Game Reviews - 7/13 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Nov

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[New Game Review] Age Of Defenders Easily Overshadows Existing Tower Defense Games With A Polished, Thoughtful, Unique Approach

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Game Reviews, Games

Last Updated: November 4th, 2011

About a month after CUKETA got us excited about Age of Defenders, their unique new take on tower defense has hit the Android Market. Of course I had to get a copy and check it out for myself. I wasn't disappointed.

At A Glance

First of all, Age of Defenders is gorgeous. The menus, loading screens, and of course the gameplay environments are all extremely polished and look great. Besides its aesthetic appeal, Defenders offers a lot in the way of functionality. What's unique about this game is that it's a hybrid between tower defense and strategy, making you both the defender and attacker at once, while competing against other players online.

Nov

[New Game Review] Cosmonauts Makes Fighting Galactic Evil Fun, Social, And Kind Of Cute

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Game Reviews, Games

Superplay games made its first entry into the Android Market recently with Cosmonauts, a cartoony outer space “turn-based combat” game which spoofs cold-war drama by pitting you against a galactic superpower aiming to conquer space itself.

At A Glance

Cosmonauts is an amusing game that’s easy to pick up and play at any time. It offers familiar three-stars-per-level gameplay, but also allows for combat against real players. If you want to play with a friend, Cosmonauts offers a pass-and-play option, meaning you and your opponent share a device. Alternately, you can choose to be paired up with a random opponent for online gameplay.

Oct

[Game Review] Musaic Box by HeroCraft Takes Hidden Object To A New Level

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

The same developers who brought the kitsch hit Farm Frenzy to Android have recently released what they're calling their best game ever: Musaic Box - a game that successfully combines the hidden object and puzzle genres, and adds some truly unique twists that make for a dynamic, interesting experience.

At A Glance

The very first thing I noticed about Musaic Box was the stunning visual style. The environments are clearly polished, with an astonishing level of detail, and almost everything you'd expect to be interactive actually is. The gameplay is challenging, but not unmanageable. Since Musaic mixes in puzzle elements to its hidden object base, the pace feels steady and the game stays interesting.

Oct

[Video] Pre-Release Preview: ShadowGun Isn't Just A 3rd Person Shooter, It's A Technical Marvel

Posted by David Ruddock in Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

When we first saw ShadowGun back in May, we were immediately struck by what was at the time a platform demonstration for NVIDIA's Kal-El quad mobile processor. Character textures were the best we'd seen on any Android game, and the environments looked rich and well-crafted.

Now the developer, MadFinger games, has given us (and a number of other sites - no one has the full version yet, and I mean no one) a pre-release version of the game to try out - optimized for Tegra 2 processors (a Kal-El optimized version will be released later). Here's a screenshot from the Kal-El version:

Screenshot from Kal-El version of ShadowGun - we're reviewing the Tegra 2 version

As you can see, it's no amateur hour title.

Sep

[New Game Review] Jelly Defense Adds A Whimsical Twist To Tower Defense

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Game Reviews, Games, Videos

Tower Defense is probably one of the most populated genres in mobile gaming, or at least it seems that way. There are tons of games in this style to choose from, so it's rare to see something that changes things. Jelly Defense from Infinite Dreams attempts just that, putting a whimsical, almost cute touch on the genre of tower defense.

The game starts off with a brief intro story about the peaceful nation of jelly inhabitants in which the game takes place. Suddenly alien invaders arrive, and the player is given the charge of defending the jelly people's crystals. Right off the bat, the visual style and animation made me think of the popular Katamari series, especially when a colorful, blocky spaceship (ostensibly powered by rowing oars) zoomed into frame.

Sep

[Game Review] Gravity Wins Brings Connect Four To Android With A Twist

Posted by John Thompson in Game Reviews, Games

Believe it or not, Connect Four was originally released in February of 1974, which makes it 37 years old. In that time, it's seen some minor updates and variations, but it mostly remains the same game that it was all those years ago with a plastic grid and some colored tokens.

Fast forward a decade or four, and the old classic seems to have been somewhat re-imagined and brought into the 21st century thanks to an Android game called Gravity Wins.

There are two versions of Gravity Wins: a free, ad-supported version, and a paid, ad-free version. The game is identical on both, so as long as you don't mind an ad at the bottom of your screen whilst you're playing, you can save yourself a buck.

Sep

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[New Game Review] Sentinel 3 Elevates Tower Defense Gaming To A New Level With Stunning Environments And Numerous Weapons

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Game Reviews, Games

Yesterday, we announced Sentinel 3: Homeworld by Origin8 which hit the Android market as the third game in a very popular tower defense series, and the first installment to be available for Android. Normally I am not too excited about games of this genre, but I can honestly say that Sentinel 3 has impressed me both in terms of gameplay experience and sheer visual interest, thanks to the cleanly styled environments, visual effects, and smooth animation.

Sentinel 3 has three gameplay modes: campaign, endless, and classic. Each of them is a little different, and they each have their own merits. Before discussing these however we should talk about a few basics.

Aug

[Game Roundup] 5 Hidden-Object Games That Bring Mystery And Suspense To Android - Play Detective On-The-Go

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Game Reviews, Games

One of the most basic and (relatively) inexpensive genres of games, hidden-object games ask the player to find, well, hidden objects in a given scenario. Generally this involves some level of problem-solving and combining objects to find the next clue.

There are myriad hidden-object games developed for Android, but we've picked out five that we think are worth checking out.

Mystique

First up is Mystique, a hidden-object game that comes in three parts - only the first of which is free. It's a fairly standard experience for this genre, and places the player in a grotesque bathroom with blood, bandages, and an electric shaver.

Aug

[New Game Review] Sprinkle HD Looks To Drench Lesser Puzzle Games With Its Awesome Water Physics

Posted by Matt Demers in Game Reviews, Games

Some of my favorite mobile games for the mobile platform are of the puzzle genre, because it tends to lend itself well to the array of controls that are provided. A new THD game that just landed in the Market today, however, combines simple controls and some quirky physics to give you a unique puzzling experience.

In Sprinkle, you are put in charge of a small village's fire department, who are in turn in charge of extinguishing fires that are caused by falling meteorites. Since the citizens of this village live in thatched-room huts (despite having the technology for a high-powered hose), you can imaging that fire is pretty bad for them.

Aug

[Review] ApzOrb: Funny Spelling, But A New Skin For An Old Snake

Posted by Matt Demers in Game Reviews, Games

Not all classics need to be updated. Sometimes, an adherence to simplistic (yet addictive) game design will win out over flashy graphics any day.

The Pitch

ApzOrb is an update of the traditional "Snake" game that most of us have played on monochrome cellphone screens. However, instead of entertaining us with different shades of grey, this game has made color a vital part of how the game plays.

Instead of having to eat apples to extend the length of your block-snake, you seek out squares of similar colors. When consumed, your snake assumes that color; if you're navy and consume a sky-blue block, your color will shift accordingly.