NON FLYING SOLDIERS [IOS] – REVIEW (78%)

Non Flying Soldiers is an obstacle course game released by Chillingo Ltd.

“Let loose the…budgies of war? Take your squad of super squawking soldiers to the limit. Featuring a unique blend of humor, puzzling gameplay, and action, Non Flying Soldiers hits the target in every way possible. “

Non Flying Soldiers give you command of several budgies who need to complete a series of obstacle courses, all filled with a number of deadly traps and obstacles.

You have no direct control over the squad of budgies, your control comes from the items that you can place along the course in order to direct the budgies or make them leap, run or block their progress.

This does have the feeling of a top down lemmings game.

The game offers a campaign that is split into 3 campaigns. Each campaign has 15 levels, for a total of 45 levels at release. The levels are fairly short and most of the time taken on a level will be the setting up of the items.

The levels are presented as two boxes with a course between them. The budgies are locked in the start box until you unleash them. They need to get to the finishing box without dying on the way.

Dangers such as spiked pits, electric fences, rings of fire and oily ground, as well as other are between you and your goal. There are three medals to collect in each level, and you may need to jump through a ring of fire to get some of them.

The developers have also placed a few coins in the game, that will allow you to play a basic “Space Harrier” style game. This is a nice addition, but the game is very basic and I got to level 23 on my first play and found it a little dull.

The game is control by dragging items into the play area. I found it strange that rotation was not done by two fingers, but rather the outer ring around the item. Maybe this is in readiness for a desktop release at a future date.

The graphics and sound are both good. The budgies are cute enough.

On the upside:

• Puzzles are generally very well designed.
• Interesting WW2 styling.

On the downside:

• Lacks a little in the engagement.
• Loading times are long, and often annoying skippable movies are added, but if you skip you end up looking at a loading screen anyway.

Overall, this is an enjoyable game for those who like a more strategic style of lemming style games. The top down view does not always help with the planning as lots of scrolling is required to look at the whole level. This application was not really my cup of tea, but I know others who will like it. 

Rating: 78%

Size: 128 MB

Price (at time of review): £0.69

Link: Non Flying Soldiers – Chillingo Ltd

 

N.O.V.A. 3 [IOS] – REVIEW (89%)

N.O.V.A. 3 is a first person shooter and is released by Gameloft.

“Four months have passed since Kal ruined the Volterites’ plans by sabotaging their war factories, and stopping the extraction of the Judger Artifacts. However, following the assassination of President Folsom, the government surrendered the colonies to the Volterite Protectorate in order to prevent civil war between the increasingly pro-Volterite citizens. Kal Wardin has been laying low since Folsom’s death, nut now he has received a desperate plea from Yelena to come to Earth. Once again, the hero must rise to save mankind!”

N.O.V.A. 3 continues the storyline of the previous NOVA games and continues the fight.

There are 10 chapters in all in the storyline campaign, so it should take some time to complete.

Generally the game works very much like the original NOVA games with the addition of a new “bullet-time” power up. Vehicles are used a little more within the game now, such as Mechs. They even make an appearance in the multiplayer game on some of the maps.

The storyline mode is still solid with lots of auto save points along the way, which is a good job as the chapters are generally very long indeed.

There are several weapons, many of these from the previous game, but some new weapons and equipment has been added.

Gameplay wise, the classic NOVA controls are there, but you now have sprint and powers can be swipped though. The additional controls add to the game, but can leave you sprinting by accident if your thumb moves up the screen or looking for a button that you need in the middle of a fire fight.

There are some disappointing moments in the game. In the middle of combat I ran out of ammo in my shotgun and the game decide to switch automatically to the rocket launcher than a pistol. There is a driving section in the 2nd chapter, and the controls and the graphics are not up to the standards of the main game.

Online Multiplayer was a little bit of a disappointment for me, with no connectivity issues and playing online with people who started with massively better weapons (or seemingly armour) due to in-app purchases. There appeared to be no leveling taking place as in my first level one game there was a level 13, 24 and 53 in the match. The maps can also be too large when only two or three people are playing. Wi-Fi multiplayer is still fun and solid, however, the game appears to have lost the blue tooth option.

The graphics and sound both excellent. They have changed a little away from the original NOVA style, but not too much.

