Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Alex Beech'
Space exploration roguelike Star Command gets a stellar price cut
Sci-fi roguelike Star Command has just been given a price cut of galactic proportions on the App Store. Warballoon makes no secret of its Star Trek inspiration for this explorative space adventure. You take command of a starship filled with red, blue, and yellow shirt wearing crew, which you must then guide through the cosmos in search of new life and civilisations. Never certain whether the next species you encounter will be friend or foe you must always be at the ready. Upgrading your ship and its crew will ensure you are prepared for everything the universe could throw at you. This only works if you fortify the right part of your ship, however, as powerful cannons…
challengeE3 2014: Hands-on with Mech, the online arena-based robo-battler
Chillingo announced its team-based eight-on-eight robotic deathmatch game Mech earlier this week. Just a few short days later we got our hands on the game itself, courtesy of the Chillingo booth at E3. Mech draws heavily on the ethos of huge robot simulation series Mech-Warrior, so fans of these PC classics should feel quite at home with the new title. This is still a very early build of the game, with a lot of kinks still being hammered out by developer Small Impact Games. With a lot of polish still being added, nothing is final, but Peter does get a chance to find out how controlling a large robot will work on a touch screen, and how the team hopes to implement its free-to-play mod…
Angry Birds Epic Review
At this point the Angry Birds are more than just feathery projectiles in a physics puzzler. They have become icons that can leap into any medium they choose. Like Mario before them, their first step was into the world of kart racing, and now they have progressed to a strategy RPG with the turn-based Angry Birds Epic. To keep things easy for genre first-timers, Epic does away with exploration of similar titles. Instead it adopts a map that will be familiar to free-to-play fans, with fi…
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Gameloft lifts the lid on upcoming endless-runner Spider-Man Unlimited
With the Amazing Spider-Man 2 game still fresh in our minds, Gameloft’s announcement of its new endless-runner Spider-Man Unlimited came as a bit of a shock. While 'runner' is certainly the easiest shorthand for this new Spidey game, a more accurate description of the action would be endless-swinging-crawling-punch-and-runner. Spider-Man Unlimited lets you take control of one of twenty different versions of Spider-Man. But, whether you are playing in the traditional red and blue suit, or The Boombastic Bag-Man, your goal of chasing down the hero’s iconic villains above the Manhattan skyline will remain the same. Featuring three different modes, Unlimited Mode, Story Mode, an…
VVVVVV Review
Originally released back in 2010, Terry Cavanagh's VVVVVV has been a long time coming to iOS. A lot of this time has been spent making sure the touch controls live up to original's button-based system. It's a huge consideration for this precision platformer as any issues would ruin the experience. So, it is with some excitement that we can say that Cavanagh has pulled it off. The story begins with your character Capt. Viridian telling his crew to abandon ship as the vessel is sucked i…
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Feudal RTS Autumn Dynasty Warlords receives massive Insurrection update
Touch Dimensions has just given its wonderful RTS Autumn Dynasty Warlords a substantial free update. Titled Insurrection, the update adds a huge amount of content. If you were absorbed by the game’s feudal storyline, the new 'Against All Odds' scenario offers you the perfect excuse to jump back into the campaign. On the other hand, if it was the RTS battles that kept you enthralled, then the random scenario generator will provide more scuffles to keep you amused. As well as the additional scenarios, Insurrection also brings a number of tweaks to the already fine tuned RTS combat. Most interesting of these is the ability to pause during battle to issue commands…
World of Tanks Blitz to invade App Stores globally in two weeks
World of Tanks Blitz was soft-launched on selected App Stores last month. Since then we have been awaiting news of a worldwide release date. Now we have one: June 26th. Developer Wargaming’s incredibly popular free-to-play tank game World of Tanks first made a name for itself on PC and Xbox, before making the move to iOS in the form of World of Tanks Blitz. The mobile MMO allows up to seven players to join forces to battle other teams in large arenas. Rather than rolling in guns blazing, however, every player has to expertly play their part if their team is to have any chance of success. From speedy light weight scout machines to the heavily armoured super tanks, World…
99 Bricks Wizard Academy Review
99 Bricks Wizard Academy doesn't waste a moment introducing you to its magical, Tetris-inspired world. The charming puzzler has you fill the pointy shoes of a trainee wizard, and sets you the task of building yourself a tower to call home. To erect this structure, you must direct Tetris-style blocks into place upon a narrow foundation. You drag each shape toward its intended destination with your finger, while a single tap of the screen allows you to rotate them as they fall…
