Thursday, April 24, 2014

Warhammer Quest [iOS]

The Games Workshop board game, Warhammer Quest, has been out for sometime on iPhone and iPad but it has been released free to play for one week. Then it goes back to $6.49 AUD. Sad news for Android fans though, with no plans from Rodeo Games to launch it on your favourite little robot.


The game is played out on a map where you can choose quests, visit towns and take care of your merchant/leveling up needs. Then you will enter dungeon crawl mode, which looks almost exactly like the board game, with squares laid out and all combat taking place in a turn based manner. The story is explained to you through text and is moderately interesting. It's mostly standard RPG fair but if you like the Warhammer world, there is a little extra appeal here. You get quite a lot for free but if you want variety, you are going to have to pay for extras. New heroes, new enemies and new dungeons to play in, cost extra. This is fair enough and the characters you start with are quite interesting it's just the monsters and world you fight, that is extremely repetitive. You are probably gonna want to get a region pack if you love this game and I think they are fairly priced for what you get. Dungeon packs on the other hand seem like an experiment in seeing how much you can rip someone off. Given that this is aimed at Warhammer fanatics, the answer is a hell of a lot.


In general I find combat quite exciting but like a lot of Games Workshop's games it can be a bit erratic. One turn your warriors are carving up every enemy in their path and then the next they are missing everything, like a bunch of drunken school boys. The Winds of Magic are incredibly erratic, they can make your wizard unstoppable or useless, which makes it hard to level him up early on. At times, combat can be free flowing, which I find to be the most fun but often due to the cramped nature of the dungeons, the heroes end up walled together, with no way to move, just chomping away at the tide of enemies. I suppose it's designed like this but it happens a little too often and takes away from the feeling of choice you have as a player. Also the turn based movement throughout the dungeon can get a little grating, especially when you are led down the wrong path and have to backtrack.


Aesthetically the game is a little mixed. Animations range from well done, to immensely poor. Often enemies will float across screen without moving their limbs at all, though most of the combat animations are done nicely. The music is quite nice but it is very repetitive and it ultimately becomes grating. Again the monsters and world are a little too repetitive to really keep your interest for long. There are lots of minor niggles with the UI et cetera. Accessing your inventory by switching your phone or tablet to portrait, is a cool idea but there is something of with it's sensor code. Plus, playing on the iPhone makes accessing your inventory and abilities a pain in the arse, as it's just too small. Also you can't skip the enemy kill screen shown at the end of every dungeon.


At the admission price of free it is well worth it, I can see myself getting an expansion pack for it and having a lot of fun but having to buy the game and then pay the same again for an expansion, I would feel a little ripped off. It has gone on sale for a dollar previously and that seems reasonable too, there is a lot of questing here. You can go on endless quests if you like but they all end up feeling the same without adding some new content to it. It's a cool little game, it gives you that board game feeling and it works well on iOS. It just lets it self down in a bunch of small ways that ultimately add up 7.5/10.

Friday, April 11, 2014

3 Short Reviews [Windows, iOS]

Age of Wonders III [Windows]


Age of Wonders III is very similar to Heroes of Might and Magic VI but I think the combat is a little more tactical. That said it does suffer a bit from Might and Magics problem where basically you just amass the largest army you can and then you can crush everything in your path. Still it's a lot of fun and it just has a ridiculous fantasy setting that is so enjoyable. It has everything from flame tanks to undead dragons. Also it looks incredible. It has a huge set of skills and abilities to allow for all of this, which can be pretty difficult to grasp at first. This can also lead to unfair battles as you may have a range of fire units, that then come up against something that is immune to fire. Remembering all of this is going to be a nightmare for most but hardcore turn based fans will love it. This is what Might and Magic should be 8.0/10.


Goat Simulator [Windows]


Created out of a game jam Goat Simulator was never meant to become an actual sellable product and it borderline isn't. It will always be held up as a fan favourite and yes you can get a lot of fun out of it but only if it really appeals to you. Want to be a goat and run around looking silly, being silly, in a bug riddled and silly world? Good then that is the point. There is a free content patch coming out next month which will add a new world to explore plus a lot of other things. So perhaps with the patch and a Steam sale it would be worth picking up but otherwise leave it to the goats 6.9/10.


Sun Flowers [iOS]


Sun Flowers is now available for free and sees you in the role of the sun, looking after... flowers. Basically you need to send sun rays through clouds to water your plants and get them to grow. Be careful though as you could burn the plants by hitting a thunder cloud or missing a rain cloud all together. Then you get play around with the plants you found in your garden. There is a game here but it isn't much of one. It's all very cursory and doesn't keep my interest at all. If you really like the art style and flowers maybe it's for you but I wouldn't recommended it 5/10.