Natural Selection 2 [PC]

Natural Selection 2 is an FPS with a twist, you have your standard shooting but there is also a commander. One commander per team is playing an RTS instead of an FPS and this makes for quite an interesting game. It was originally a mod for Half-Life but has become a stand alone game with it's own engine no less.

The game consists of two sides, the aliens (also called Kharaa) and the marines and they are quite different to each other. The marine players have to build the buildings that the commander creates, whilst the aliens can help build a building faster it is unnecessary. Extra abilities, weapons, classes etc. will need to be researched by the commander before you can use them. Aliens evolve into completely different lifeforms and can have a choice of what upgrades they take as these lifeforms. The basic alien unit is a dog like creature that can climb up walls and is primarily a melee unit. In addition to this you have a support class, a flying alien, a stealthy (and very deadly) one and the massive Onos which is a powerful meat shield.

The marines handle upgrading differently. Firstly there are universal upgrades that apply to you no matter what, which go straight to your weapons and armour. Then you get to choose what weapons and gear you take from an armoury or prototype lab. The armoury gives you access to the shotgun, grenade launcher and flamethrower as well as the welder (which lets you repair structures and your teammates armour) and mines (which blow up stuff). The prototype lab gives you access to jetpacks and the powerful Exosuit. The Exosuit is a robotic suit of armour that comes equipped with a minigun and can be upgraded to wield two miniguns making it hugely powerful.

Whilst balance is a contentious issue and the developers are constantly tweaking it in general I felt the game was quite balanced and either side could win it despite the large differences between them. Team work is something that is very much required and a good commander makes a huge difference too. Not only does a good commander build the structures you need in the correct order but they'll also tell you where to go and who needs help. Another issue the developers have just addressed is that of getting new players up to speed. They have included tutorial videos that play whilst you are waiting to respawn  that tell you tips and tricks. Accessibility was something the game was criticised about by a lot of reviewers but it has become much less of an issue now.

It's frustrating that the game needs to pre-load shaders and precache all the freaking time but once you are in a match it runs quite smoothly. In fact the engine appears to me to have become a little more streamlined enabling me to turn up the graphics settings. I found the world to be quite detailed, beautiful even and extremely atmospheric. What really adds to this though is the sound. I recommend playing with headphones on to truly be sucked into the world and you will need to be anyway. When playing as the marines you can hear the aliens crawling around in the vents or when you are an alien you might lay in wait, listening for the footsteps of the marines. At times this really had me on the edge of my seat, I could hear the aliens crawling all around me, then suddenly they drop from the roof and attack me! I think this truly is the successor to the Aliens Vs. Predator franchise and whilst those games are floundering, this is the place to be.

Whilst FPS fans are going to love this game, due to the commander and building aspects, you don't have to be a straight up FPS fan to enjoy it too. From shooting/biting, healing, building and just being a nuisance there are plenty of things to do in this game. The standard game can get a little repetitive though after you've played for some hours but there are some mods out and others on the way that will help relieve this a little. Plus the game is only $25 USD which for a title of this quality is pretty cheap 8.5/10.

Games to Play Whilst You Wait for Your City to Earn Money in Sim City.

Monsters, Inc. Run [iOS] Another 2D run and jump game but it's pretty good, at first I thought it may be a bit hard for it's demographic but then I realised Monsters Inc. came out 12 years ago which is kind of scary really. The graphics, music and sound are all top notch but with the game focusing on just running, jumping and collecting power-ups it lacks a little depth 7.3/10.

Battle Monkey [Android, iOS] You are a monkey in some kind of ancient arena that spits out power-ups. You jump from tile-to-tile collecting them whilst trying to kill the other monkeys. It has single and multiplayer support and whilst the game isn't bad the random nature of the game means it lacks any real strategy 6.5/10.

The Walking Dead Assault [iOS] Is a tactical real time zombie blaster. It draws more inspiration from it's comic book roots than the show, with drawings popping up during battles. I had a lot of fun playing this on my iPhone but it is really much more suited for a tablet. At first I found it lacked much strategy but as the game progresses there are some interesting ways to overcome problems and complete bonus objectives 7.9/10.

