Sunday, May 1, 2011

What Have You Played This Week?

Its been a couple of weeks since I last did one of these. It was mostly due to a mix of bank holidays, public holidays, internet destroying itself. Still, here we are again and yes there's the usual suspects on this list but it should become clear that I now have a new toy...yep my beloved HTC Hero has been replaced with my phone upgrade the iPhone 4. I did play more games, but the ones I mention here are my particular highlights.

Football Manager 2010 – PC – what i've not mentioned in news on this game is that i've been the national coach of Vanuatu. Some may think its a strange choice and its not easy at all, but I have a special affinity for the country and tend to look to help them out in these sort of games. Havant is doing great in the Championship and pushing for promotion. Its meant to be harder, but i'm finding this season in the championship easier than the last season in League 1.

Pokèmon White – DS – simply, I have all 8 gym badges now. I'm at the stage where i'm levelling up my team to lvl 50+. my current team is, and its the team I used at the last gym, Boldore, Leavanny, Zebstrika, Lampent, Sigilyph, and Samurott. I've also been making use of the Pokèmon Global link now its online. The games are pretty simple, but they are a ok way to waste 10 minutes and get a new Pokèmon for free. The link between the game and site is pretty slow and feels like a workaround limitations...but it gets the job done. So far i've got 5 Pokèmon this way and several items. It'll be interesting to see if the Global Link is only for this game or if it's the start of something much bigger...i personally think it's the latter.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes – PS3 – I didn't play too much. This isn't because the PSN is down, that actually hasn't affected me beyond I haven't had the BBC iPlayer or LoveFilm. I'm kinda having to grind with the necromancer character and i'm finding it a bit tough. Initially it was because I wasn't using the weapons effectively and slowly i'm getting better at using this character.

Game Dev Story – iPhone 4 – This game is very addictive. I love the simple graphics, it harkens back to Theme Park and Theme Hospital. The idea is simple and its very easy to play the game for long periods of time. My first play through was very exploratory and I didn't do that well as a company. The second play through was much better, multi million sellers and I was making money hand of fist. The next play through I aim to play with the staff more and use more of the options the game gives you, like the boosts the salesmen sells. This probably isn't for everyone, but it isn't too in depth and the tutorial is very good and if your curious it's worth playing.

Tiny Wings – iPhone 4 – This game, like the one above, has been talked about for a long time by several people and I was interested to give it a go. Its simple, looks great, and is very fun. I'm glad I picked it up. I was pretty terrible on my first couple of goes, but i'm understanding it more and enjoying the simple challenge it offers. This is more casual than Game Dev Story and I would recommend this for most people.

Super Soviet Missile Master – iPhone 4 – This is made by Behemoth and I had picked this up a while ago on iTunes just in case I did get an iPhone. This is a very basic game, your a missile and you have to avoid things that stop you bombing a country. Its a good way to waste 5 minutes and it very retro in style...maybe 8bit or earlier.

Super Mega Worm – iPhone 4 – This is another game that was popular a while back and when it was free I downloaded it just in case I got an iPhone. The idea here is your a worm and you have to kill everything. The clue in the title is that your more than just a worm...your a Tremors sized worm. Its a fun little game but a little repetitive. The different ways to kill things is fun and the animations are good.

Unpleasant Horse – iPhone 4 – I only recently picked this up and i've not played it much. Graphically it looks fine and it plays fine. Its one of those games that pretends to be easy when actually it requires a bit of skill and luck to truly master it.

Swords & Sworcery – iPhone 4 – People have been talking about this game for a while now and admittedly I was too curious not to get it. I've only played through the first story, the first play through of the game, but I really enjoy the artstyle. Its very stylised but its still clear what everything is. There is also room for your imagination to fill in the blanks, to add more to the art which is an amazing achievement and it comes in handy when it comes to the end of the first part. I enjoyed the music, I find it fits well with the game but I can understand if some people are not too keen on it. Its kinda hard to describe as there really is nothing like it. It is a “point and click” adventure game, but its also an interactive novel (in that your pushing the story along). The use of twitter is good but perhaps a touch gimmicky. Many people say its the first game made for the iPhone that's not some simple mini-game, and although my experience with games on the iPhone is still limited I tend to agree. If you consider yourself a hardcore gamer, than you should have this.