen support for iPhone 5 and above. While in many games a wider aspect ratio doesn't bring a huge amount, in a title that requires you to react to upcoming obstacles it make a huge difference. We are already noticing our average run times creeping up, and it's been months since we last played. Three additional runners have also been thrown into the mix. These characters are not selectable, seeming to spawn randomly at the start of your run. Unfortunately, so far we…
Hands-on with Appointment with F.E.A.R., the latest Fighting Fantasy gamebook from Tin Man Games
If you don't know what a gamebook is then boy-oh-boy have you been missing out. Back in the dark days of gaming, when people still read words on dead trees, the concept of interacting with a narrative - one, say, featuring heroic adventurers and daring deeds - was pretty new. Gamebooks were the closest thing to a one player Dungeons & Dragons game, and were a lifesaver for many a young gamer on a boring car journey / school lesson / family occasion. Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone came up with the idea, and their work is still the best example of the format, which is probably partly why Tin Man Games has been bringing the oeuvre to iOS. Appointment with F.E.A.R. is the latest gameb…
LEGO ® Marvel ™ Super Heroes: Universe in Peril Review
Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Universe in Peril struggles from the outset. A very loose port of a 3DS and Vita game, that is itself a translation of a home console experience, the whole thing feels like a compromise. The only part of the game that seems complete is the cutscenes. These comic interludes do a great job framing the action, with sharp writing that will appeal to kids and adults alike. Unfortunately, the quality of these only serves to highlight the sacrifices elsewhere in the…
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Powerpuff Girls: Defenders of Townsville is on the App Store now
Cartoon Network is letting you take control of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup in its new 2D adventure-shooter, Powerpuff Girls: Defenders of Townsville. Taking to the skies as everyone’s favorite crime-fighting triplets, you must foil Mojo Jojo's latest dastardly scheme. The evil monkey has blasted the girls with his Disremember Ray, causing them to forget their powers. To remedy this terrible amnesia the girls must journey to the farthest reaches of Townsville, smashing through the hundreds of robots that stand in their way. Like the best metroidvanias, as you gather the girls (you start off the game as Buttercup) you gain access to their unique powers, enabling you to…
Hands-on with Splot, the bouncy, alien-infested platformer
Another unreleased game we got our hands-on at Pocket Gamer Connects is Splot, a colourful and bouncy platformer for iPhone and iPad. As you can see from the video above, this game involves guiding a charismatic alien blob around the screen. The aim is to save the birds scattered around each environment, while racing a big black blob to the finish line. As well as inflating himself to beach ball-like proportions to propel himself across gaps and between platforms, Splot can also slide down vertical surfaces to avoid dropping onto hazards like rotating buzzsaws. Splot should bounce onto iPhone and iPad this summer. In the meantime, take a look at our hands-on video.…
Hands-on with Beatbuddy, the musical action adventure
Though we've posted a ton of videos from E3 and Pocket Gamer Connects over the past two weeks, we're still catching up with the backlog of hands-on footage we've captured. However, we couldn't go a moment longer without posting this video Beatbuddy, a gorgeous and ingenious new rhythm action game coming soon to iPhone and iPad. Dropped in the world of Symphonia, you must guide Beatbuddy around six 2D worlds to stop an evil maestro from stealing all the music in the world. Sounds and rhythms pulse from objects and platforms all over the world. You'll need to use them to navigate each level, rebounding off throbbing plantlife to break down barriers, and timing your movements to coincide w…
Get FTL: Faster Than Light on iPad 33% cheaper till July
Excellent sci-fi roguelike FTL: Faster Than Light has just received a 33% price cut courtesy of a surprise summer sale. Created by Subset Games, FTL: Faster Than Light puts you in command of a ship which is being pursued by an advancing rebel fleet. The aim of the game is to journey across seven sectors of space, during the course of which you must disable drones, do battle with pirates, collect scrap, and upgrade your vessel. As this is a roguelike, death is final, forcing you to restart your voyage after every your ship is reduced to space dust. Each run is such a unique and compelling adventure, however, that you'll you'll want to hire a new crew and get back out into the cosmos befor…
Major Magnet: Arcade is coming to the App Store next week
Pagoda West Games has announced that its new game Major Magnet: Arcade will be coming to the App Store next week. When the original Major Magnet was released last year we found ourselves attracted to its orbiting 2D gameplay. It involves swinging and flinging the titular Major around the screen using the power of magnetism. What made the it even more special was the its vivid 16-bit visuals and chirpy chiptune music, both of which reminded us of some of Sonic the Hedgehog’s best levels. The Major’s return looks to be more of an evolution than a revolution, however. As the trailer shows, the magnetic mechanics have returned. These let you sling the hero through each stag…
Hands-on with Very Big Indie Pitch winner AG Drive, the WipEout-style futuristic racer
In case you were wondering where my voice had got to this week, it was with me in Helsinki, where I was participating in the Pocket Gamer Connects conference. While there, we threw an AppSpy co-sponsored event called the Very Big Indie Pitch. If you're unfamiliar with the VBIP, it's a regular event where loads of indie developers get a chance to push their games into the eyeline of games journos, publishers, and industry types. Each pitcher has 3 minutes to grab our attention, after which they must move to the next table. Think X-Factor with more games and slightly less singing. Though there were some great entrants, many of which you'll be seeing in AppSpy hands-on videos over the com…