On the upside:

• A true “Console” style experience.
• Fast and furious F.P.S. action.
• Amazing that it runs on the lower spec devices.

On the downside:

• The biggest application on my device.
• Too many controls on the screen, I needed to change the layout from the default one.
• Very long sections, it does autosave, but can confuse if you load back up in the middle of a fire-fight.
• Memory hungry, so older devices will need a reboot before you can play.

Overall, this is an excellent first person shooter. The N.O.V.A universe continues to evolve and make better use of the hardware available. Gameloft have again managed to put together a high quality game and have left the old game intact without breaking the francise. Unfortunately, In-App purchases have been included within the multiplayer which makes it less than great. If you liked the single player mode in NOVA 2, then you will be very happy with this release, people on multiplayer may not be quite so happy.

Rating: 89%

Size: 1.57 GB (1.86 GB when installed)

Price (at time of review): £4.99

Link: N.O.V.A. 3 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance – Gameloft

 

THIS COULD HURT [IOS] – REVIEW (70%)

This Could Hurt is a puzzle game released by Chillingo Ltd.

“You are an Oakguard apprentice. One day you will be a fully fledged Oakguard, charged with protecting the Great Oak—the tree that gives life and power to your Village. But first you must pass the Path of Pain.”

The idea behind the game is your play a young man, who needs to run through a series of “Death Traps”, first to pass the test, and then to try and save the Great Oak.

The game offers 40 levels in all, with four areas with 10 levels in each. You need to complete all the levels in an area to be able to move onto the next.

The levels are presented in a 3D maze environment with paths crossing above and below. You will sometimes run behind pillars and areas, but you are in no real danger while this takes place. You need to run on foot from the start of the level to the exit hole.

The gameplay selected for this game is to have your character automatically run and climb along the set path in the level, your only real control of the character is you can make him stop by holding the screen and start again by letting go of the screen. There are also power ups that can be purchase in-game which you can active from one screen buttons.

The first levels are easy enough, you can in-fact run the entire level without taking an active role at all in controlling the character, he will be hurt, which can be avoided by stopping him, but he does have enough health to survive all the traps. In later levels there are more traps and they do not to be avoided to survive the level.

The traps are a mix of guns, spikes, flames, trap doors, springs and moving blocks/platforms.

The moving blocks and platforms are the biggest issue of the game, they require you to stop on the them, and start to move off them. Is means that timing is required, but into the mix things like spikes in front of them that can slow your run onto them can mean you falling from the ledge you are on.

On level 1-9, I had to play the level over a dozen times to complete it, as timing is vital, as if you stop to long at the end of the level you are thrown back by springs etc. I found the level very annoying, and almost gave up the review, however, coming back to it in the morning I did manage to get past it.

The sounds and graphics are both very good, with a nice graphical style.

The in-app purchases allow you to get acorns to buy powerups, they can be gathered in the game, so the in-apps are not vital.

On the upside:

• Very nice presentation.
• Simple gameplay.

On the downside:

• Some levels are very tricky and you cannot skip them.
• Miss a tap to stop the character, and you will need to play for a minute or two again to get them to the same place again.

Overall, this is a good puzzle game. However, the limitations of the stop and go movement leads to annoying moments and having to reply the levels again, even though you know how to get past the traps that you can see. If you like simple gameplay and split second timing, you will enjoy this one, if not, you will more than likely hate this game.

Rating: 70%

Size: 64.7 MB

Price (at time of review): £0.69

Link: This Could Hurt – Chillingo Ltd

 

LOCK ‘N’ LOAD [IOS] – REVIEW (76%)

Lock ‘n’ Load is a twin stick shooter released by Chillingo Ltd.

“Once upon a time, there was an evil little girl whose goal was to conquer the world…now it’s up to you to grab your gun and save the day. Get ready to blow some crazed creeps away in Lock ‘n’ Load, a twin-stick shooter packed to the brim with style and substance. “

This application gives you control of a retired gentleman, a man fighting a one man war against the enemy who have destroyed the flower beds outside his house, to do this he ofcourse needs to put on his Jason style mask. You travel through 16 campaign levels and will have to try and stop the evil little girl who is bringing misery to the world.

