Review of Sid Meier's Ace Patrol [iOS]

Turn based strategy games are perfect for phones and tablets. You can put them down at any moment and come back to them whenever you want but good quality ones seem to be sorely lacking. Can Sid Meir himself finally create something decent for the portable device?

Ace Patrol is set in World War I and puts you in command of a squadron of fighter planes. As your pilots achieve victories they level up and you are able to choose which new manoeuvres they will learn. As the war progresses you gain access to new planes and you are also given random upgrades to stick onto planes. The random upgrades seem a little forced and I think it could have been a lot more fun if you had earned some kind of in-game currency that let you choose what you upgraded.

The game is set out in a series of campaigns that make up the greater war effort, much like a tabletop wargame. Failing a mission does not mean you have lost the war and this adds a level of realism. For each battle, you get to choose between three missions to play and each campaign ends with a special mission that you must play. Missions include things like shooting down bombers, fighting an enemy ace one on one, escorting recon planes, plus many others. At first this seems like a lot of choice but as the war is divided into four campaigns and for each different nation you basically play the same thing, there isn't that much to do.

As one would expect in dogfighting, combat is all about manoeuvring. Your choices are represented by arrows laid out on the hexagonal grid, the more moves your pilot knows, the more choices you have. This can become a bit problematic on the iPhone, as with the smaller screen, pressing the correct button can be difficult. It is a lot of fun though as you try to outwit your opponent and trick them into a bad position. Other factors play into this as well such as anti-aircraft guns and cloud cover.

It's available for free though it's gonna cost you at least a dollar to get a full campaign. You also get the choice of two player via hotseat, or network, which is a pretty good inclusion. The problem with the game is that it still feels like a phone game. It lacks the depth of a PC strategy game, it's graphics are a bit hit and miss and the pictures of your characters are kind of creepy (why do they smile like that?). Yet if you were to buy everything it had to offer it would cost you around $15. This once would have seemed cheap but you can pick plenty of indie strategy titles for less; Reus for example is $10 for the PC. Other little things let it down too, such as bugs that display the wrong information and the confusing layout of in app-purchases. Perhaps most confusing is the receipt I received from iTunes that says I bought the All Nations pack, which does not include one of the nations. Although I'm sure some of these things will be ironed out, it is always best to make a good first impression.

The dogfighting, levelling up and the fact that you can get most of the game for only a dollar, make this a pretty solid title, it is just not the dream strategy game I have been waiting for, for my phone 8/10.

Three Free Games for Your iOS Device

Minigore 2 [iOS] IGN are offering this game for free until the end of the month here. You just run around in a little arena and blast and chop your usually undead foes till you die or get bored. Then you go and buy some stuff in the store. It's a lot of fun but it doesn't hold my attention for a very long time 7.5/10.

Bread Kittens [iOS] I love this game because it is so stupid. It's a Pokemon ripoff that only features cats and in order to capture cats you need to throw a piece of bread around their heads. Then when you have captured a cat, you can bake it a hat that makes it more powerful. The game is generally kinda grindy and doesn't give you a huge amount of rewards as it wants you to spend money on it but due to its stupidity I love it 7.2/10.

Injustice Gods Among Us [iOS] Injustice is great if you want some simple arcade action featuring superheroes kicking the crap out of each other. It lacks any real depth though, as unlike a true arcade fighter you are unable to move around. You just tap out combos then maybe do a swipe to finish the chain, some super moves want swipes or for you to tap really fast and occasionally you put two fingers to the screen to block. Whilst really more of an ad for the console games it can get quite dear if you want to start buying all the packs of cards. It does feature great graphics but only has a niche appeal 6.9/10.

3 Short Reviews

BioShock Infinite [PC, PS3, Xbox 360] A solid game game but no-where near as amazing as the press had made it out to be. The powers aren't as exciting to use as those in Dishonored and the story takes a lull right at the time you are hit with a chunk of repetitive gameplay. Still well worth a play even if it's just to see how pretty it looks 8/10.

Running Unicorn Attack 2 [iOS (coming to Android)] The 80's have made quite a resurgence in videogames this year with Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon launching only a week ago and Running Unicorn Attack 2 (RUA 2) only a few days before that. Although they are probably both more early 90's than you might care to believe, RUA 2 embodies the spirit of what we have come to believe the 80's were. It combines cheesy music and memories of over the top children's T.V., with the ubiquitous endless runner. You play as a unicorn jumping, dashing and flying about the world, collecting tears and fairies, smashing stars and giants, all set against beautiful backgrounds that feature flying whales, dolphins and seahorses. So yes it makes no sense. It has some let downs like the occasional bit of slow-down and it does get a little repetitive but it's free and well worth the experience of cheesiness and rainbow-pooping unicorns 7/10.

