One Sentence Reviews

Diablo III [Mac/PC] Despite all it's flaws and there are many, I cannot stop playing this game 8.5/10

Death Rally [iOS, Android] Everything seems great about this game except you can only see about a metre in front of your car, which doesn't make for a very good driving game 6.5/10.

Wolfenstein 3-D [iOS] It's free and it still holds up pretty well despite it's age, the controls actually work pretty well on a touch screen 7/10.

Talesworth Adventure: The Lost Artifacts [Flash, iPad]

Talesworth Adventure: The Lost Artifacts is a puzzler featuring the aptly named Questy. You must guide Questy about the world via laying things like gates and bags of loot. Questy cannot resist bags of loot so he will always go towards the closest one he can see. You can also place things to trick your enemies like a hock of meat which will lure them to their doom. It is currently free to play on Armor Games or iPad.

The game begins with a short tutorial that explains the basics of everything you need to know then places you in the world to begin questing. The difficulty curve is well done except for at the end where the difficulty spikes before getting easier at the very end. Of course there is always the extra challenge of figuring out how to get the precious gem out of the level and for bonus points getting the gem out and using the least amount of tools possible.

All in all the game works quite well, my only criticism is that it is a little short. If you are looking for a puzzler with an adventure theme to it then this is the way to go 8/10.

Mechwarrior Online [PC]

I am pretty excited about the upcoming release of Mechwarrior Online. It should be due out sometime this (Southern Hemisphere) winter. At a quick glance it seems a bit like World of Tanks, which I just reviewed but I am hoping there are a few things that make it better. Firstly although tanks are cool, mechs are even cooler. They are bigger, tougher, meaner and some of them can even fly, for short distances. Secondly the different classes look much more effective at fulfilling their roles. Scouts for example are really fast and get xp from spotting targets whilst the assault mechs are mega slow yet take an absolute beating and can dish out the damage too. Finally moving and shooting are an important aspect of the game. The problem with World of Tanks is that because you are more inaccurate whilst moving the gameplay tends towards hiding in a bush waiting to ambush someone who got bored. This does not look like the case for Mechwarrior.

Don't just take my word for it though, have a look at this great collection of videos on rock paper shotgun and then head over here to register your pilot name and also have a chance to go into the beta.

One Sentence Reviews

Towers N' Trolls [iOS] Another tower defence game totally indistinguishable from the next 5/10.

Lil Kingdom [iOS, Android] This game is probably better than Tiny Tower, I mean there is more to see and do but once you've played one of these games you've played them all 5/10.

Crash Drive [iOS, Android] A great proof of concept that came out half baked 4/10.

World of Tanks [PC]

Playing as tanks from WWII is a pretty awesome idea for a game. The war featured some quite iconic tanks and as it was only early days for tank design some of the most bizarre tanks too.

World of Tanks is free to play and uses a combination of subscription and microtransaction fees to earn a living. Once you are subscribed you earn in game currency and experience points faster which are used to research and upgrade your tanks and the abilities of crew members. Each tank has an upgrade tree which contains a series of upgrades to improve it's performance as well as a tank that you can level up to when you have unlocked it.

There is a huge range of tanks you can pilot starting with the light, medium and heavy series, as well as the more specialist type tanks, the tank destroyers and self propelled guns (SPGs). Light tanks are often fast but not particularly well armoured, medium tanks are all rounders and heavy tanks are well armoured but often slower, usually they feature a powerful gun. Tank destroyers have a great gun but little armour and usually no turret so the tank must rotate in order to fire at it's targets. SPGs use a top down firing mode when zoomed in and require other tanks to act as spotters, they have large range but are vulnerable to direct fire.

The problem with World of Tanks is pacing, not only can leveling be a grind but playing the game can be too. Because you are less accurate when you are moving usually the best thing you can do is hide in a bush and wait to ambush an impatient player. This doesn't exactly make for a thrilling style of gameplay. Sure there are times when you can rush at the enemy and some tanks and tank crews are better suited for moving and shooting but these are the exceptions not the core gameplay.

The game is fun for a while and there are plenty of people out their who would love this sort of thing simply for the joy of roaming around in a tank. I highly recommend giving it a go as it's free to play but it won't last in the long run for most gamers 7/10.