Tag: Adventure game »

The Backstory
Sentenced to an eternity in suspended animation for a heinous crime he may or may not have committed, the man known as “Dangerous” is woken up a century later and unceremoniously tossed back into the fray. Actions performed and choices made will help determine the war criminal’s ultimate fate. Where he goes and who he becomes is largely up to the player, but savior or super-villain, there’s bound to be lots and lots of shooting and exploration.

The Gameplay
Dangerous features a massive universe to explore with plenty of star systems – each with their own denizens, commodities, resident dangers, and missions spanning through each of them. Navigation and combat can be handled via manual tilt/virtual stick controls, but things are at their best when using the contextual button commands. Orders can be issued with a tap or two, and most variables (i.e. distance to target) can be adjusted using a simple slider. Experience can be used to purchase and upgrade a variety of useful skills, and any spoils can be re-appropriated or sold in order to purchase better ships, gear, or modifications.

How does it Compare?
While Dangerous may have its roots firmly planted in the space adventure sims of old, the rest of it is very much reaching for the now. The steady pacing, wealth of customizations by way of skills and equipment, huge environment to explore, and especially the almost hands-free approach to performing actions are very reminiscent of the “cult hit” MMO juggernaut EVE Online. In fact, the only things missing – aside from the super-pretty textures – are the other human players and the wacky economy. For all intents and purposes, Dangerous is indeed a single-player EVE Online, and personally I’m inclined to believe that’s a very good thing.

Dangerous did go through some growing pains. The interface, while still not all that pretty, was a horrific mess after the initial release and most of the menus were nearly impossible to read on an iPhone due to size and formatting issues. However, all of the major gripes that have had a noticeable effect on the gameplay have since been addressed. Now Dangerous is every bit the giant space sim it was meant to be, and every bit a Console-Quality iOS Game.

*NOTE: “Console-quality” refers to the quality of the experience, not just the graphics. This is about the depth of gameplay, content, and in some cases how accurately it portrays the ideals of its console counterpart.*

At first glance it's easy to think that the various Choice of Games on the App Store are just touch-centric choose-your-own-adventure stories. In a way they kind of are, but there's just enough going on in the background (i.e. character-building choices) to make each playthrough feel special. Now the developer has spread their choice-driven expertise to zombies.

Don't be fooled by the walls of text, Choice of Zombies is a full-fledged adventure game. Players have a surprising amount of freedom in deciding what to do with their game, be it trying to band together with other survivors for safety or simply going out and slaughtering the undead horde. Various player stats are tracked throughout a session, and it's completely impossible to experience everything in one (or even several) playthrough. If past games are any indication, this is going to be a fun (albeit bloody) romp through Zombie Town.

Choice of Zombies is available on the App Store right now for $2.99. It might seem a little daunting at first, but remember that with many iOS titles we get what we pay for.

Pocket God is still going strong, blasting right through update number forty-three (43!). The newest episode, "Killing Time," deals with the kind of stuff that turned Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Deloreans and use of the word "paradox" into national phenomena. In other words, it has to do with futzing around with time. Like time, time. Not wasting a few minutes at the bus stop, time. Players will be able to visit the new Apocalypse Island, home of a multi-roomed temple that includes a time-shifting chamber. It also houses a creepy Aztec calendar that's counting down to 11:11am, December 21st, 2012.

This is just the first of many apocalypse-themed updates, according to Bolt. Each of the temple's many rooms features some sort of Armageddon-like power, each to be opened with future updates, but at the moment no other specifics have been revealed. Bolt will be continuing to release more doomsday content over the course of the next 10 months. Hopefully they'll be able to move on to a new theme after that, assuming the world still exists.

Pocket God in all its dark-humored glory can, as usual, be downloaded from the App Store for $0.99. The other 95% of iOS users who already own it can simply update it like they normally would to get the new stuff.

[Via VerticalWire]

It's a series that may not be as insanely popular as other Capcom franchises, but it's certainly no less loved by its fans. The Ace Attorney series is about to get its fifth title - only in Japan thus far and no confirmed platform, no other details are available at present - but it seems like the developer is also interested in giving the series' roots some love. Andriasang has reported that they've also announced Ace Attorney 123HD, an HD remake of the first three Ace Attorney games (back when they were called Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) for iOS and other platforms.

The original has already been brought to iOS, but it was pretty much a straight port. Once this Turnabout HD is released (sorry, couldn't resist) anyone who owns this port can upgrade to the HD version. For everyone else, they can download the first two episodes/turnabouts for free then unlock more via in-app purchases. The prospect of digging into HD renditions of some of my favorite Nintendo DS games (all conveniently located in one place no less) has me very, very excited.

There's no confirmed release date yet, but Capcom says Ace Attorney 123HD should be available "shortly." Gotta love that intentionally obscure information.

[Via: Andriasang]

Rob like-a-the point-and-click adventure games. He's also rather fond of hyphens. Only one of those things is on SkyGoblin's agenda right now, but it's the more important of the two by far.

The Journey Down is (surprise, surprise) an adventure game that looks like it would fit right in with any of those classic Lucasarts titles. Seriously, Bwana there looks like he'd fit right in with the likes of Guybrush Threepwood and Manny Calavera. In fact, the use of African masks as artistic inspiration (coupled with the use of some reggae and jazz music) isn't all that different from Grim Fandango's incorporation of the Dia de los Muertos motif.

Episode one, which is slated for a Q1 2012 release, sees Bwana and his sidekick Kito getting torn from the drudgery of their down-and-out gas station and thrust into a web of intrigue and corruption. No word yet on pricing or a more solid date (or high resolution in-game footage), but The Journey Down definitely seems like a game worth looking out for.