One Sentence Reviews

Pixel People [iOS] It's cool how each new class is unveiled to you in a packet and you get a real sense of childish joy but there is little more to this than a collect it all mentality, still worth the distraction 7/10.

Game of Thrones Ascent [Mac, PC] I was lured in by the bacon but quickly I realised I was wasting my life, so I committed suicide 5/10.

Plants Vs. Zombies [iOS, Android] It's now free for iOS, just get it, 9/10.

Mechwarrior Online [PC]

Mechwarrior Online is a free to play game about stomping around in a giant robot blowing up other giant robots. Feel free to read the rest of the review but if those words alone didn't cause you to rush out and download it, then the game probably isn't for you.

There are four general classes of mechs ranging from lightest to heaviest, Light, Medium, Heavy and Assault. In general terms the Light mechs are fast but lightly armoured and the Assault mechs are slow but heavily armed and armoured, with the other classes filling in the middle. This can be confusing though as mechs often defy their class or people customize them to do so. You may think that being the most armed and armoured is the only way to go but the role of different classes is played out well here. Light mechs not only run rings around the Assault class mechs but provide support by jamming radar signals, some mechs specialise in long range missiles, while others are close range brawlers. There is a lot of diversity to the tactics in Mechwarrior and any type of mech can be effective on the battlefield. At the moment there are two map modes, one were you battle it to the death or capture the enemies base and one where it is timed and you capture different sectors which give you points as time ticks by. Both of these end up being death matches most of the time, though there can be sneaky tactics. There are other modes planned so there is something to look forward to.

The fun really comes in two forms in this game. The acquisition of resources and customising your mech is half of the fun of Mechwarrior. You get to buy new mechs equip them with a range of weapons, armour and defensive measures like an anti-missile system. It's a bit of a let-down that you can't customise your mech when it is stuck in a battle that you have died in. I know it is aiming for realism but it is a game after all and it would make the whole experience a lot more fluid to allow customisation when you are dead. You also gain experience points that can be used to make each mech model more powerful. The other half is blowing all of that stuff off your enemy mechs. The game brings this in superb detail. Guns drop off, legs are lost leaving you hopping slowly across the field, it's all very cool. In order to achieve this destruction though, you need to work with your team. Running out alone can get you killed very fast but working together and targeting specific areas on a mech can help you rack up kills.

Mechwarrior Online is in an open beta phase at the moment with a lot of changes still being applied to the whole game. However anyone can play it and spend money on it, the the whole "beta" phrasing is merely applied in the hopes that people won't be to disappointed with the odd bug. Even when the game is fully launched it will still be undergoing a lot of changes and new mechs and maps will be added all the time. Having said that, I have been in the closed beta since near the start and there have been a lot of improvements in that time. The graphics have improved massively over the development phase and so has the optimisation. I have been playing the game on a mixture of high and medium settings but during the closed beta version I often had to run it on low just so it was playable. Bug wise it has actually been pretty good with no major issues. The main problem with it is that I doubt there will ever be an Australian server which means you'll never get a good ping here. Still it is playable, just not as fluid as it is for others.

There are many more exciting things to come for Mechwarrior Online, new maps, mechs and modes but I think most people already know if they want to play it or not. I say if you love giant robots blasting at other giant robots its a no-brainer 8.5/10.

Baseball Superstars 2013 [Android, iOS]

You may recall I reviewed Baseball Superstars 2011 back in 2010 and it has been one of my favourite mobile games since then. 2013 doesn't offer all the modes of 2011 but instead focuses on the My League play where you play as a pitcher or batter throughout their career. This was pretty much the only mode people played in 2011 anyway so nothing is really lost, plus 2013 adds online multiplayer.

2011 cost me $5.99 and I think it was worth it, 2013 on the other hand has gone for the free to play model. I found this really disappointing as now there are a huge number of resources and items to keep track of, which diminishes the fun you have playing. Spending $6 in this game is not going to get you anywhere near as much stuff or replay value as 2011 did.

There are some redeeming qualities this time around though. Pitches have a lot more variety and hang in the air longer allowing for more tactical gameplay. The graphics are improved too, though there are some odd graphical quirks as you can see below. The music is nice and it seems more polished overall, despite seeing a lot of the same flaws from previous games.

Why are the pitchers blurry yet the batters are so detailed?

The game still suffers from an Engrish problem which can be witnessed in the rest of the series but mostly has an interesting story, though it is fairly similar to the previous games. You get to play quizzes and challenges all in the hopes of winning bonus G points to spend upgrading your character and team. I like the RPG aspect of the game it's just that this time around it is less generous with the G points and you need to spend them on more things. Going through and upgrading each of your team mates is boring and adds nothing of value to the gameplay whilst robbing you of G points. The addition of time machines so you can replay that all important match is a nice touch, though they are quite expensive.

I bet you are.

The game has seen some improvements but it has taken many steps back due to it's switch to freemium. I would say if you haven't played them before this is the one to get but personally I cant help but feel a little disappointed 7.5/10.

Moving

Okay so I moved cities and this site hasn't seen much love but it is time for a fight back to finish off the shortest month of the year.

Ghosbusters [iOS]

Ghostbusters by Beeline, sees you in charge of a team of new recruit ghostbusters. Your main mission is to penetrate the halls of a haunted skyscraper in the middle of the city. In order to do this you will need to gather slime to unlock the path ahead. All the usual freemium trappings are here but it is an interesting game.

The game is broken into three main gameplay areas. You have your base, where you set up your team, research and equip new items, the map from where you pick your battles and the final area, the battle screen. Battling against ghosts is done in real-time and you direct your team members by touching and dragging a path to where you want them to walk to, or what you want them to shoot at, or heal. It's a simple but effective method, however your team-mates often end up on top of each other and this can be quite confusing and irritating, as you try to get them to do the right thing.The battles can be rewarding though and when you do win a difficult battle you know it was due to your skill. Lord knows the AI does it's best not to help.

One of the most disappointing things about the game is that it costs you $5.49 just to buy in and you don't get very much for that. I think one dollar would be plenty and we've already seen that cheaper games sell better than do the dearer ones. The game did unexpectedly crash on me twice and there are some general graphics bugs like ghosts not being pulled into the trap and instead wandering around.

What you do get in this game is the fun of playing a ghostbuster. It has the music like you remember and the original members of the team are available for purchase. It's cool to research new equipment and items but all of these things take quite a lot of time. Unless you are willing to spend a lot of money on this game it is the kind of title that you play for a bit and then put down and move on to something else.

Ghostbusters is really for the fans, if you're not interested in the series the little niggles in the game will probably stop you from playing. Even the fans probably won't play it for long but as it's free it's well worth a look 7/10.