Haunted Hollow [iOS] Is a turn based game from Firaxis who can't stop mentioning that they made the latest XCOM. What Haunted Hollow lacks that XCOM had in spades is depth. There are some really cool ideas here but little to keep you playing after your first few run throughs. You can play versus the computer or versus a friend in a hot swap arrangement or even online but there is only one map to play on. It's free to play but you will need to purchase extra monsters and items to get the full experience, oddly though, there is no option to buy a new map. The monsters are fun and the levelling up your house to get new, tougher ones is a nice feature but due to your movement points also being your cash for new monsters, you rarely have very many out. It's an interesting idea that could have been better executed 7/10.

A Whinge About SimCity

Honestly I find SimCity too frustrating to write a review about. At first I was so excited about the game and once I finally managed to get onto a server I found it quite fun. There are great concepts in SimCity but ultimately it falls flat. Rather than a review I'd like to talk about what happens in game and how I would like to see it improved.

Shut up Sims

My power advisor constantly tells me I need more coal in my coal power plant. The deliveries always take ages and by the time I get them I pretty much need more coal again anyway. Some people would say that I need to place my coal power plant next to the highway connection but I think that is a little unfair. I need to place it in such a way that it is not going to pump air pollution all over my town. Which brings me to another thing, why can't I make another connection to the "region"? Traffic is going to become a huge problem in any successful town and with only one way in and out of your city by car, it is going to be a nightmare. Traffic is even still a problem when using trains, trams, buses, airplanes, boats and goats, in an attempt to alleviate the congestion. I do understand that a game should be a challenge and I do embrace that but there needs to be an element of fun too and I think SimCity has forgotten this.

 

I think for most people videogames are an escape from reality and a big factor in that, is fun. Why isn't SimCity fun? It feels like nobody ever play tested it, it was instead purely debugged and they did a poor job of that anyway. Starting a new city is so exciting and you have so many plans but the game quickly grinds you down with tedium. Not enough water, not enough sewage, I swear the game wants you to cover the map in water and sewage pumps with a handful of houses around them which brings us to the worst part of the game, space.

 

The maps simply aren't big enough. SimCity 2000 gave you so much space to expand. You could do all kinds of things. Want to start a new region of your town, completely cut of from the rest? You could. Want to build your mayors house on an island? Plenty of space for that. Plus buildings didn't have add-ons as they do now. In the modern SimCity almost all buildings that you "plop" have extensions that will be required for later on in the game and this takes up an inordinate amount of space. This ruins the fun as suddenly you realise your favourite zoned building has to be demolished in order to "plop" another bloody fire brigade garage. It has double the effect because nice buildings grow next to your nice facilities, so they eat up the space where nice buildings could possibly exist.

Floating cars are a "feature"

The thing I regret the most about SimCity is taking the free game from EA. Not only did I find it immensely tedious (because it doesn't like my Logitech controller) but because I believe that the only way Maxis truly could have made up for it is by releasing some major content for free. First off is the large maps expansion. It sounds like they want to make this paid for content but it should have been included from the start. I have modest hardware on my computer and I can easily run SimCity on high so I don't think technology is the issue here. Honestly I think it comes down to laziness and long development times, that misjudge the advances in hardware. I sincerely hope no-one buys DLC for this product, as Maxis really don't deserve another dollar.

Feature

Another big issue that this has raised for me is the nature of video game reviews/previews and pre-ordering games. The media was overwhelmingly positive before the launch, despite the issues that they encountered. The thing is on first blush it is an enjoyable game but the mid to longterm is a nightmare. To add to this you get "bonus" content for pre-ordering and it seems so important. Honestly I hate the Maxis hero and villain content that I received as a bonus and it actually makes the game worse by constantly bugging you to install mediocre buildings that take up your precious space. I really want to pre-order Company of Heroes 2 as I am a huge fan but after SimCity I am too scared and I want to see the smoke clear first.

I know this review has taken some time but once I heard about "the big patch" coming out for it, I thought I would give it a chance to redeem itself. As of the patch coming in I cannot access one of my cities. This sums up the entire experience. I give SimCity a rating of Maximum Whinges out of Heaps.

Lazy Sarcastic Reviews Part 4

Nimble Quest [Android, iOS] One of the best takes on the snake game, a pity it comes over 30 years (yes that's right) too late 4/10.

Defender of Texel [Android, iOS] Definitively proves that Google and Apple really have no standards on what they allow on their stores -1 googol/10.

 LEGO Ninjago [Android, iOS] Terrible controls mix with terrible product placement to create a terrible game, proves that sometimes the sum of all parts does not create something greater 0/14.

Join the Company of Heroes 2 Beta Stress Test

The title basically says it all. In order to get in you can sign up here through Facebook. You'll need to sign away all your juicy Facebook information but then you shall receive a key. It definitely works, I have been playing today and getting my butt kicked as the Russians (seriously those German tanks are crazy tough). There is just a simple online client at the moment as well as a few tutorial videos, I recommend at least watching the one about snow to get an idea why your men are freezing to death. Go on, get playing.

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.