Freed from the constrictions of a movie license that arguably stymied their previous stab at a superhero game, Iron Man 2, Gameloft come out swinging with Ultimate Spider-Man: Total Mayhem...!
An owl just arrived at iFanzine's window with an intriguing press release from Warner Bros. That's right muggles, everybody's favorite boy wizard, Harry Potter, is being magicked onto iPhone by TT Games and LEGO just in time to coincide with the eagerly anticipated cinema release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!
Cleverly subverting ye olde side-scrolling video game's traditional principles, WackyLands Boss by Chillingo and FairPlay Labs casts the player as the big, bad boss rather than yet another generic Mario or Sonic wannabe. It's a fantastic idea, and allows for some tremendously enjoyable, tongue-in-cheek action as you stomp through levels smiting the good guys, chowing down on princesses, and generally being a butt ugly menace to society.
Trend-bucking bunch that they are, iPhone game developers seem determined to discredit the comforting truism that any title based on a film license is pretty much guaranteed to suck. Hard. I mean Chillingo's Predators actually had the gall to be bloody brilliant, while Glu made a damn fine job of How to Train Your Dragon. Thankfully Megamind, with its uninspired gameplay, horrendous controls, ugly visuals, and bland level design, is here to put the world to rights. Phew.
Shoot to Kill: Addictive as Hell, a hot new collaboration by Vivid Games and Tower Studios, is an arcade-y actioner set in the fiery depths of Hades. The game has been unleashed on the App Store in various shapes and sizes - a coin-up style freemium version, a HD freemium version etc, etc - but, if you ask me, Addictive as Hell is the best and most fully featured experience of the lot, boasting, as it does, all 30 levels of shoot 'em up thrills, Game Center achievements, and 6 different modes from the off.
MADFINGER's followup to Samurai: Way of the Warrior brings to mind combo-heavy action games of the PlayStation 2 era owing to formidable gameplay and not just its luscious visuals. If you're squeamish at the sight of blood you need not apply, but otherwise this is one of the year's must-have titles for action fans especially.
The general rule of thumb is that any game based around a movie is likely to rushed, sloppy affair designed solely to cash in on celluloid success and turn a quick buck. For this reason, I approached Chillingo's iPhone adaptation of Predators with extreme caution. Happily, it shatters convention, and offers up a heady mix of brutally violent action, gorgeous visuals, and pitch-perfect controls.
In the first of an ongoing series of contests, we're giving you, our lovely readers, the chance to win a selection of the very best games from the App Store's vibrant indieverse. From fire-breathing dragons to boxing donkeys, there really is something for everyone in this eclectic mix of prizes...
Brilliantly described as being "better than Justin Bieber cuddling kittens", is the hilarious new trailer for indie developer Grid Monsters upcoming iPhone and iPad title Hungry Helga. Billed as a fast-paced action game, Hungry Helga tasks players with keeping a demanding Viking woman happy...
Burrow is the creation of a husband and wife team with no previous programming or application development knowledge. Not that you'd know it, because the game boasts a charming hand-drawn art style and oodles of seriously polished and addictive gameplay.