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Cute puzzler Twisty Planets will turn your world upside down at midnight tonight
Crescent Moon Games's new puzzler Twisty Planet will be landing on the App Store tonight at midnight. This cute 3D puzzler has you guiding the tiny Qub around 60 blocky worlds across three galaxies. To lead the little chap to each level's goal you must turn and twist the planet beneath him. The revolving mechanic lets you shift the world from under Qub’s feet to make him fall, springboard, and teleport his way to new areas. You have to be careful as you rotate the landscape, however. One wrong turn a Qub could slide off a surface, miss his platform and shoot off into space. Each planet has three stars for Qub to collect along the way. These are often located on hard-to-reach outc…
Chillingo's Mech lets you battle 8 players online in massive robot deathmatches
Chillingo’s upcoming third-person shooter Mech lets you pilot your very own Mechanized Assault Walker, and battle players around the world. Developed by Small Impact games and utilising the Unreal Engine 3, Mech certainly looks the part, featuring a decent selection of impressively rendered metal monstrosities. The combat lets you pit your skills against up to eight players in competitive online matches. Learning the layout of the four futuristic arenas will help you discover different tactical options, giving you the edge on your foes. You can select one of 12 different walkers to pilot. By customising your loadout from the game’s 28 different weapons you can match your bat…
Final Flight of the Perseus Review
Final Flight of the Perseus is a free shmup that continues the legacy of arcade classics like Galaga. Controlling the inevitably doomed starship Perseus, you must battle waves of attacking enemy aliens until your reactions fail you, and you explode into spacedust. Direct controls help you to navigate the single-screen war zones in seconds. Your crude, pixelated ship fires endlessly upwards as you drag it around the screen, dodging the equally ugly alien aggressors. Unfortunately, the…
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Rovio's avian RPG Angry Birds Epic will fly onto iPhone and iPad this Thursday
Feather-filled RPG spin-off Angry Birds Epic was soft-launched in Canada and New Zealand back in March. Now, three months later, it is set to arrive on App Stores worldwide this Thursday. Angry Birds Epic takes Rovio’s iconic cast of irate avians and thrusts them into a tactical turn-based game reminiscent of a JRPG. Think Final Fowl-tasy, and you are on the right track. The birds have all been redesigned to suit the game’s medieval world, and act as a shorthand for their combat abilities. The red bird is covered in armour to show its new role as a powerful knight, while the yellow bird dons a pointy hat to demonstrate its magical abilities. Individual battles are…
Turn-based strategy game Great Little War Game 2 has just invaded the App Store
Great Little War Game 2 is the second installment of Rubicon Mobiles military strategy series, and it has just occupied the App Store. Continuing the turn-based formula of the original, Great Little War Game 2 has you commanding squads of infantry and armour as they attempt to conquer the enemy. As you battle through the game’s 60 missions you unlock new units and upgrades to ensure your army is always up to the challenge at hand. While it sounds quite serious, the cartoony 3D graphics and charming audio keep proceedings lighthearted as you pit your blue army against the evil reds. Naturally, this sequel promises a host of enhancements. These include the standard improved vis…
Twin-stick shooter Linkin Park Recharge - Wastelands is available now for iPad
Prepare to rock out with your glock out: top-down shooter Linkin Park Recharge - Wastelands has just landed on the App Store. It may seem like an odd fit, but this twin-stick shooter is a tie-in to the titular band’s new LP, Recharge. Developed by Kuuluu Interactive, this old-school iPad shooter will let you unlock tracks from the album as you play through 50 violent missions. Controlling a member of the Resistance, you must use your power glove and elemental attacks to defeat the vicious half-human, half-metal Hybrids. These beasts have ravaged the world of it resources leaving it as little more than a husk. It's up to you to return power to the planet to as you battle throu…
Bubble Witch Saga 2 Review
At first glance it would be easy to accuse social gaming giant King of resting on its laurels with Bubble Witch Saga 2. Dig deeper, however, and you find that the orb-launching match-three formula has received a tweak or two for its second outing. The most obvious change is the improved visual design. Gone are the moody stills of three hag-like witches, replaced instead by vivid backgrounds and the cheerful Stella, who looks a bit like Barbie in a pointy hat. While the new visuals po…
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