Back when Geometry Wars: Touch launched in April, it was $10 and iPad only. Now in June, it’s half the price and now works for both iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch. I really like the series, but was reluctant to give it a go until this recent update and price drop. Now that I’ve spent some time with it on both platforms, I’ll give you the scoop on what makes each version different and which is better to play.
Ninjatown: Trees of Doom is a game based off of a line of plush dolls created by Shawn Smith. For those of you that read EGM in the mid to late 90’s, you may remember that Shawn Smith was a part of the EGM crew for a while. Because of his connections, he was frequently mentioned in video game podcasts such as EGM Live and Player One where he would talk about the old days of the magazine and promote his Ninjatown work.
I’ve wanted to support his cause for a while now. However, I didn’t really have room in my life for plush dolls and the first Ninjatown game was a tower defense game; a genre I’m not that into. When Trees of Doom was released on the iPhone and iPod Touch at the bargain basement price of $0.99, I was quick to pick it up. While I have to hand it to Shawn for creating mega-cute characters, is the game any fun?
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Before I invested in an XBOX 360, I was starved for core games as a Wii-only owner. I was going through a drought in games to play, and the Wii version of The Godfather was starting to pick up buzz. I had never watched a Godfather movie or played a Grand Theft Auto game before, the promise of being able to point my Wii remote as a gun or beat thugs down with swinging fist motions seemed really cool. Also, when you don’t have that many options to choose from, you’re more willing to step outside your comfort zone for some satisfaction.
Last time I wrote about Super Mario Galaxy, I gushed over how it was a technical and creative masterpiece, yet I found myself not having that much fun with it. At the time, I wasn’t completely sure whether or not there was something wrong with the game or something wrong with me. I was hoping that the final stretch of the game would bring it all together and I would have a blast with it. Though after completing the game with the bare-minimum number of stars, it’s failed to hook me in and I don’t know why.
I can’t go anywhere without my iPod Touch. As my all-in-one mini computer, I use it for everything from media consumption, note-taking and games. While I was swept up in Peggle fever a few months back, one game has remained a staple in my iPod Touch game library. That game is Drop 7. It’s by no measure a new game. I bought the game months before I started this blog, and even then it wasn’t new. However, I have consistently gone back to this game and play it almost daily. It’s a great and simple game that is perfect to play on the go.
For a game series I keep saying I have no interest in playing, I’ve done a terrible job of avoiding them. During a rash of cheap game buying, I ended up picking up the every Call of Duty game on the XBOX 360 that I didn’t already own (which was everything but Modern Warfare 2). My first experience was Modern Warfare 2, which has made enough of an impact on me to try out the rest of the series.
It just turns out that I’m working backwards from Modern Warfare 2. I felt that World at War at its best was pretty good, but it oftentimes felt like a knockoff of Modern Warfare 2 and at its worst, infuriated me to the point that I don’t want to play it ever again. I know that World at War was made by the Call of Duty “B-team”, so I was looking forward to playing the Infinity Ward game that first took the world by storm.
When I first wrote about de Blob, I was really digging it. I loved the visual and audio presentation. The gameplay was really fun and easy to pick up. The second time I wrote about it, I voiced what was (and still is) my biggest problem with the game: its pacing. Now that I have beaten de Blob, how do I feel about this sleeper hit?
After a year of damn-near uncontrollable anticipation, the sequel to my 2009 game of the year is now in my house. I was actually so excited for this, I was at Walmart at 7:00 AM buying this game, even though I wouldn’t get to play it till after work. After putting in about 20 hours this week into it (and waking up this morning with an arthritic right hand due to all the fighting action) I can positively say this game is good. In fact, it’s SUPER (sorry).
During a time of economic instability, relatively high prices for new games and a number of high-quality games to choose from all major platforms, the market doesn’t really show much love to decent or middle of the road games. You can be an avid gamer on any system and own 30 games; all of which are AAA titles. If a game is not on the level of a Modern Warfare 2 or Halo, gamers nowadays with discriminating wallets can easily leave your game to rot in the bargain bin.
Stranglehold was one of Midway’s last attempts at creating a AAA title. It featured fast-paced third-person shooting, was inspired by John Woo’s “Hard Boiled” and even starred Jet Li as the protagonist. However, in a market crowded with great shooting games, not even John Woo and Jet Li could save Stranglehold from being a mediocre game at best and a sales flop.
In spite of its shortcomings, my experience so far with Stranglehold gives me the impression that this is a pretty decent video game equivalent to a B-movie. It has its flaws, but for the right person at the right price it could still be a good time.
I’m not new to this whole video game hardware failure thing. It’s frustrating every single time. Going into this, I knew I was getting an entry-level arcade joystick, but the relatively positive reviews and the trusted Hori brand name led me to believe that I was getting a “good enough” joystick to start with.
So much for that thought.
In Third Person 