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.

Saturday Morning RPG, Episode 1, Dream of Destiny[iOS, coming soon to Android]

Saturday Morning RPG is an episodic RPG that tries to bring the 80's back to the future. There are tonnes of 80's pop culture references featured throughout, from CD's to Transformers and it all adds to the charm.

You play as Marty whose girlfriend has been kidnapped by Commander Hood and you must rescue her before she is forced into wedlock. The story is quite silly and the game relies much more on it's 80's nostalgia to suck you in. It features a 3D world with 2D pixels and it makes for quite a nice effect. It may not be the prettiest game out there but it's art style is quite endearing especially for those who grew up with mainly pixel based games.

The gameplay mechanics are quite varied, for example, before each battle you scratch a sticker on your notebook to unlock bonuses for the fight. The fighting system is turn based and includes attacks where you play a little minigame and some attacks where you don't need to do anything extra. I found the system fun yet very repetitive. You generally power up, then do the same attacks over and over again, maybe eat a cookie to heal. There are cool little touches like defence being a timing based tap on the screen and you will find new skills to learn but in general the battles seem to drag a bit.

The game definitely has an aspect of silly fun and the first episode is given for free ($1.99 an episode or $5.49 for the lot) but it is just so short. In fact all of the episodes are really short. The gameplay is well suited to the phone platform and it is worth checking out it just lacks that something extra 7.5/10.

Short Reviews

Lost Cubes [iOS] Connect the cubes, finish the level, there is nothing wrong with this game, it's fine, it's just that there is nothing more to it 6/10.

 

Psychoban [iOS] An interesting puzzler with a terrible sense of humour and finicky controls. It's now available for free and if you are a fan of pushing boxes around you better get it 6.7/10.

Undead Soccer [iOS] It makes no sense, the undead come at you, you kick soccer balls at them, power-ups are involved, tilt controls also feature, as does a store and the usual freemium trimmings. It has an interesting art style, I'll give it that much but honestly, why? 4/10.

Stick Cricket [Android, iOS, Flash]

Stick Cricket exists in many incarnations on the phone and as a browser based flash game. It has been around for sometime but has recently been updated to fit the iPhone 5 screen. A relatively simple game, you just bat and that is all but it's simplicity is part of the fun.

On the phone, the free game gets you the Academy to practice, All Star Slog limited to 5 overs, some but not all of the World Domination matches and two player mode (but only if it is hosted by a Pro Pack owner). Pretty decent for free, though it does come with the added "cost" of ads. The Premier League pack will get you an extra tournament for AU $0.99 and the Pro Pack will unlock all of World Domination games, extra All Star Slog games, the ability to host your own two player games and remove ads. for AU $2.99. I think it's a bit tight that the dollar doesn't get rid of the ads., though having said that, three dollars isn't exactly a lot of money.

If you play it in your browser however, you get all kinds of games for free, obviously with ads. and you also get 3 button controls. Whereas the phones only have a simple two button interface, the browser version adds block/drive, which mixes it up a little. The browser version is very slow to load and at least for me, mostly played blank ads. which was a little boring.

So what are you doing in this game? Basically trying to crack as many sixes as you can. It boils down to a very simple timing game, yet somehow it comes across as being a bit of a simulation of cricket. It lacks a lot of the complexity of other cricket games, with no bowling or fielding but who cares? This is just about quickly blasting runs. There isn't a huge amount of depth to this game, there are about 6 different bowlers that you will face and they follow patterns due to their style, however I find it a great way to spend the time whilst you are waiting for a rained out match to come back on and subsequently be cancelled.

Stick Cricket has some problems, such as a bug that won't let you access the menu, though this is intermittent and hardly game breaking and it's general lack of depth but it makes up for it with it's greatest strength which is that it is quite challenging in an addictive way. If you don't like cricket you won't love this, oh no, but for those who do it's worth a bash 7.7/10.