The game play is very simple. One stick to move, and one stick to fire. When you gain additional weapons buttons will become active near the shooter stick offer a quick change to the other weapons. However, the default weapon seems to be just as effective as the other weapons that you pick up.

Weapons include shotguns, chainsaws and other horror movie favorites.

As well as the campaign there are additional levels to unlock in two other modes “Call of Minions” and Challenges. These both need to be unlocked with in game money to play, and if you do not have enough in game money you can pay real world cash to get them. Disappointingly, the challenges are locked until you get all three gifts on a level, but once you have them you still have to pay the money to open it.

The first levels in the campaign are generally very short, using a locking off mechanic to hold you in a section until you have killed all the bad guys before moving on. Add time to the level without adding to the size. The maze level for example like very small physically.

The game is control with twin stickers, you can select during the tutorial “home level” whether to switch to auto aim, that removes the need for one stick. The single stick works OK most of the time, but you will sometimes find yourself shooting an enemy that is not the one you wanted to shoot first.

There is no Multiplayer on offer, that has been available on similar titles like Guerilla Bob.

The graphics and sound are both good, lots of your favorite horror characters made it into this game like scream, zombies, Jason and many more. The graphics have a blocky, low res feel and lack in animation at time, I believe this is the feel that the developers are aiming at, but sometimes it feels a little unpolished.

On the upside:

• Memorable hero.
• Generally fast paced action.

On the downside:

• Repetitive action.
• Currently has a crashing issue on some devices, but the developers are fixing.
• Adverts for other Chillingo games on the main screen, a shame for a paid app.

Overall, this is a solid twin stick shooter with some humour along the way (more for horror fans). There are lots of twin stick shooters out there for iOS. The dark humour of the game manages to drag it just above some of the competition, but the gameplay really is your standard fare. For me, there is a bit too much of a push to the “unlock now” mentality here.

Rating: 81%

Size: 246 MB

Price (at time of review): £0.69

Link: Lock ‘n’ Load – Chillingo Ltd

 

SHAUN THE SHEEP – FLEECE LIGHTNING [IOS] – REVIEW (78%)

Shaun the Sheep – Fleece Lightning is a racing dodge game released by Chillingo Ltd.

“An official Shaun the Sheep app from Aardman Animations. Let’s Race! Guide a turbo-charged Shaun the Sheep to victory against his farmyard foes, the naughty pigs in an epic Championsheep themed race known as Fleece Lightning! Race through over 80 farmyard courses, jam packed with jumps, tricky obstacles and awesome power-ups! Fleece Lightning is farmyard fun you won’t want to miss out on.”

First off the bat, I have to say, that as soon as I played the first level of this game I knew I had played this game before. After doing a bit of research I found I was effectively right. The same developers released a game call “Sheeple Chase” last year, and we reviewed it. This is basically the same game, that has been tweaked, reskined for Shaun the Sheep and made universal.

This application puts you in control of Shaun the sheep who is racing pigs through areas. The idea is to race through the level entering the gates at the end before the competition, else the gate is locked and you lose the race.

The game is played over various environment like “The Meadow”, “Veg Garden’ and “The Park”. The levels even though looking different are much the same, with walls, building, water, ramps and trees. There are often arrows on the ground to show were you need to go, but not always, leading to you slamming into walls as you did not get time to avoid them, this often means learning and replaying the level.

Fleece Lightning has lots of levels to offer, with 80 at time of release.

There is also a level creator for you to set up race courses to race through.

The game itself is simple to play with a selection of tilt or thumb controls. You dodge left or right and can tilt the device up or down to increase or decrease the speed.

The graphics and sounds are both very good. They certainly have the Shaun the Sheep look and feel. Fans of Shaun the Sheep will not be disappointed. 

On the upside:

• Very playable race game
• Level Creator.

On the downside:

• Repetitive game play.
• A re-skin and tweak of a year old app.

Overall, this is a good game, it is fun to play and is a nicely presented game. This is very much a casual game, one you pick up from time to time, to play a few quick levels, it is too repetitive to keep your interest more than 15-20 minutes at a time.

Rating: 78%

Size: 45.3MB

Price (at time of review): £0.69

Link: Shaun the Sheep – Fleece Lightning – Chillingo Ltd