Middle Manager of Justice

Middle Manager of Justice is by the often hyped Double Fine Productions and it is all about superheroes. It sounds pretty awesome but the genre they have chosen is the freemium pay more not to have to wait type strategy. Could even the likes of Double Fine pull this off?

The answer is no, not really. Whilst the gameplay promises to be interesting with ideas like: hire your silly super hero, beat up thugs and upgrade everything, the game brings absolutely nothing new to the genre. The best thing that can be said about the game is that it is not bad. I just don't really feel compelled to do anything in it. One of the core problems is that someone is always doing something when you want them to be doing something else. The game only lets you have four super heroes running at once, add to this that missions are on a timer, plus training takes time and the gameplay just amounts to being annoyed. I had honestly gone into this game thinking I would spend some money if it was fun but there wasn't even that early enjoyable romp before hitting the paywall. In fact even if you spent all your money on the damn game it wouldn't be fun.

The game has sounds, the visuals are okay.

There are worse things you could be doing but you'll realise you are wasting your life playing this game well before you become borderline obese and desperately lonely, like we are used to with top quality titles 6.5/10.

The Walking Dead, Episode 1: A New Day [iOS, PC, Mac, PSN, XBOX]

Episode 1 of The Walking Dead is now free for iOS device owners so I decided to grab it . It's only for a limited, unspecified amount of time, so be quick if you want to pick it up. This review is applicable to all of the different platforms though I will be mainly focusing on the iPhone version. If you're not a fan of the T.V. series, you probably will be after playing this game...

The game is heavily story driven and it's gameplay is reminiscent of the much maligned quicktime event. The quicktime-esque gameplay actually works in the games favour. Though this kind of thing has always been clunky, unpredictable and a little imprecise this game feeds off of that. It does make it scarier when you aren't 100% sure what you need to do next. This will probably get on your nerves at times, scrolling around the screen seems a little slower than it needs to be and sometimes it's a bit unclear what you are supposed to be doing before it has all gone wrong.

Graphically the game looks great, it has a realistic yet painterly style to to it and there is plenty of detail. The animations really let it down though, as quite often they are jerky and break up your suspension of disbelief. The audio is great and really sets the tone. What is that beep? What the hell was that!? The audio really conveys what is happening on screen and greatly increases the tension. The voice acting is superb too, with only a few lines that sound out of place.

I had a lot of fun with The Walking Dead but it's just a little short. Releasing it free has definitely tempted me to buy the whole series, I guess $16 isn't too bad, though it's $25 for the PC/Mac. The experience is top quality but if each episode is that short it is a bit lacking in content still it gets an 8/10.

Short Reviews for Phone Games

Montezuma Puzzle [iOS] A simple relaxing puzzler for free, just place the blocks where you think they'll fit. Ask for hints if you need them. The music is a little tiring and of course it is funded by ads. but other than that it is a great game for a lazy day 7.9/10.

Bombshells Hell's Belles [iOS, Android] A sort of FPS/flight-sim, Bombshells is a fairly cheesy blast through the skies type game. You have the choice of surprisingly good tilt controls, or a terrible joystick option, either way you feel like you are never 100% in control. Graphically it's great, the sound-bites consist mostly of terrible jokes and although the game is free, it constantly reminds you that really, it isn't 6.5/10.

 

Age of Zombies Anniversary [iOS, Android] Halfbrick were giving away their iOS catalogue for free so I picked this up. It is very reminiscent of the Super Nintendo classics Super Smash TV and Zombies Ate My Neighbours in that it is a silly multidirectional shooter. It has no iPhone 5 support which creates problems with the joysticks, which are placed wherever you touch. It's fun though and the humour is good often enough to call it funny, though only just 7/10.

The Top 5 Games of 2012 as Reviewed by AGS*

Like all journalists, when it comes to the end of the year I am too lazy to do anything but make a compilation of the top videogames for the year. Well that isn't entirely true, there are more reviews coming but for now all you get is this.

Puzzle Craft [Android, iOS] A simple little puzzle game that has a lot of depth and it's only going to set you back 99 cents. I do wish this trend of putting 'craft' at the end of everything would end though.

Mechwarrior Online [PC] Although I didn't technically review it, I did make mention of it and it has been one of my favourite games throughout the year. It has just come into open beta which for a game like this basically means it's launched, so I will be posting a review soon. It's safe to say that if you like stomping around, blowing things up and in general feeling all powerful this is a great game and can be played totally for free.

Faster Than Light [Mac, PC] The product of a Kickstarter initiative FTL is a space sim that sees you in control of a ship and it's crew. At full price it is only ten bucks, you will definitely get your moneys worth.

Dishonored [PC, PS3, XBOX 360] This is probably the first stealth shooter I have ever played that felt really satisfying. The story was great, the world was magnificent and it actually has replay value.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown [PC, PS3, XBOX 360] Blasting aliens in turn-based strategy, building up your base and managing your resources. At lot of classic games and gameplay elements made a come back this year and if done right it makes you wonder why these concepts disappeared from the mainstream.

Any of these games would make a wonderful Christmas present for your favourite gamer (no don't buy them for me I own them all) but if you want to get something for someone you hate try Prison Ball.

*Australian Gaming Scene makes no claims that these games were released in 2012, are the best, or are even games.

Clay Jam Review [iOS, Android]

Clay Jam is a cutesy roll your ball over things game made entirely from clay. It uses the formula from Katamari, roll your ball over things smaller than you and become bigger so you can squash more things.

You direct your ball of clay by swiping a path across the screen for it to follow. Hopefully you are squishing little cute things along the way and avoiding the things that are too big for you. As you gain more clay you can squash bigger things adding their clay values to yours. At the end of each level is a boost zone where you boost your clay ball into the end boss of the stage, hoping to knock him as far as you can to gain power plays. A power play peppers bonuses across the stage, which you roll over to gain abilities such as extra clay, or shrink enemies.You are also given quests to fulfill, things like bounce off this many objects or squish this many monsters.

I absolutely love the style of this game from the quirky clay animations to the cutesy sound effects, it is very enchanting. Whilst still shots of the game don't look very impressive the animations, lighting and shadows are very nicely done. A lot of effort was put into production and creating all of these clay figures and animating them must have taken a huge amount of time. There are lots of new creatures for you to unlock with the clay that you earn through the game and they are all quirky and interesting with lots of sound effects to accompany them too.

A lot of thought and effort went into this game yet it seems a little disappointing. At the end of the day all you are doing is drawing a line in the clay to direct your blob. The upgrade system is interesting yet incomplete, why can't you upgrade your ball of clay? It would have made the game a lot more compelling. Children will probably love this game, it is bright and colourful and cute but it's gameplay just holds it back 6.5/10.

Free Games Reviews

Skylanders: Lost Islands [iOS] Are you a fan? Then you need it. Everyone else has played a game like this and is over it 5/10.

Pocket Trucks [iOS] There is a surprising amount of depth to this game, it just lacks the polish to make it truly shine 7.5/10.

Totem Runner [iOS] Help bring nature back to the land, using a wide variety of controls including the always terrible tilt controls 5.5/10